API cost decision in 10 seconds

Free Models Router vs Granite 4.0 Micro

Pick Free Models Router when budget and context both matter.

Pricing data updated:  Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Free Models Router when budget and context both matter.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Free Models Router is estimated at $0 vs $0.07 for Granite 4.0 Micro, saving $0.07 (100% lower).

Cost-first pickFree Models Router
Context-first pickFree Models Router
Sample savings$0.07100%
10x traffic gap$0.73

Free Models Router is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $0.73. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Free Models Router stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shapeToken mixBetter pickFree Models RouterGranite 4.0 Micro
Input-heavy / RAG 5M input + 500K output Free Models Router $0 $0.14
Balanced workload 1M input + 1M output Free Models Router $0 $0.13
Output-heavy chatbot 1M input + 5M output Free Models Router $0 $0.58
Cheaper inputFree Models Router$0 vs $0.02 / 1M
Cheaper outputFree Models Router$0 vs $0.11 / 1M
Larger contextFree Models Router200K vs 131K
Sample workloadFree Models Router$0 vs $0.07

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.
Free Models RouterCalculating…Estimated API cost
Granite 4.0 MicroCalculating…Estimated API cost
Cheaper for this workloadCalculating…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

Free Models Router has the lower input price, Free Models Router has the lower output price, and Free Models Router offers the larger context window.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0 for Free Models Router and $0.07 for Granite 4.0 Micro.

Best Fit

Choose Free Models Router when you care most about lower input-token price, lower output-token price, and larger context window.

Choose Granite 4.0 Micro when its provider, model quality, latency, or availability is more important than the numeric price/context winner.

Head-to-Head Specs
FeatureFree Models Router
(OpenRouter)		Granite 4.0 Micro
(IBM)
Input Price
prompt tokens per 1M		$0$0.02
Completion Price
per 1M tokens		$0$0.11
Sample Workload Cost
1M input + 500K output		$0$0.07
Context Window200K131K
Release Date2026-02-012025-10-20
Free Models Router

The simplest way to get free inference. openrouter/free is a router that selects free models at random from the models available on OpenRouter. The router smartly filters for models that...

Granite 4.0 Micro

Granite-4.0-H-Micro is a 3B parameter from the Granite 4 family of models. These models are the latest in a series of models released by IBM. They are fine-tuned for long...

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use caseBetter pickWhy
Budget-constrained productionFree Models RouterOn the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Free Models Router is estimated at $0 vs $0.07 for Granite 4.0 Micro, saving $0.07 (100% lower).
High-volume input processingFree Models RouterLower prompt-token price matters most when prompts or retrieved passages dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbotsFree Models RouterLower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document workFree Models RouterA larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages and source files.