API cost decision in 10 seconds

Solar Pro 3 vs LFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking (free)

Pick LFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking (free) for lower cost; pick Solar Pro 3 only if the larger context window matters more.

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

Budget verdict

Pick LFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking (free) for lower cost; pick Solar Pro 3 only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, LFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking (free) is estimated at $0 vs $0.45 for Solar Pro 3, saving $0.45 (100% lower).

Cost-first pickLFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking (free)
Context-first pickSolar Pro 3
Sample savings$0.45100%
10x traffic gap$4.5

Solar Pro 3 has more context, but LFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking (free) saves $0.45 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $4.5. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

LFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking (free) stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shapeToken mixBetter pickSolar Pro 3LFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking (free)
Input-heavy / RAG5M input + 500K outputLFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking (free)$1.05$0
Balanced workload1M input + 1M outputLFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking (free)$0.75$0
Output-heavy chatbot1M input + 5M outputLFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking (free)$3.15$0
Cheaper input LFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking (free) $0.15 vs $0 / 1M

LFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking (free) is free for input tokens while Solar Pro 3 costs $0.15 per 1M tokens.

Cheaper output LFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking (free) $0.6 vs $0 / 1M

LFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking (free) is free for output tokens while Solar Pro 3 costs $0.6 per 1M tokens.

Larger context Solar Pro 3 128K vs 32.77K

Solar Pro 3 has 95.23K more context (3.91x larger).

Sample workload LFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking (free) $0.45 vs $0

LFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking (free) is free for the standard workload while the other model is estimated at $0.45.

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.
Solar Pro 3 Calculating… Estimated API cost
LFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking (free) 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

LFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking (free) has the lower input price; LFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking (free) has the lower output price; Solar Pro 3 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, LFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking (free) is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0.45 for Solar Pro 3 and $0 for LFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking (free).

Best Fit

Choose Solar Pro 3 when you care most about larger context window.

Choose LFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking (free) 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, LFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking (free) is estimated at $0 vs $0.45 for Solar Pro 3, saving $0.45 (100% lower).
  • LFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking (free) is free for the standard workload while the other model is estimated at $0.45.
  • LFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking (free) is free for input tokens while Solar Pro 3 costs $0.15 per 1M tokens.
  • LFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking (free) is free for output tokens while Solar Pro 3 costs $0.6 per 1M tokens.
  • Solar Pro 3 has 95.23K more context (3.91x larger).
Head-to-Head Specs
FeatureSolar Pro 3
(Upstage)
LFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking (free)
(LiquidAI)
Input Price
prompt tokens per 1M
$0.15$0
Completion Price
per 1M tokens
$0.6$0
Sample Workload Cost
1M input + 500K output
$0.45$0
Context Window128K32.77K
Release Date

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use caseBetter pickWhy
Budget-constrained productionLFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking (free)On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, LFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking (free) is estimated at $0 vs $0.45 for Solar Pro 3, saving $0.45 (100% lower).
High-volume input processingLFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking (free)Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbotsLFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking (free)Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document workSolar Pro 3A 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.
Popular competitors
  • No popular competitor is currently available.

Cheaper alternatives

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Larger context alternatives

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Provider catalogs

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Upstage catalog

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LiquidAI catalog

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Solar Pro 3

Solar Pro 3 is Upstage's powerful Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) language model. With 102B total parameters and 12B active parameters per forward pass, it delivers exceptional performance while maintaining computational efficiency. Optimized...

LFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking (free)

LFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking is a lightweight reasoning-focused model optimized for agentic tasks, data extraction, and RAG—while still running comfortably on edge devices. It supports long context (up to 32K tokens) and is...