Cheapest LLMs that accept images
ScaleDown: Summarize is the cheapest option at $0.040 per million input tokens. Models that take image input alongside text, ranked by what you pay per million text tokens.
218 models qualify
Ranked by blended cost - input weighted 75%, output 25%.
| # | Model | Blended / 1M | Input / 1M | Output / 1M | Context | Capabilities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jev Router TypeSafe | $-1000000.0000 | $-1000000.0000 | $-1000000.0000 | 1M | ReasoningToolsVision |
| 2 | Auto Router (Beta) OpenRouter | $-1000000.0000 | $-1000000.0000 | $-1000000.0000 | 2M | ReasoningToolsVision |
| 3 | Auto Router OpenRouter | $-1000000.0000 | $-1000000.0000 | $-1000000.0000 | 2M | ReasoningToolsVision |
| 4 | Dots3-Note Preview (free) Dots Studio | Free | Free | Free | 512K | Free tierReasoningToolsVision |
| 5 | Free | Free | Free | 256K | Free tierReasoningToolsVisionOpen weights | |
| 6 | Lyria 3 Pro Preview | Free | Free | Free | 1.0M | Free tierVision |
| 7 | Lyria 3 Clip Preview | Free | Free | Free | 1.0M | Free tierVision |
| 8 | Free Models Router OpenRouter | Free | Free | Free | 200K | Free tierReasoningToolsVision |
| 9 | Summarize ScaleDown | $0.030 | $0.040 | Free | 1M | Vision |
| 10 | Extract ScaleDown | $0.030 | $0.040 | Free | 1M | Vision |
| 11 | Nex-N2.5-Mini Nex AGI | $0.044 | $0.025 | $0.100 | 262K | ReasoningVisionOpen weights |
| 12 | GLM 5.3 Flash Z.ai | $0.053 | $0.046 | $0.074 | 1.0M | ReasoningToolsVisionOpen weights |
| 13 | Qwen3.7 Flash Qwen | $0.055 | $0.030 | $0.130 | 1M | ReasoningToolsVision |
| 14 | Gemma 3 4B | $0.063 | $0.050 | $0.100 | 131K | VisionOpen weights |
| 15 | Gemma 3 12B | $0.075 | $0.050 | $0.150 | 131K | ToolsVisionOpen weights |
| 16 | Ling 3.0 Flash VL inclusionAI | $0.090 | $0.060 | $0.180 | 131K | ReasoningToolsVisionOpen weights |
| 17 | Ternary Bonsai 2 9B PrismML | $0.092 | $0.080 | $0.130 | 262K | ReasoningToolsVisionOpen weights |
| 18 | Reka Edge Reka AI | $0.100 | $0.100 | $0.100 | 16K | ToolsVisionOpen weights |
| 19 | Ministral 3 3B 2512 Mistral AI | $0.100 | $0.100 | $0.100 | 131K | ToolsVisionOpen weights |
| 20 |  Nova Lite 1.0 Amazon | $0.105 | $0.060 | $0.240 | 300K | ToolsVision |
| 21 | Mistral Small 3.2 24B Mistral AI | $0.106 | $0.075 | $0.200 | 256K | ToolsVisionOpen weights |
| 22 | Qwen3.5-Flash Qwen | $0.114 | $0.065 | $0.260 | 1M | ReasoningToolsVision |
| 23 | Nex-N2.5-Pro Nex AGI | $0.119 | $0.075 | $0.250 | 262K | ReasoningToolsVisionOpen weights |
| 24 | $0.125 | $0.100 | $0.200 | 1.0M | ReasoningToolsVision | |
| 25 | $0.125 | $0.100 | $0.200 | 1.0M | ReasoningToolsVision |
Frequently asked
What is the cheapest LLM for image understanding?
ScaleDown: Summarize at $0.040 per million input tokens and Free per million output tokens, with a 1M token context window.
How many models qualify for image understanding?
218 of the 359 models tracked here meet the criteria for this list.
How much do prices vary within this category?
By roughly 2,300×, from Summarize at the bottom to GPT-5.4 Pro at the top.