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Claude vs OpenAI API

Two model provider options for LLM API. When each fits, what it costs, who moves from one to the other, and what makers who chose it say.

ClaudeModel providerllms.txtIn Lovable, Replit
OpenAI APIModel providerllms.txtIn Lovable, Replit
Ask your AI about this, with this page as the source:ChatGPT ↗Claude ↗Perplexity ↗

Which fits you

Choose Claude if
  • You want the strongest general models and the widest ecosystem of examples and integrations

Use it whenYour feature is an agent that calls tools, writes code or works through long documents.

Trade-offNo image generation or embedding models of its own, so those need a second provider.

Choose OpenAI API if
  • You want the strongest general models and the widest ecosystem of examples and integrations

Use it whenYou want one account that covers text, images, speech and embeddings, with the most examples to copy from.

Trade-offFrequent model and API changes to keep up with, and no option to run its hosted models elsewhere.

At a glance

ClaudeOpenAI API
Used by251 makers' products · 285 open-source projects734 makers' products · 481 open-source projects
Cost at default usageinput tokens 50 million tokens, output tokens 10 million tokens$10/mo Claude Haiku 5.5$10/mo GPT-6 Luna
Moved to it on GitHubpull requests since Oct 2024127 from OpenAI API89 from Claude
Downloads31.6M/wk4.1× vs npm34.1M/wk+61% vs npm
PricingPay per token. · paid from Pay per tokenPay per token. · paid from Pay per token
Free tierNoNo
Open sourceNoNo
Incidents, 90 daysfrom its status page50+ (21 major)25+ (4 major)

Cost as you grow

They cost the same at every scale we price, up to 5B tokens.

$0$20$100$500$1,0001510501005001k5k
OpenAI APIClaudex: input tokens per month (million tokens), other usage scaled with it · cheapest usable plan at each point, list prices · try your own numbers
The numbers, plan by plan
Input tokens per monthClaudeOpenAI API
1$0.20 Claude Haiku 5.5$0.20 GPT-6 Luna
5$1.00 Claude Haiku 5.5$1.00 GPT-6 Luna
10$2.00 Claude Haiku 5.5$2.00 GPT-6 Luna
50$10 Claude Haiku 5.5$10 GPT-6 Luna
100$20 Claude Haiku 5.5$20 GPT-6 Luna
500$100 Claude Haiku 5.5$100 GPT-6 Luna
1,000$200 Claude Haiku 5.5$200 GPT-6 Luna
5,000$1,000 Claude Haiku 5.5$1,000 GPT-6 Luna

From each vendor's pricing page: Claude, OpenAI API.

Who moves from one to the other

Public pull requests on GitHub since Oct 2024 whose title says "Claude to OpenAI API" or the reverse — real code changes, by developers in general rather than makers only.

OpenAI API → Claude127 PRs
All matching pull requests on GitHub ↗
Claude → OpenAI API89 PRs
All matching pull requests on GitHub ↗

What makers say

Makers on using it for LLM API, from Product Hunt and Starter Story interviews, each linked to the source. Products with a page of their own and fuller notes first.

On Claude
Taskade Genesis works beautifully with Claude. It brings strong reasoning and long-range thinking to any Genesis app, helping systems plan, adapt, and make sense of complex inputs.
Taskade, the makerSep 2026 ↗
We're excited about Claude-3.5 Sonnet and the upcoming 3.5 Opus. We'll introduce Opus to AICamp users upon release. We use Sonnet for its superior pair programming capabilities.
AICamp, the makerSep 2026 ↗
Huge shoutout to the Anthropic team — their Claude models are the backbone of some of our agents. Fast, reliable, and beautifully open‑source. Exactly what the AI world needs more of.
Calk AI, the makerSep 2026 ↗
149 more on the Claude page →
On OpenAI API
We use GPT-5.6 to power the Basedash AI data analyst. It's incredibly intelligent and, with the right harness, allows us to rank #1 on BI Bench for solving real-world BI scenarios.
Basedash, the makerSep 2026 ↗
Credit where it’s due: OpenAI’s dev tools made it incredibly easy to prototype and test multiple ideas fast. Still unmatched when you need raw speed, documentation, and flexibility.
Calk AI, the makerSep 2026 ↗
Quven writes subtitles from the audio of a film on the machine of the user. The Whisper models, run locally through whisper.cpp, can do it and the audio never leaves that machine.
Quven, the makerOct 2026 ↗
500 more on the OpenAI API page →

Loved and watch-outs

Themes that recur in makers' words and Hacker News comments, each linked to what it summarises.

