What is the cheapest LLM for chatbots?

The cheapest LLM suitable for chatbots is Japanese Stable Diffusion XL via Fireworks AI at $0.0001 per million tokens (blended rate). There are 200 models in this category.

Should I use an open-source LLM for chatbots?

There are 19 open-weight models available for chatbots. Open-weight LLMs like Llama and Mistral can be self-hosted for lower per-token costs at scale, but require infrastructure investment. For lower volumes, API-based providers often offer better value.

10 Best LLMs for Chatbots in 2026

The 10 best LLMs for chatbots in 2026, ranked by value. Compare chat-class models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and more for building conversational AI at the best price.

200

Models Compared

$0.0001

Cheapest

1140

Top ELO

ELO-Rated

What is the best LLM for chatbots?

The best LLM for chatbots is Qwen3 Embedding 0 6B Batch via Deepinfra at $0.0037 per million tokens. With an Arena ELO of 1140, it offers the best balance of quality and cost. 200 models are compared across all providers.

What Makes a Good LLM for Chatbots?

Low latency for real-time conversation

Affordable per-token pricing at scale

Natural, coherent dialogue

Instruction following and safety alignment

Chatbots Models — Ranked by Value

200 models

Sorted by value: models with higher Arena ELO and lower price rank first. Models without ELO scores are sorted by cheapest price.

#	Model	Provider	Input	Output	Quality	Released↓
49	GPT 5 Nano	Replicate	$0.050	$0.400	Strong	Aug 7
37	Qwen: Qwen3 Coder 30B A3B Instruct 30BOpen	Deepinfra	$0.070	$0.260	Good	Jul 14
18	DeepSeek R1 0528 Qwen3 8B	Novita AI	$0.060	$0.090	Frontier	May 28
1	Qwen3 Embedding 0 6B Batch	Deepinfra	$0.0050	Free	Good	Apr 28
3	Qwen3 Reranker 0 6B	Deepinfra	$0.010	Free	Good	Apr 28
4	Qwen3 Embedding 4B Batch	Deepinfra	$0.010	Free	Good	Apr 28
5	Qwen3 Embedding 0 6B	Deepinfra	$0.010	Free	Good	Apr 28
6	Qwen3 Embedding 4B	Deepinfra	$0.020	Free	Good	Apr 28
7	Qwen3 Reranker 4B	Deepinfra	$0.025	Free	Good	Apr 28
12	Qwen3 4B Fp8	Novita AI	$0.030	$0.030	Good	Apr 28
13	Qwen3 Embedding 8B Batch	Deepinfra	$0.040	Free	Good	Apr 28
15	Qwen3 Reranker 8B	Deepinfra	$0.050	Free	Good	Apr 28
16	Qwen3 Embedding 8B	Deepinfra	$0.050	Free	Good	Apr 28
22	Qwen3 8B Fp8	Novita AI	$0.035	$0.138	Good	Apr 28
25	Qwen3 235B A22b Instruct 2507	Deepinfra	$0.071	$0.100	Good	Apr 28
28	Qwen: Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 235BOpen	OpenRouter	$0.085	$0.120	Good	Apr 28
30	Qwen3 1.7b Fp8 Draft	Fireworks AI	$0.100	$0.100	Good	Apr 28
31	Qwen3 1.7b	Fireworks AI	$0.100	$0.100	Good	Apr 28
32	Qwen3 1.7b Fp8 Draft 40960	Fireworks AI	$0.100	$0.100	Good	Apr 28
33	Qwen3 1.7b Fp8 Draft 131072	Fireworks AI	$0.100	$0.100	Good	Apr 28
34	Qwen3 0.6b	Fireworks AI	$0.100	$0.100	Good	Apr 28
48	Qwen: Qwen3 14B 14BOpen	OpenRouter	$0.072	$0.288	Good	Apr 28
50	Qwen: Qwen3 30B A3B 30BOpen	Deepinfra	$0.080	$0.280	Good	Apr 28
38	Llama 4 Scout 17B 16e Instruct	Deepinfra	$0.080	$0.300	Frontier	Apr 5
44	Gemini 2.0 Flash Lite Preview 02 05	Google	$0.075	$0.300	Strong	Feb 5
45	Gemini 2.0 Flash Lite 001	Google	$0.075	$0.300	Strong	Feb 5
46	Gemini 2.0 Flash Lite	Google	$0.075	$0.300	Strong	Feb 5
26	DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5b	Fireworks AI	$0.100	$0.100	Frontier	Jan 20
47	DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B	Novita AI	$0.150	$0.150	Frontier	Jan 20
2	Meta: Llama 3.2 1B Instruct 1BOpen	Deepinfra	$0.0050	$0.010	Budget	Sep 25
8	Meta: Llama 3.2 3B Instruct 3BOpen	Deepinfra	$0.020	$0.020	Good	Sep 25
35	accounts/fireworks/models/llama-v3p2-3b	Fireworks AI	$0.100	$0.100	Good	Sep 25
36	accounts/fireworks/models/llama-v3p2-1b	Fireworks AI	$0.100	$0.100	Budget	Sep 25
10	Meta Llama 3.1 8B Instruct Turbo	Deepinfra	$0.020	$0.030	Good	Jul 23
11	Meta Llama 3.1 8B Instruct 8B	Novita AI	$0.020	$0.050	Good	Jul 23
19	Llama 3.1 8B Instant	Groq	$0.050	$0.080	Good	Jul 23
27	accounts/fireworks/models/llama-v3p1-405b-instruct-long	Fireworks AI	$0.100	$0.100	Frontier	Jul 23
29	accounts/fireworks/models/llama-v3p1-70b-instruct-1b	Fireworks AI	$0.100	$0.100	Strong	Jul 23
17	Google: Gemma 2 9B 9B	Deepinfra	$0.030	$0.060	Good	Jun 27
39	Gemini 1.5 Flash	Deepinfra	$0.075	$0.300	Strong	May 14
40	Gemini 1.5 Flash 001	Google	$0.075	$0.300	Strong	May 14
41	Gemini 1.5 Flash 002	Google	$0.075	$0.300	Strong	May 14
42	Gemini 1.5 Flash Latest	Google	$0.075	$0.300	Strong	May 14
24	Gemma 7B IT	Groq	$0.050	$0.080	Budget	Feb 21
43	Mixtral 8x7b Instruct	Perplexity	$0.070	$0.280	Good	Dec 8
14	Mistral: Mistral 7B Instruct v0.3 7BOpen	Deepinfra	$0.028	$0.054	Good	Sep 27
20	Mistral: Mistral 7B Instruct v0.2 7BOpen	Deepinfra	$0.055	$0.055	Good	Sep 27
21	Mistral: Mistral 7B Instruct v0.1 7BOpen	Deepinfra	$0.055	$0.055	Good	Sep 27
9	meta-llama/Meta-Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct-Turbo	Deepinfra	$0.020	$0.030	Good	Feb 23
23	Meta Llama 3.2 3B Instruct Turbo	Together AI	$0.060	$0.060	Good	Feb 23

Best LLM for Other Use Cases

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Frequently Asked Questions

The #1 LLM for chatbots in 2026 is Qwen3 Embedding 0 6B Batch via Deepinfra at $0.0037 per million tokens. It has an Arena ELO of 1140, placing it among the highest-rated models. This top-10 ranking considers both quality (Arena ELO) and cost to find the best value across 23+ providers.