# Novita AI vs OpenAI

Canonical: https://inetgeek.com/compare/novita-vs-openai/

Every value below is read from Novita AI's and OpenAI's own documentation. See https://inetgeek.com/methodology/ for how.

## At a glance

| Criterion | Novita AI | OpenAI |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pricing model | Per-token serverless inference with a cache-read rate published beside most models, and GPU instances offered at both on-demand and spot rates — the spot column is roughly half. Two models, Ling 3.0 Flash Fin and Sante, are listed at no charge on both input and output. | Per million tokens, with a second rate above the short-context threshold — long-context input and output cost roughly double. Batch, Flex, Fast and standard tiers are priced separately, and regional processing adds a 10% uplift on models released from March 2026. |
| Input price, top model | $2.00 per million input tokens for Qwen3.8 Max, the most expensive model in its catalogue, with cache reads at $0.25 and output at $6.00. | $10 per million input tokens for gpt-6-astra at short context, rising to $20 above the short-context threshold. gpt-5.6-sol is $4 and gpt-5.6-terra $2. |
| Output price, top model | $6.00 per million output tokens for Qwen3.8 Max. | $50 per million output tokens for gpt-6-astra at short context, $75 at long context. |
| Input price, cheapest model | $0.075 per million input tokens for GLM 5.3 Flash at short context, rising to $0.15 above the threshold, with cache reads at $0.015 and output at $0.25. Fireworks serves the same model at $0.15. | $0.20 per million input tokens for gpt-5.6-luna at short context, with output at $1.20. |
| Context window | 1M tokens on the DeepSeek V4 line and GLM 5.3, published as "1M" rather than an exact figure — so it is recorded at 1,000,000 and may in practice be the 1,048,576 other providers state. Qwen3.8 is listed at 977K. | 1,050,000 tokens on gpt-6-astra, of which at most 922,000 may be input. |
| Prompt caching | Supported | Supported |

## Where they differ

### Pricing model

- Novita AI: Per-token serverless inference with a cache-read rate published beside most models, and GPU instances offered at both on-demand and spot rates — the spot column is roughly half. Two models, Ling 3.0 Flash Fin and Sante, are listed at no charge on both input and output. ([source](https://novita.ai/pricing))
- OpenAI: Per million tokens, with a second rate above the short-context threshold — long-context input and output cost roughly double. Batch, Flex, Fast and standard tiers are priced separately, and regional processing adds a 10% uplift on models released from March 2026. ([source](https://platform.openai.com/docs/pricing))

### Input price, top model

- Novita AI: $2.00 per million input tokens for Qwen3.8 Max, the most expensive model in its catalogue, with cache reads at $0.25 and output at $6.00. ([source](https://novita.ai/pricing))
- OpenAI: $10 per million input tokens for gpt-6-astra at short context, rising to $20 above the short-context threshold. gpt-5.6-sol is $4 and gpt-5.6-terra $2. ([source](https://platform.openai.com/docs/pricing))

### Output price, top model

- Novita AI: $6.00 per million output tokens for Qwen3.8 Max. ([source](https://novita.ai/pricing))
- OpenAI: $50 per million output tokens for gpt-6-astra at short context, $75 at long context. ([source](https://platform.openai.com/docs/pricing))

### Input price, cheapest model

- Novita AI: $0.075 per million input tokens for GLM 5.3 Flash at short context, rising to $0.15 above the threshold, with cache reads at $0.015 and output at $0.25. Fireworks serves the same model at $0.15. ([source](https://novita.ai/pricing))
- OpenAI: $0.20 per million input tokens for gpt-5.6-luna at short context, with output at $1.20. ([source](https://platform.openai.com/docs/pricing))

### Context window

- Novita AI: 1M tokens on the DeepSeek V4 line and GLM 5.3, published as "1M" rather than an exact figure — so it is recorded at 1,000,000 and may in practice be the 1,048,576 other providers state. Qwen3.8 is listed at 977K. ([source](https://novita.ai/pricing))
- OpenAI: 1,050,000 tokens on gpt-6-astra, of which at most 922,000 may be input. ([source](https://platform.openai.com/docs/models/gpt-6-astra))

## Which should you choose?

Pick Novita AI if Breadth — 200+ models under one API with a cache-read rate published next to most of them, and an H100 SXM at $3.39 an hour if the same vendor should run the dedicated side too.

Pick OpenAI if Work that fits inside the short-context rate, where the cheapest tier is $0.20 per million input tokens and the batch tier halves everything above it.

Consider something else: Novita AI — It is rarely the cheapest for any given model: DeepInfra serves DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 at $0.06 against Novita's $0.44, and its H100 is $2.20 against Novita's $3.39 on demand.

Consider something else: OpenAI — Long prompts cross into the long-context rate and roughly double the bill, which is a cliff the flat-rate vendors do not have.

## Documented by only one

- Max output tokens: OpenAI: 128,000 tokens on gpt-6-astra.
- Batch discount: OpenAI: 50% off input and output through the Batch API: gpt-6-astra falls from $10/$50 to $5/$25 at short context.
- H100 SXM, per GPU-hour: Novita AI: $3.39 per GPU-hour for an on-demand H100 SXM 80GB, or $1.70 spot. The page names the card the site's GPU comparison is fixed on, so no substitution is involved.
- Largest GPU offered: Novita AI: 80GB per GPU on an H100 SXM, the largest card it lists; below it are an L40S 48GB, RTX 5090 32GB and RTX 4090 24GB.

## Questions this comparison answers

**Should I choose Novita AI or OpenAI?**

Pick Novita AI if Breadth — 200+ models under one API with a cache-read rate published next to most of them, and an H100 SXM at $3.39 an hour if the same vendor should run the dedicated side too.
Pick OpenAI if Work that fits inside the short-context rate, where the cheapest tier is $0.20 per million input tokens and the batch tier halves everything above it.