{"id":"cheap-volume-llm","slug":"cheap-volume-llm","name":"High-volume cheap LLM inference","shortName":"High-volume cheap LLM inference","problemStatement":"Millions of tokens/day for classification, extraction, or drafts where frontier quality is optional.","whenNotTopPick":"Need absolute lowest latency on a supported model (Groq/Cerebras) or compliance requires Bedrock/Azure.","categoryIds":["cat-inference-apis","cat-train-finetune"],"depotPickProviderId":"fireworks","depotPickRationale":"pricePerf + reliability + dx. Open-model hosts win; Gemini Flash also excellent closed-model value.","runnersUpIds":["together","groq","deepinfra","deepseek","google-ai","dashscope","zai","chutes"],"weights":{"capabilityFit":0.25,"pricePerformance":0.18,"latencyReliability":0.15,"developerDx":0.15,"privacyPosture":0.1,"lockInRisk":0.07,"maturity":0.1},"methodologyNotes":"pricePerf + reliability + dx. Open-model hosts win; Gemini Flash also excellent closed-model value.","tags":["cheap"],"depth":{"whenNotToUse":{"text":"Need absolute lowest latency on a supported model (Groq/Cerebras) or compliance requires Bedrock/Azure.","source":"editorial `whenNotTopPick` (data/jtbds.json)"},"whenNotToUseReason":null,"runnerUp":{"providerId":"together","name":"Together AI","overallForJob":8.2,"pickOverallForJob":8.35,"beatsPickOn":["pricePerformance","maturity"],"source":"first resolvable entry of the job's editorially ranked `runnersUpIds`; scores are stored job-weighted scores"},"runnerUpReason":null,"lockIn":{"pickLockInRisk":3.5,"runnerUpLockInRisk":3.5,"scale":"0–10 stored curated estimate; higher = more lock-in (worse)","pickExitSignals":["serves open-weight models (provider tag `open-models`)"],"runnerUpExitSignals":["serves open-weight models (provider tag `open-models`)"],"pickNotes":[],"selfHostFallback":[],"migration":"Pick exit signals: serves open-weight models (provider tag `open-models`).","migrationReason":null,"derivedFrom":"stored lockInRisk scores, provider tags (oss, self-host, openai-compat, open-models), free rows that list this job, and verbatim provider notes. No migration guide was invented."}},"freshness":{"pick":{"score":{"asOf":"2026-09-14","ageDays":43,"stale":true,"staleAfterDays":30,"reason":null},"lastReviewed":{"asOf":"2026-09-14","ageDays":43,"stale":true,"staleAfterDays":30,"reason":null},"sourceCheck":{"checkedAt":"2026-10-27","sourceUrls":2,"sourcesReachable":2,"pricingRows":10,"pricingRowsReconfirmed":6,"note":"A source re-check confirms the page is reachable and, for pricing rows, that the stored amount and SKU name appear on it. It does not re-derive or change the score.","reason":null}}},"depotPick":{"id":"fireworks","slug":"fireworks","name":"Fireworks AI","tagline":"Top pick for production open-model serving with real DX. Prefer over random GPU DIY when you want tokens not…","overall":8.35},"runnersUp":[{"id":"together","slug":"together","name":"Together AI","tagline":"Best catalog breadth for OSS models. Watch minimums and lifetime spend gates before you design around a gated…","overall":8.2},{"id":"groq","slug":"groq","name":"Groq","tagline":"Use when latency is the product. Do not build your whole company on one Groq model SKU — they rotate.","overall":7.95},{"id":"deepinfra","slug":"deepinfra","name":"DeepInfra","tagline":"Budget open-model workhorse and one of the cheapest large-catalog hosts. Great for evals and high-volume…","overall":7.95},{"id":"deepseek","slug":"deepseek","name":"DeepSeek","tagline":"Unbeatable $/quality for many workloads — if your compliance team allows it. Otherwise host similar open…","overall":7.95},{"id":"google-ai","slug":"google-ai","name":"Google AI (Gemini)","tagline":"Best value frontier stack and multimodal king. Use Flash for high-volume agent loops; Pro when quality…","overall":8.43},{"id":"dashscope","slug":"dashscope","name":"Alibaba Cloud Model Studio (DashScope)","tagline":"Catalog dashscope for Alibaba Model Studio / DashScope international Qwen. Complements Moonshot/MiniMax/Z.AI…","overall":7.86},{"id":"zai","slug":"zai","name":"Z.AI (Zhipu GLM)","tagline":"International GLM via z.ai — catalog zai, not a second Zhipu mainland-only SKU. Strong cheap/coding runner…","overall":7.79},{"id":"chutes","slug":"chutes","name":"Chutes","tagline":"Budget open-model overflow with a now-pinned public TEE matrix. Depot open-model production pick stays…","overall":7.29}]}