API cost decision in 10 seconds

NewBeam 1.0 501B A23B vs Solar Mini 4

Pick Solar Mini 4 for lower cost; pick Beam 1.0 501B A23B only if the larger context window matters more.

Page updated: 2026-10-16T16:07:50Z Data confirmed: 2026-10-16T17:07:57Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Solar Mini 4 for lower cost; pick Beam 1.0 501B A23B only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Solar Mini 4 is estimated at $0.15 vs $0.75 for Beam 1.0 501B A23B, saving $0.6 (80% lower).

Cost-first pickSolar Mini 4

Context-first pickBeam 1.0 501B A23B

Sample savings$0.680%

10x traffic gap$6

Beam 1.0 501B A23B has more context, but Solar Mini 4 saves $0.6 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $6. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Solar Mini 4 stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	Beam 1.0 501B A23B	Solar Mini 4
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Solar Mini 4	$1.75	$0.35
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	Solar Mini 4	$1.25	$0.25
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Solar Mini 4	$5.25	$1.05

Cheaper input Solar Mini 4 $0.25 vs $0.05 / 1M

Solar Mini 4 is $0.2 cheaper per 1M input tokens (80% lower; 5x difference).

Cheaper output Solar Mini 4 $1 vs $0.2 / 1M

Solar Mini 4 is $0.8 cheaper per 1M output tokens (80% lower; 5x difference).

Larger context Beam 1.0 501B A23B 1.05M vs 524.29K

Beam 1.0 501B A23B has 524.29K more context (2x larger).

Sample workload Solar Mini 4 $0.75 vs $0.15

Solar Mini 4 is $0.6 cheaper on the standard workload (80% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

Beam 1.0 501B A23B Calculating… Estimated API cost

Solar Mini 4 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

Solar Mini 4 has the lower input price; Solar Mini 4 has the lower output price; Beam 1.0 501B A23B offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Solar Mini 4 is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0.75 for Beam 1.0 501B A23B and $0.15 for Solar Mini 4.

Best Fit

Choose Beam 1.0 501B A23B when you care most about larger context window.

Choose Solar Mini 4 when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Solar Mini 4 is estimated at $0.15 vs $0.75 for Beam 1.0 501B A23B, saving $0.6 (80% lower).
Solar Mini 4 is $0.6 cheaper on the standard workload (80% lower).
Solar Mini 4 is $0.2 cheaper per 1M input tokens (80% lower; 5x difference).
Solar Mini 4 is $0.8 cheaper per 1M output tokens (80% lower; 5x difference).
Beam 1.0 501B A23B has 524.29K more context (2x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	NewBeam 1.0 501B A23B (Reflection)	Solar Mini 4 (Upstage)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$0.25	$0.05
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$1	$0.2
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$0.75	$0.15
Context Window	1.05M	524.29K
Release Date	2026-10-16	2026-09-23

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	Solar Mini 4	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Solar Mini 4 is estimated at $0.15 vs $0.75 for Beam 1.0 501B A23B, saving $0.6 (80% lower).
High-volume input processing	Solar Mini 4	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	Solar Mini 4	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	Beam 1.0 501B A23B	A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps

No lower-cost same-provider swap is currently tracked for this pair.

Larger context near this budget

Llama 4 Scout offers 1.31M context with $0.25 sample workload cost.
MiMo-V2.6-Flash offers 1.05M context with $0.28 sample workload cost.
GPT-6 Luna offers 1.05M context with $0.35 sample workload cost.
GPT-6 Luna Pro offers 1.05M context with $0.35 sample workload cost.

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Cheaper alternatives

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Larger context alternatives

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Provider catalogs

Compare models within provider hubs before choosing a final API vendor.

Open provider hubs

Reflection catalog

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

Open Reflection models

Upstage catalog

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

Open Upstage models

Beam 1.0 501B A23B

Beam 1.0 is Reflection's open-weight reasoning model for coding and long-horizon agentic workflows. It uses a sparse mixture-of-experts architecture with 501B total and 23B active parameters per token, and a...

Solar Mini 4

Solar Mini 4 is Upstage's compact, cost-efficient language model, a 35B-parameter mixture-of-experts with 3B active parameters and a 524K context window. It is built for agentic use cases where response...