Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Ling-2.6-flash: pricing comparison
Ling-2.6-flash is the cheaper option at $0.01/$0.03 per 1M input/output tokens — Claude Sonnet 4.5 ($3/$15) costs about 300x more per input token. Full spec-by-spec breakdown below.
| Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Ling-2.6-flash | |
|---|---|---|
| Input /1M tokens | $3 | $0.01 |
| Output /1M tokens | $15 | $0.03 |
| Cache read /1M | $0.30 | $0.00 |
| Context window | 1M | 262K |
| Provider | Anthropic | Inclusionai |
| Vision input | Yes | No |
| Released | Sep 2025 | Apr 2026 |
Real workload costs: Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Ling-2.6-flash
Cost per single request at common token profiles — the cheapest model for each workload is highlighted.
| Workload | Tokens (in / out) | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Ling-2.6-flash |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chatbot message | 500 / 300 | $0.0060 | <$0.0001 |
| RAG query with context | 4,000 / 500 | $0.02 | <$0.0001 |
| Document summarization | 20,000 / 1,000 | $0.07 | $0.0002 |
| Agent coding session | 100,000 / 5,000 | $0.38 | $0.0011 |
Frequently asked questions
Which is cheaper: Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Ling-2.6-flash?
Ling-2.6-flash is the cheapest on input tokens at $0.01 per 1M, and Ling-2.6-flash is cheapest on output at $0.03 per 1M. Claude Sonnet 4.5 costs about 300x more per input token than Ling-2.6-flash.
How much does Claude Sonnet 4.5 cost per 1M tokens?
Claude Sonnet 4.5 costs $3 per 1M input tokens and $15 per 1M output tokens on the Anthropic API, with a 1M-token context window.
How much does Ling-2.6-flash cost per 1M tokens?
Ling-2.6-flash costs $0.01 per 1M input tokens and $0.03 per 1M output tokens on the Inclusionai API, with a 262K-token context window.
What does a typical request cost on Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Ling-2.6-flash?
For a typical request with 2,000 input and 500 output tokens: Claude Sonnet 4.5 costs $0.01, Ling-2.6-flash costs <$0.0001. At 1,000 requests/day for a month that is $405 for Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs $1.05 for Ling-2.6-flash.
Estimate your own workload with the per-model calculators (Claude Sonnet 4.5, Ling-2.6-flash), browse all current prices on the live model pricing dashboard, or run these models head-to-head on a real prompt (free account required). Prices may differ from provider list prices for batch or tiered usage.
Pricing data via the OpenRouter models API.