Cheapest models with tool calling.
prices as of · re-ranked daily · 265 qualifying models
Tool calling is what turns a model into something that can act: it answers with a function name and its arguments instead of prose. 265 models support it and are sold by 3 providers or more, from $0.08. Prices are per million tokens, three parts input to one part output, at each provider's standard rate.
Today's pick is Mistral Nemo at Nous Portal, $0.02 in and $0.03 out per million tokens, read on 16 Sept 2026.
- 1
Nous PortalMistral Nemo
tool calling, 128k context, sold by 25 providers, $0.02 / $0.03 per M tokens at Nous PortalResells OpenRouter's catalog at 0.80× the listed price, funded by a subscription whose credits carry a 10% bonus.
$0.08/M tokens
- 2
Merge GatewayGLM-5.3-Flash
tool calling, 1M context, sold by 76 providers, $0.01 / $0.05 per M tokens at Merge GatewayHosts the open weights on its own servers, so the price is its own, not a resale. Precision not disclosed.
$0.10/M tokens
- 3
Kilo GatewayLlama 3.1 8B Instruct
tool calling, 131k context, sold by 24 providers, $0.02 / $0.04 per M tokens at Kilo GatewayRoutes to a host serving the open weights; precision not disclosed.
$0.10/M tokens
- 4
NanoGPTMercury 2.5
tool calling, 260k context, sold by 8 providers, $0.04 / $0.004 per M tokens at NanoGPTThe same price Inception charges.
$0.12/M tokens
- 5
OpenRouterLing 3.0 Flash
tool calling, 262k context, sold by 12 providers, $0.02 / $0.06 per M tokens at OpenRouterThe same price OpenRouter charges.
$0.13/M tokens
- 6
Eden AIQwen3.7 Flash
tool calling, 1M context, sold by 15 providers, $0.02 / $0.08 per M tokens at Eden AIAlibaba's China-region price list, which is lower than the international one. A region, not a deal.
$0.14/M tokens
- 7Kilo Gateway
gpt-oss-20b
tool calling, 131k context, sold by 43 providers, $0.02 / $0.10 per M tokens at Kilo GatewayRoutes to a host serving the open weights; precision not disclosed.
$0.16/M tokens
- 8
Azure Cognitive ServicesMinistral 3B (latest)
tool calling, 128k context, sold by 14 providers, $0.04 / $0.04 per M tokens at Azure Cognitive ServicesThe same price Mistral AI charges.
$0.16/M tokens
- 9NanoGPT
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning
tool calling, 262k context, sold by 12 providers, $0.05 / $0.01 per M tokens at NanoGPTRoutes to a host serving the open weights; precision not disclosed.
$0.16/M tokens
- 10
SiliconFlow (China)Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
tool calling, 131k context, sold by 9 providers, $0.05 / $0.05 per M tokens at SiliconFlow (China)SiliconFlow's China-region catalog, priced in the domestic market.
$0.20/M tokens
Frequently asked
- What is the cheapest of the models with tool calling right now?
- Mistral Nemo at Nous Portal, $0.02 in and $0.03 out per million tokens, read on 16 Sept 2026.
- Which lab shows up most in this ranking?
- Mistral AI trained 2 of the top 10 models here.
- How is this ranked, and how current is it?
- Every row is the cheapest price for that model that we can account for: the maker's own, a price below it with a published reason, or a price at or above it. A price below the maker's own with nothing to explain it is shown on the model's page and ranked nowhere. Prices are read daily from 212 providers' public catalogs and blended three parts input to one part output per million tokens. Last refresh: 16 Sept 2026.