Claude
Most loved
  • It is strong at writing code and powers many code generation and coding agent products. PHPH 2PH 3PH 4
  • It stays coherent through long, multi-step reasoning and agent workflows. PHPH 2PH 3PH 4
  • Its writing sounds natural and matches a user's tone rather than reading as AI-generated. PHPH 2PH 3PH 4
Watch-outs
  • Outages are frequent, with uptime below three nines across the API and apps. HNHN 2HN 3HN 4
  • API pricing is a large multiple of subscription pricing, making heavy agent use expensive. HNHN 2HN 3
  • Postmortems confirmed periods of degraded output, including a lowered default reasoning effort in Claude Code. HN
On Product Hunt: 5.0★, 1,012 reviews · mentioned most: AI assistant, code generation, contextual understanding · complaints: message limits, typography issues
OpenAI API
Most loved
  • Its models are strong at code generation, reasoning and creative tasks, often chosen after testing alternatives. PHPH 2PH 3PH 4
  • The API is reliable and well-priced as the foundation for production features. PHPH 2PH 3HN
  • Good docs and a smooth developer experience make integration straightforward. PHPH 2PH 3PH 4
Watch-outs
  • It cut usage on the $200 Pro plan and changed limits, frustrating paying subscribers. HNHN 2HN 3HN 4
  • Model quality shifts between releases, including a quickly replaced GPT-6 and quietly tweaked reasoning levels. HNHN 2HN 3HN 4
  • Models flag or stop midway on legitimate security work. HNHN 2
On Product Hunt: 5.0★, 860 reviews · mentioned most: AI API, AI productivity boost, fast performance · complaints: AI accuracy issues, AI pricing

Who uses each

Claude251 makers' products
8baseAccordio AIAgentcardAgentplace.ioAgentXAI Code Reviews by MatterAIAI EmailyAICampAirial TravelAirKarenAnythingAstrid+239 more
OpenAI API734 makers' products
2dto3D8baseAgentplace.ioAgentXAgnost AIAgree.comAI Context FlowAI Form FillAI Game Master- Dungeon RPGAI Santa ClausAI ShadowingAI Test Engineer by BlinqIO+722 more
Used by both — often one replacing the other, or each for a different part of the product
8baseAgentplace.ioAgentXAI EmailyAICampAirial TravelAnythingBasaltBasejump AIBlink.newByteroverCalk AI

What makers pair each with

With Claude
Transactional Email
Frontend Framework
Hosting
Payments
With OpenAI API
Frontend Framework
Transactional Email
Hosting
Payments

Neither quite right?

See the whole LLM API decision →
Gemini APIModel providerVery long context and multimodal input, with a free tier to start.vs Claude →vs OpenAI API →
GroqOpen models, hostedVery low-latency inference on open models, for real-time features.vs Claude →vs OpenAI API →
Mistral AIModel providerA European provider whose API covers chat, coding, OCR and speech models.vs Claude →vs OpenAI API →
DeepSeekModel providerLow per-token prices on strong reasoning and coding models, with OpenAI- and Anthropic-format endpoints.vs Claude →vs OpenAI API →
OpenRouterGateway (many providers, one API)Trying many models from many providers with one API key and one bill, without opening an account at each.vs Claude →
LiteLLMGateway (many providers, one API)Running your own OpenAI-compatible proxy in front of your own provider keys, with retries, routing and per-key budgets.