OpenAI API vs SambaCloud

OpenAI API

Official OpenAPI document and an llms.txt index. Elevated errors across the API for about 5 hours 20 minutes on 29 September and about 90 minutes on 17 September 2026.

SambaCloud

Per-token prices and the model list are readable without a key at /v1/models, and a free tier needs no card. Production models get two to three weeks' notice before removal, 13 model ids left between March and June 2026, and the docs disagree with the live catalogue on MiniMax-M2.7.

OpenAI API

1. Build on the Responses API. Astra calls tools only there
2. Use gpt-6-luna for routing and extraction and gpt-6.1-sol for most work. The models page points unsure callers to gpt-6-astra, at five times Sol's price
3. Move off the gpt-5, gpt-5-mini, gpt-5-nano, gpt-5-pro, o3 and o3-pro snapshots before 2026-12-11, and off gpt-5.1, gpt-5.3-codex and gpt-5.4-nano before 2027-04-01
4. Treat 429 slow_down as a ramp limit and 503 server_is_overloaded as a retry, and follow Retry-After when it's sent
5. Prompts over 272K tokens cost double on input. Trim before you pay for it

SambaCloud

1. Call GET https://api.sambanova.ai/v1/models at start-up and use only ids it returns. The docs name models the endpoint no longer lists
2. Read x-ratelimit-remaining-requests and x-ratelimit-remaining-requests-day on every response. The free tier allows 20 requests a day per model
3. Treat 429 queue_full and 503 maintenance as retryable after a delay, and 410 model_deprecated as a signal to change model
4. Validate JSON output yourself. Schema enforcement is best effort and strict: true changes nothing
5. Check max_completion_tokens per model. DeepSeek-V3.1 caps output at 7,168 tokens and Llama 3.3 70B at 3,072