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OpenAI

OpenAI — AI platform API offering GPT-4, DALL-E, Whisper, and embeddings models via REST and Python/Node SDKs.

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US Active Developer Portals / API Management

Our Verdict

Best for best-in-class llm capabilities (gpt-4+). OpenAI offers $20/mo (Plus), API pay-per-token. Low vendor lock-in.

Pros

  • Best-in-class LLM capabilities (GPT-4+)
  • Broadest ecosystem and tooling support
  • Low lock-in — easy to migrate away

Cons

  • Cost-sensitive inference — DeepSeek is 10-50x cheaper
  • Need on-premise deployment
Best for: Best-in-class LLM capabilities (GPT-4+) Not for: Cost-sensitive inference

When to Use OpenAI

Good fit if you need

  • Best-in-class LLM capabilities (GPT-4+)
  • Broadest ecosystem and tooling support
  • Need vision, audio, and embeddings in one API

Not the best choice if

  • Cost-sensitive inference — DeepSeek is 10-50x cheaper
  • Need on-premise deployment — use Ollama or vLLM
  • Data privacy concerns — consider Anthropic or self-hosted

Consider instead: anthropic, google-gemini-api

Pricing

Price wrong?

OpenAI Pricing

Pricing Model
hybrid
Free Tier
Yes
Free Tier Limits
ChatGPT free
Entry Price
$20/mo (Plus), API pay-per-token
Enterprise Available
Yes
Billing Complexity
Medium
Transparency Score
4/5
View pricing page →

Beta — estimates may differ from actual pricing

1,000
1001K10K100K1M

Estimated Monthly Cost

$25

Estimated Annual Cost

$300

Estimates are approximate and may not reflect current pricing. Always check the official pricing page.

Scale

Customers
9M+
Revenue
$20B (2025), $25B (Feb 2026)

Lock-in Assessment

Low 1/5
Lock-in Score
1/5

Low-Medium — standard Chat Completions API (-to standard, many providers compatible)

Data Portability: Via API
API Compatibility: OpenAI-compatible = -to standard

🔄 Thinking about migrating off OpenAI?

Get an AI-drafted migration plan + a copy-paste email to OpenAI support requesting a data export. Pick where you're moving to and tell us your context.

More from OpenAI

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Extensions & MCP Servers

Official integrations from OpenAI in the catalog.

MCP
OpenAI
Official
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Used in these stacks

Curated setups that include OpenAI.

Customer-Facing AI Chatbot SaaS RAG Knowledge Base (Internal or External) Voice-First AI App (Assistant or Call Automation)

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