Llama 4 API Pricing 2026
Scout & Maverick vs Claude
Meta Llama 4 API pricing across providers — Together AI, Fireworks, Groq — with a direct comparison against Claude Haiku 4.5 and Sonnet 4.6 to help you find the cheapest model for your workload.
Scout Input (Together AI)
Scout Output
Maverick Input
Context Window
Llama 4 Pricing by Provider
| Provider | Model | Input ($/M) | Output ($/M) | SLA / Uptime | SOC 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Together AI | Llama 4 Scout | $0.08 | $0.30 | 99.9% | Yes |
| Together AI | Llama 4 Maverick | $0.22 | $0.88 | 99.9% | Yes |
| Fireworks AI | Llama 4 Scout | $0.10 | $0.30 | 99.5% | Yes |
| Groq | Llama 4 Scout | $0.05 | $0.10 | Best effort | Limited |
| OpenRouter | Llama 4 Scout | $0.08–0.12 | $0.30–0.40 | Varies | No |
Llama 4 vs Claude — Full Comparison
| Feature | Llama 4 Scout | Llama 4 Maverick | Claude Haiku 4.5 | Claude Sonnet 4.6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input price/M (API) | $0.08 | $0.22 | $0.80 | $3.00 |
| Output price/M (API) | $0.30 | $0.88 | $4.00 | $15.00 |
| Prompt caching | Not available | Not available | 90% off (explicit) | 90% off (explicit) |
| Context window (max spec) | 10M tokens | 10M tokens | 200K tokens | 200K tokens |
| Vision / image input | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Tool use quality | Adequate | Good | Excellent | Excellent |
| Self-hosting possible | Yes (open weights) | Yes (open weights) | No | No |
| Enterprise SLA | Via provider | Via provider | Anthropic direct | Anthropic direct |
Monthly Cost Examples
| Workload (per month) | Llama 4 Scout | Llama 4 Maverick | Claude Haiku 4.5 | Haiku + 80% cache |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10M in / 2M out | $1.40 | $3.96 | $16 | $3.40 |
| 100M in / 20M out | $14 | $39.60 | $160 | $34 |
| 1B in / 100M out | $110 | $308 | $1,200 | $256 |
When to Use Llama 4 vs Claude
| Use case | Best choice | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Absolute lowest cost inference | Llama 4 Scout (Groq) | $0.05/M input via Groq LPU |
| Self-hosted / air-gapped | Llama 4 (any) | Open weights, no API dependency |
| Agentic tool-use pipelines | Claude Haiku / Sonnet | Superior function calling reliability |
| Cache-heavy agent loops | Claude Haiku 4.5 | 90% cache discount closes cost gap |
| Very long context (200K+) | Llama 4 Scout/Maverick | 10M context vs Claude's 200K |
| European data sovereignty | Llama 4 (self-hosted) | Run on EU infrastructure with full control |
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does Llama 4 cost per token via API?
Llama 4 Scout costs $0.08/M input and $0.30/M output via Together AI — or as low as $0.05/M input via Groq. Llama 4 Maverick costs $0.22/M input and $0.88/M output on Together AI. Prices vary by provider since Meta distributes Llama 4 as open-weights and doesn't operate an official API — third-party inference providers host it at different rates.
Can I use Llama 4 for free?
Llama 4 is open-weights (free to download and run locally) but third-party APIs charge per token. Groq offers a limited free tier. Together AI and Fireworks offer trial credits upon signup. For self-hosting, you can run Llama 4 Scout on a single H100 80GB or equivalent for near-zero variable cost — ideal for high-volume workloads where capital expenditure on hardware makes sense.
Is Llama 4 Maverick better than Claude Sonnet 4.6?
Llama 4 Maverick is competitive with Claude Sonnet on general reasoning and coding tasks at a fraction of the price ($0.22/M vs $3/M). However, Sonnet consistently outperforms Maverick on complex multi-step tool use, structured output reliability, instruction-following precision, and long-context fidelity. For agentic applications where reliability matters, the cost difference often justifies Claude Sonnet.
Does Llama 4 support prompt caching?
Most third-party providers don't offer Claude-style explicit prompt caching for Llama 4. This is a meaningful cost disadvantage for pipelines with repeated long system prompts or RAG context. Claude Haiku's 90% cache discount on repeated context can make it cost-competitive with Llama 4 Scout on cache-heavy workloads, despite Haiku's higher sticker price. If your workload has less than 50% cache hit rate, Llama 4 Scout will typically be cheaper.
Which is the best provider for Llama 4 API?
For production: Together AI offers the best reliability (99.9% SLA, SOC 2, BAA for healthcare) at competitive $0.08/M Scout pricing. For speed/cost: Groq's LPU delivers 800+ tokens/second at $0.05/M — ideal for latency-sensitive applications. For variety: OpenRouter aggregates multiple providers and routes to the cheapest available. For self-hosting: build on vLLM or Together's open-source inference stack with Llama 4's MIT license.
How do I calculate Llama 4 API monthly costs?
Monthly cost = (input_tokens × $0.00000008) + (output_tokens × $0.0000003) for Scout via Together AI. At 100M input + 20M output tokens/month: $8 + $6 = $14/month. Compare this with your Claude workload using our free cost calculator — paste your Claude Code session logs to get exact token counts, then apply Llama 4's pricing to see which model is cheaper for your actual usage pattern.