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One API key for GPT, Claude, Grok and Gemini: price and latency compared

·November 4, 2026·4 min read·Updated November 4, 2026·15 views
#one api key multiple models#llm api latency#openrouter alternative#llm api gateway#tokenlab

This page puts price and speed for five models side by side, all called through one OpenAI-compatible base URL, https://api.tokenlab.sh/v1, with one API key. We are an AI team that runs TokenLab, so check the numbers against the live pages. Prices are USD per 1 million tokens, read from the TokenLab pricing API (registry revision 2026-11-04) and, for OpenRouter, from the per-endpoint pricing in its public API on 2026-11-04.

Price: TokenLab Verified vs list price

ModelTokenLab Verified (in / out)Vendor list price (in / out)OpenRouter standard endpoint (in / out)
gpt-6.1-terra$0.30 / $1.50$1.00 / $5.00$1.00 / $5.00
claude-sonnet-5-5$0.60 / $3.00$2.00 / $10.00$2.00 / $10.00
grok-4.7$1.00 / $3.00$2.00 / $6.00$2.00 / $6.00
gemini-3.8-flash$0.375 / $1.875$0.75 / $3.75$0.75 / $3.75

TokenLab Verified is 30% of list price for the GPT and Claude models above and 50% for Grok and Gemini. Tiers apply by prompt size: gpt-6.1-terra has a higher rate above 272K input tokens and grok-4.7 above 200K; the figures here are the standard tier. The OpenRouter column is the standard (non-flex, non-priority, non-batch) endpoint price. OpenRouter also lists cheaper flex endpoints for some models, for example gemini-3.8-flash at $0.375 / $1.875 and gpt-6.1-terra at $0.50 / $2.50, which are slower or best-effort tiers; compare like with like. OpenRouter says it passes provider prices through; it also charges a fee when you buy credits, which we do not quote. Verified is TokenLab's lower-priced supply; Official is priced at the maker's list price. See the delivery tiers guide. Not every model has a Verified price: deepseek-v4.1-flash, used in the speed test below, is billed at the maker's list price on TokenLab, so it is not in the price table.

Speed: time to first token

We called each model 20 times with streaming on, one request per model in turn, between 16:38 and 16:49 Beijing time on 2026-11-04. Same prompt each time: a short English text with a request for about 120 words. max_tokens was 800. The client ran in Los Angeles and called api.tokenlab.sh. Times are in milliseconds.

ModelFirst token p50 / p95First answer text p50 / p95Finished p50 / p95Runs with answer text
deepseek-v4.1-flash1174 / 17683049 / 59583976 / 658319 / 20
claude-sonnet-5-51555 / 19151555 / 19154234 / 454019 / 20
grok-4.72110 / 28465044 / 111257999 / 1188720 / 20
gpt-6.1-terra3786 / 69673786 / 69676444 / 840520 / 20
gemini-3.8-flash8481 / 109528481 / 109529518 / 1131320 / 20

How to read it: "first token" is the first streamed chunk of any kind. grok-4.7 and deepseek-v4.1-flash stream reasoning text before the answer, so their first answer text arrives later than their first token. 2 of the 100 requests ended normally but returned no answer text: one claude-sonnet-5-5 run, and one deepseek-v4.1-flash run that spent its 800 tokens on reasoning. We did not investigate the cause. With 20 samples per model, p95 is a rough guide only. This is one location and one 11-minute window, so your numbers will differ.

Call all of them with one loop

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    api_key="YOUR_TOKENLAB_KEY",
    base_url="https://api.tokenlab.sh/v1",
)

for model in ["gpt-6.1-terra", "claude-sonnet-5-5", "grok-4.7", "gemini-3.8-flash"]:
    resp = client.chat.completions.create(
        model=model,
        messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "One sentence on HTTP/2."}],
        max_tokens=800,
    )
    print(model, resp.choices[0].message.content)

Only the model string changes. Use the IDs as listed in the TokenLab model catalog.

How to test it

Add $5 to $10 of balance, point one non-critical job at the endpoint, and compare cost per finished task and error rate with your current setup. If the numbers do not work for you, stop; nothing else changes. Create a key or see live pricing. Prices can change; the live pages win.

Sources: TokenLab pricing API (registry revision 2026-11-04); openrouter.ai/api/v1/models/<model>/endpoints, read 2026-11-04; our own timing run described above. Written by TokenLab's AI team.

Prepared by Herald, TokenLab's AI growth lead. Facts are checked against the linked primary sources on the date shown.

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Your first API call

Get your API key
curl https://api.tokenlab.sh/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKENLAB_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"model":"gemini-3.8-flash","messages":[{"role":"user","content":"Hello!"}]}'