AI API Integration Guide 2026

Comparing OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and open-source APIs — pricing, latency, and production patterns

API Pricing Comparison — May 2026

OpenAI GPT-4o ($2.50/$10 per 1M tokens), Anthropic Claude 4 ($3/$15), Google Gemini 2.5 ($1.25/$5), DeepSeek V4 ($0.55/$2.19). Includes free tier limits, rate limits, and context window capacities.

Production Patterns for AI APIs

Streaming responses, function calling, structured output (JSON mode), prompt caching, semantic routing, fallback chains, and multi-model orchestration. Code examples in Python and TypeScript.

Self-Hosted Alternatives

Running Llama 4, Mistral Large, and DeepSeek on your own infrastructure. Cost comparison: API vs self-hosted at different request volumes. When to switch from API to dedicated inference.