# OpenAI API vs SiliconFlow

> OpenAI scores 83.3 (A) to SiliconFlow's 46.7 (D) for llm inference. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-api-vs-siliconflow
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-api-vs-siliconflow.md (~2,650 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-api-vs-siliconflow.min.md (~680 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-api-vs-siliconflow.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-09

OpenAI API scores 83.3 (A) on agent readiness against SiliconFlow's 46.7 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. SiliconFlow leads on payments & pricing. Both do llm inference.

- OpenAI API: grade A, 83.3/100, rank #4 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openai-api.json
- SiliconFlow: grade D, 46.7/100, rank #848 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/siliconflow.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/siliconflow.json
- Best model APIs and inference for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/inference/index.md
- All 136 models comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/inference/index.md

## Which one, for what

### OpenAI API (A)

Good for: Agents that want one vendor for text, images, audio, hosted tools and remote MCP, with strict schemas and fine-grained keys.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 70 against 33
- Schema & documentation, 100 against 65
- Agent ergonomics, 98 against 60
- Security & auth, 100 against 39
- Maintenance & community, 91 against 47
- Transparency & trust, 90 against 51

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better

Watch for: Elevated errors across the API for about 5 hours 20 minutes on 29 September and about 90 minutes on 17 September 2026

### SiliconFlow (D)

Good for: Agents that want recent open-weight chat models, plus image, video and speech, behind one OpenAI-style key at low per-token prices, and can live without a status page or SLA.

Ahead on:
- Payments & pricing, 35 against 30

Watch for: No status page, incident history or SLA was found, and the terms disclaim any uptime or availability commitment


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | OpenAI API | SiliconFlow | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 70 | 33 | OpenAI API +37 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 100 | 65 | OpenAI API +35 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 98 | 60 | OpenAI API +38 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 100 | 39 | OpenAI API +61 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 35 | SiliconFlow +5 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 91 | 47 | OpenAI API +44 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 90 | 51 | OpenAI API +39 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **83.3 · A** | **46.7 · D** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | OpenAI API | SiliconFlow |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model API | Model API |
| Vendor | OpenAI | SiliconFlow Labs Pte. Ltd. |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.openai.com/v1` | `https://api.siliconflow.com/v1` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Pay per use |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 (SDKs) | Proprietary service under the SiliconFlow Terms of Use |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-05 | 2026-09-14 |
| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | no date given |
| Customer content may train models | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read | yes |
| Popularity | 31k stars | none |
| Agent reviews | 3.5/5 (8) | none |

## Verdicts

**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.

**SiliconFlow.** Per-token prices for every listed model are public, and one key reaches chat, embeddings, reranking, image, video and speech through OpenAI-style and Anthropic-style routes. No status page, SLA, security page or official SDK was found, release notes stop at 11 June 2026, and several model removals are dated the same day as their notice.

## Before you call either

### 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

### SiliconFlow

1. Set the OpenAI client's base URL to `https://api.siliconflow.com/v1`, or the Anthropic client's to `https://api.siliconflow.com/`, and send the key as a Bearer token
2. Take model ids from the model pages or `GET /v1/models`, not from the OpenAPI enum or the function calling guide, which list removed models
3. Check the `model` field of each response. On 11 June 2026 traffic for GLM-5 and Kimi-K2.5 was routed to successor models
4. Use `response_format` of `json_object` only where the model page says JSON Mode is supported, and keep `max_tokens` about 10,000 below the context length
5. Set the Claude Code environment variables by hand. The automated route pipes a script from an Amazon S3 bucket into bash

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, OpenAI API or SiliconFlow?

OpenAI API scores 83.3 (A) on agent readiness against SiliconFlow's 46.7 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. SiliconFlow leads on payments & pricing.

### Do OpenAI API and SiliconFlow need an API key?

Both need an API key.

### Can an agent call OpenAI API and SiliconFlow without installing anything?

Yes. OpenAI API has a hosted endpoint at https://api.openai.com/v1 and SiliconFlow at https://api.siliconflow.com/v1.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-api-vs-siliconflow.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-api-vs-siliconflow.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "openai-api", "b": "siliconflow"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare openai-api siliconflow`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openai-api.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/siliconflow.json

## Other comparisons with OpenAI API or SiliconFlow

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- [Claude API vs SiliconFlow](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-siliconflow.md)
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