API cost decision in 10 seconds

NewAion 3.5 Mini vs Fugu Max

Pick Aion 3.5 Mini for lower cost; pick Fugu Max only if the larger context window matters more.

Page updated: 2026-09-23T15:07:58Z Data confirmed: 2026-09-23T18:07:52Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Aion 3.5 Mini for lower cost; pick Fugu Max only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Aion 3.5 Mini is estimated at $1.4 vs $5 for Fugu Max, saving $3.6 (72% lower).

Cost-first pickAion 3.5 Mini

Context-first pickFugu Max

Sample savings$3.672%

10x traffic gap$36

Fugu Max has more context, but Aion 3.5 Mini saves $3.6 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $36. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Aion 3.5 Mini stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	Aion 3.5 Mini	Fugu Max
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Aion 3.5 Mini	$4.2	$13
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	Aion 3.5 Mini	$2.1	$8
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Aion 3.5 Mini	$7.7	$32

Cheaper input Aion 3.5 Mini $0.7 vs $2 / 1M

Aion 3.5 Mini is $1.3 cheaper per 1M input tokens (65% lower; 2.86x difference).

Cheaper output Aion 3.5 Mini $1.4 vs $6 / 1M

Aion 3.5 Mini is $4.6 cheaper per 1M output tokens (76.7% lower; 4.29x difference).

Larger context Fugu Max 262.14K vs 1M

Fugu Max has 737.86K more context (3.81x larger).

Sample workload Aion 3.5 Mini $1.4 vs $5

Aion 3.5 Mini is $3.6 cheaper on the standard workload (72% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

Aion 3.5 Mini Calculating… Estimated API cost

Fugu Max Calculating… Estimated API cost

Cheaper for this workload Calculating… Difference: calculating…

This estimate uses normalized public API pricing per 1M tokens. It is a planning aid, not a billing quote. Verify provider pricing, limits, and terms before production use.

Quick Decision

Verdict

Aion 3.5 Mini has the lower input price; Aion 3.5 Mini has the lower output price; Fugu Max offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Aion 3.5 Mini is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $1.4 for Aion 3.5 Mini and $5 for Fugu Max.

Best Fit

Choose Aion 3.5 Mini when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.

Choose Fugu Max when you care most about larger context window.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Aion 3.5 Mini is estimated at $1.4 vs $5 for Fugu Max, saving $3.6 (72% lower).
Aion 3.5 Mini is $3.6 cheaper on the standard workload (72% lower).
Aion 3.5 Mini is $1.3 cheaper per 1M input tokens (65% lower; 2.86x difference).
Aion 3.5 Mini is $4.6 cheaper per 1M output tokens (76.7% lower; 4.29x difference).
Fugu Max has 737.86K more context (3.81x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	NewAion 3.5 Mini (AionLabs)	Fugu Max (Sakana)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$0.7	$2
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$1.4	$6
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$1.4	$5
Context Window	262.14K	1M
Release Date	2026-09-23	2026-09-11

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	Aion 3.5 Mini	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Aion 3.5 Mini is estimated at $1.4 vs $5 for Fugu Max, saving $3.6 (72% lower).
High-volume input processing	Aion 3.5 Mini	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	Aion 3.5 Mini	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	Fugu Max	A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps

Sakana Namazu can replace Fugu Max when lower sample workload cost matters most: $2.95.

Larger context near this budget

Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
GLM 5.3 Flash offers 1.31M context with $0.4 sample workload cost.
DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 offers 1.31M context with $0.36 sample workload cost.

Popular competitors

MiMo-V2.6-Pro · Xiaomi · #1
GLM 5.3 Flash · Z.ai · #2
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash · DeepSeek · #3
Hy4 preview · Tencent · #4

Cheaper alternatives

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Larger context alternatives

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Provider catalogs

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Open provider hubs

AionLabs catalog

Review all tracked AionLabs models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.

Open AionLabs models

Sakana catalog

Check other Sakana models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.

Open Sakana models

Aion 3.5 Mini

Aion 3.5 Mini is a multi-model roleplaying and storytelling system from AionLabs, built on the GLM family of models. It is the smaller, lower-cost sibling of Aion 3.5 and uses...

Fugu Max

Fugu Max is the cost-performance model in Sakana AI's Fugu family. Rather than a single monolithic model, Fugu is a learned multi-agent orchestration system: a language model trained to route...