Provider compare

Compare providers by operating posture, not just by token price.

Use this page when the decision is still at vendor level: managed API, multimodal lane, self-host path or low-cost router. The goal is to cut the vendor set before model-level testing.

Open LLM matrix Open agent board

Providers compared

Operational vendor lanes

Open-friendly

Self-host or router-capable

Multimodal-ready

Audio or video in the lane

Private deploy options

Private cloud, self-host or edge

Managed-first

Choose API-first vendors when tooling and speed matter more than hosting freedom

OpenAI and Anthropic stay strong when the team wants managed tooling and a simpler operating model.

Multimodal

Use Google when the real problem is not text-only

Long context plus audio and video input changes the decision more than headline benchmark scores.

Open-weight

Use Mistral or DeepSeek when control and router design matter

They become stronger when self-host, regional hosting or price ceilings are part of the architecture.

Provider lanes

Operational provider comparison

Official docs snapshot

Provider	Models and scope	Deployment and openness	Best use	Caution
OpenAI Premium on frontier, reasonable on mini	GPT-5.4, GPT-5.4 mini Text + image in Max context: 1.05M extended	Managed API / Codex Closed and API-first	Coding agents, repo work and teams that want managed tooling	Premium output pricing and closed hosting raise total cost without routing Official source: OpenAI pricing
Anthropic Mid-high, with a clear Sonnet vs Haiku split	Claude Sonnet 4, Claude Haiku 3.5 Text + image in Max context: 1M beta / 200k base	Claude API / Claude Code Closed and API-centric	Code review, long plans and teams prioritizing reasoning quality	Long-context and tool-heavy loops need spend control Official source: Anthropic pricing
Google Very competitive on Flash-Lite, more demanding on Pro	Gemini 2.5 Pro, Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Text + image + video + audio Max context: 1,048,576	Gemini API / Vertex Closed and multimodal	Serious multimodal work, huge context and large-document analysis	Pricing posture changes once prompts cross 200k input tokens Official source: Gemini pricing
Mistral Competitive overall and very strong for self-host setups	Mistral Large 3, Codestral, Ministral 3 8B Text + image + code Max context: 256k	API / private cloud / self-host / edge Mixed: open-weight and closed	Teams valuing flexible hosting, Europe and a real local lane	The ecosystem and branding footprint are smaller than OpenAI, Anthropic or Google Official source: Mistral docs
DeepSeek Very aggressive on price	DeepSeek V3.2 Text Max context: 128k	API / self-host / router Open-weight friendly	Cheap routing, economical reasoning and high-volume first passes	Enterprise teams should cover governance, fallback and quality control Official source: DeepSeek pricing

OpenAI

GPT-5.4, GPT-5.4 mini

Closed and API-first

Text + image in

Max context: 1.05M extended

Managed API / Codex

Best use: Coding agents, repo work and teams that want managed tooling

Caution: Premium output pricing and closed hosting raise total cost without routing

Official source

Anthropic

Claude Sonnet 4, Claude Haiku 3.5

Closed and API-centric

Text + image in

Max context: 1M beta / 200k base

Claude API / Claude Code

Best use: Code review, long plans and teams prioritizing reasoning quality

Caution: Long-context and tool-heavy loops need spend control

Official source

Google

Gemini 2.5 Pro, Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite

Closed and multimodal

Text + image + video + audio

Max context: 1,048,576

Gemini API / Vertex

Best use: Serious multimodal work, huge context and large-document analysis

Caution: Pricing posture changes once prompts cross 200k input tokens

Official source

Mistral

Mistral Large 3, Codestral, Ministral 3 8B

Mixed: open-weight and closed

Text + image + code

Max context: 256k

API / private cloud / self-host / edge

Best use: Teams valuing flexible hosting, Europe and a real local lane

Caution: The ecosystem and branding footprint are smaller than OpenAI, Anthropic or Google

Official source

DeepSeek

DeepSeek V3.2

Open-weight friendly

Text

Max context: 128k

API / self-host / router

Best use: Cheap routing, economical reasoning and high-volume first passes

Caution: Enterprise teams should cover governance, fallback and quality control

Official source

Route

LLM route

Start at the routing layer if you still need to choose the right comparison layer.

Open LLM route

Route

LLM matrix

Model-level comparison for context and spend after the vendor lane is narrower.

Open matrix

Route

Model fit radar

Move from vendor choice to scenario-first model picks.

Open radar

Route

Workflow recipes

Jump into operating playbooks once provider and model choices are narrowed.

Open recipes