Machine Learning · alternatives
Alternatives to OpenAI API
22 machine learning tools sit alongside OpenAI API in this directory. Below is what separates each from OpenAI API on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 22
- With a free tier
- 18
- Cheaper to start
- 11
- OpenAI API starts at
- $0.15/per-million-tokens
Why people look past OpenAI API
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the OpenAI API entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
There is no free tier
The record for OpenAI API carries no free tier, so evaluating it means paying first. 18 of the 22 alternatives below can be used without paying.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
Build, train, and deploy machine learning models at scale
- Can be used without paying; OpenAI API cannot.
- Starts $0.10999999999999999 a hour cheaper, at $0.04/hour.
Unified ML platform to build, deploy, and scale AI models
Priced and rated the same as OpenAI API on the figures we hold. The difference, if there is one, is in the feature records.
Microsoft's managed platform for training, tracking and deploying models on Azure
- Can be used without paying; OpenAI API cannot.
- Starts $0.15 a month cheaper, at Free.
Enterprise AI platform for automated machine learning
- Starts $0.15 a month cheaper, at Free.
- Sold on a subscription model rather than usage-based.
Open-source MLOps platform for experiment tracking and orchestration
- Can be used without paying; OpenAI API cannot.
- Sold on a Open-source self-hosted, with paid hosted and enterprise tiers model rather than usage-based.
- 1 tier to OpenAI API's 2.
LLM engineering platform for testing and evaluating AI agents in production
- Can be used without paying; OpenAI API cannot.
- Starts $28.85 a month dearer, at €29/month.
- Sold on a Tiered subscription with usage-based overage charges model rather than usage-based.
- 3 tiers to OpenAI API's 2.
Every OpenAI API alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAI API (this page) | $0.15/per-million-tokens | Usage-based | 2 | |
| AWS SageMakerBuild, train, and deploy machine learning models at scale | Free, then $0.04/hour | - | - | vs OpenAI API |
| Google Vertex AIUnified ML platform to build, deploy, and scale AI models | On request | - | - | vs OpenAI API |
| Azure Machine LearningEnterprise-grade machine learning service | Free | Usage-based | 2 | vs OpenAI API |
| DataRobotEnterprise AI platform for automated machine learning | Free | Subscription | 2 | vs OpenAI API |
| ClearML | Free | Open-source self-hosted, with paid hosted and enterprise tiers | 1 | vs OpenAI API |
| Langwatch | Free, then €29/month | Tiered subscription with usage-based overage charges | 3 | vs OpenAI API |
| Haystack | Free | Open-source with optional paid enterprise support | 2 | vs OpenAI API |
| Semantic Kernel | Free | Open source, no pricing | 1 | vs OpenAI API |
| H2O.ai | Free | Freemium | 2 | vs OpenAI API |
| Dask | Free | Open-source | 1 | vs OpenAI API |
| IBM SPSS | Free, then $99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs OpenAI API |
| JMP | Free | Subscription | 2 | vs OpenAI API |
| Anaconda | Free, then $15/month | - | 3 | vs OpenAI API |
| BentoML | Free | Freemium | 2 | vs OpenAI API |
| Dataiku | Free | Freemium | 2 | vs OpenAI API |
| Comet ML | Free, then $19/month | Freemium | 4 | vs OpenAI API |
| Hugging Face | Free | - | - | vs OpenAI API |
| BigQuery ML | Free | Usage-based | 2 | vs OpenAI API |
| Domino Data Lab | Free | Subscription | 2 | vs OpenAI API |
| DVC | Free | Open-source | 2 | vs OpenAI API |
| Fal AI | $1.89/hour | Usage-based | 2 | vs OpenAI API |
| Groq | On request | Quote | - | vs OpenAI API |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the OpenAI API badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (18)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- AWS SageMaker , Free, then $0.04/hour
- Azure Machine Learning , Free
- ClearML , Free
- Langwatch , Free, then €29/month
- Haystack , Free
- Semantic Kernel , Free
- H2O.ai , Free
- Dask , Free
Cheaper than OpenAI API (11)
Entry price under OpenAI API's $0.15/per-million-tokens. The record does not say what unit that price is charged in, so confirm per-seat versus flat rate before comparing budgets.
- AWS SageMaker , Free, then $0.04/hour
- Azure Machine Learning , Free
- DataRobot , Free
- H2O.ai , Free
- Dask , Free
- JMP , Free
- BentoML , Free
- Dataiku , Free
What you would be giving up
OpenAI API is most often brought in for adding summarisation, drafting or classification to an existing product where building a model would take longer than the product's whole roadmap, retrieval-augmented question answering over internal documents, using the embedding and generation models together, extracting structured records from unstructured text, where schema-constrained output removes most of the parsing problem, prototyping a language feature quickly to find out whether it is worth the cost of a self-hosted alternative later. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If OpenAI API is broadly right and the question is cost, the OpenAI API pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Machine Learning category lists everything the directory holds, and best machine learning tools ranks them.
OpenAI API runs on api. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about OpenAI API alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to OpenAI API?
- 22 other machine learning tools are listed in this directory, led by AWS SageMaker, Google Vertex AI, Azure Machine Learning, DataRobot. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to OpenAI API?
- 18 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: AWS SageMaker, Azure Machine Learning, ClearML, Langwatch, Haystack.
- Is there a cheaper alternative to OpenAI API?
- Yes. 11 of the alternatives below start under OpenAI API's $0.15/per-million-tokens: AWS SageMaker at Free, then $0.04/hour, Azure Machine Learning at Free, DataRobot at Free, H2O.ai at Free.
- Why do people look for an alternative to OpenAI API?
- On the figures on record, one thing stands out: there is no free tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from OpenAI API?
- OpenAI API is most often brought in for adding summarisation, drafting or classification to an existing product where building a model would take longer than the product's whole roadmap, retrieval-augmented question answering over internal documents, using the embedding and generation models together, extracting structured records from unstructured text, where schema-constrained output removes most of the parsing problem, prototyping a language feature quickly to find out whether it is worth the cost of a self-hosted alternative later. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to OpenAI API?
- Dask, DVC are recorded with an open-source licence model.
- How were these OpenAI API alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Machine Learning, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare OpenAI API against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against OpenAI API covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every machine learning tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Machine Learning category, 22 tools beside OpenAI API. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.