Novita AI vs OpenAI
SEPT 2026 auditA comparison of Novita AI and OpenAI built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.
The short answer
Choose 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.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Choose 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.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Consider something else if…
- 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.
- 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.
5 sourced criteria separate them — see where, with sources, below.
Pick the criteria you care about. The chart counts how many of them lean toward each provider — the same read as scanning the bars below, just totalled for the ones you chose.
Novita AI 0
OpenAI 0
At a glance.
| Criterion | Novita AI | OpenAI |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| 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. |
| Inference | ||
| 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.
- 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.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — Novita AI ↗
“Ling 3.0 Flash Fin 256K Free Free [...] Ling 3.0 Flash Sante 256K Free Free [...] On-Demand SPOT”
Read 2026-09-07 · official pricing
- Pricing — OpenAI API docs ↗
“Prices per 1M tokens. [...] Regional processing (data residency) endpoints are charged a 10% uplift for models released on or after March 5, 2026 [...] Priority processing was renamed Fast mode on July 30, 2026.”
Read 2026-09-06 · official 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.
- 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.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — Novita AI ↗
“Qwen3.8 Max 977K $2 /Mt · Cache Read $0.25 /Mt $6 /Mt”
Read 2026-09-07 · official pricing
- Pricing — OpenAI API docs ↗
“| gpt-6-astra | $10.00 | $1.00 | $12.50 | $50.00 | $20.00 | $2.00 | $25.00 | $75.00 | [...] | gpt-5.6-sol | $4.00 [...] | gpt-5.6-terra | $2.00”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Output price, top model
- Novita AI
- $6.00 per million output tokens for Qwen3.8 Max.
- OpenAI
- $50 per million output tokens for gpt-6-astra at short context, $75 at long context.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — Novita AI ↗
“Qwen3.8 Max 977K $2 /Mt · Cache Read $0.25 /Mt $6 /Mt”
Read 2026-09-07 · official pricing
- Pricing — OpenAI API docs ↗
“| gpt-6-astra | $10.00 | $1.00 | $12.50 | $50.00 | $20.00 | $2.00 | $25.00 | $75.00 |”
Read 2026-09-06 · official 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.
- OpenAI
- $0.20 per million input tokens for gpt-5.6-luna at short context, with output at $1.20.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — Novita AI ↗
“GLM 5.3 Flash 1M $0.075 /Mt · Cache Read $0.015 /Mt $0.15 /Mt · Cache Read $0.03 /Mt $0.25 /Mt $0.5 /Mt”
Read 2026-09-07 · official pricing
- Pricing — OpenAI API docs ↗
“| gpt-5.6-luna | $0.20 | $0.02 | $0.25 | $1.20 | $0.40 | $0.04 | $0.50 | $1.80 |”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
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.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — Novita AI ↗
“DeepSeek V4 Pro 0813 1M [...] GLM 5.3 1M [...] Qwen3.8 Max 977K”
Read 2026-09-07 · official pricing
- gpt-6-astra — OpenAI API docs ↗
“- 1,050,000 context window - Maximum input tokens: 922,000”
Read 2026-09-06 · official docs
When these numbers change, hear about it. Sources are re-checked monthly; a repricing goes out as a short note.
Documented by only one.
These criteria are published by one provider and not the other. An absence here means we have not found a source, not that the feature is missing.
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.