How much does Prompt Caching reduce LLM API bills?

Prompt caching in Claude 3.5 Sonnet, DeepSeek-V3, and Gemini 1.5 Pro reduces input token costs by 75% to 90% for repeated context. For RAG pipelines and coding agent loops, caching typically cuts overall monthly spend by 50% or more.

Which LLM model offers the best price-to-performance for coding in 2026?

Claude 3.5 Sonnet ($3.00/M in, $15.00/M out) remains the gold standard for high-accuracy complex reasoning. DeepSeek-V3 ($0.14/M in, $0.28/M out) and GPT-4o-mini offer up to 95% cost savings for high-throughput automated tasks.

Key Finding: DeepSeek-V3 ($0.14/M in, $0.28/M out) cuts API bills by 93% vs Claude 3.5 Sonnet while maintaining over 88% benchmark coding accuracy. Implementing Prompt Caching reduces repetitive RAG token expenditures by an additional 75% across all providers.

Global LLM API Pricing & Token Calculator

Live 2026 Model Rate Card: Claude 3.5 Sonnet, GPT-4o, DeepSeek-V3, Gemini 1.5 Flash & Llama 3.3

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Prompt Cache Hit Rate

Model Name	Provider	Rate / 1M (In/Out)	Total / Mo (USD)	Tag

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