Baidu (ERNIE) API Pricing
Baidu's ERNIE models are sold through Qianfan, priced in yuan, and cheap by Western standards even after conversion.
| Model | Input / 1M | Output / 1M | Cached input / 1M | Batch | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ERNIE 5.1 | $0.56 | $2.54 | N/A | N/A | Quoted by Baidu in CNY (¥4 in / ¥18 out per 1M). Converted at roughly ¥7.1 to the dollar; treat as approximate. |
Baidu has one model tracked here, ERNIE 5.1, at $0.56 in / $2.54 out per 1M tokens. That ranks #24 of 60 models across 17 providers on a blended 3:1 rate.
About the currency conversion
ERNIE 5.1 is quoted by Baidu at ¥4 per million input tokens and ¥18 per million output. The dollar figures shown are converted at roughly ¥7.1 to the dollar and will drift as the exchange rate does. As with the other CNY-priced providers on this site, the yuan figure is authoritative and the dollar figure is a convenience.
Where ERNIE sits
Converted, ERNIE 5.1 lands near the cheap end of the mid band, below Kimi K2.5 and GLM-4.6 on input. Baidu also publishes smaller ERNIE 4.5 variants that go considerably lower, though not all of them have a confirmable output rate, so only the models with a complete rate pair appear here.
The shape of the pricing is conventional: output runs about four and a half times input, which is in line with the industry norm and unlike the flat-rate structures Perplexity uses on some tiers.
Every Baidu model on this site
| Model | Blended / 1M | Rank of 60 | Full pricing |
|---|---|---|---|
| ERNIE 5.1 | $1.06 | #24 | ERNIE 5.1 pricing page |
Baidu pricing FAQ
How much does Baidu's ERNIE API cost?
ERNIE 5.1 is priced at ¥4 per million input tokens and ¥18 per million output, roughly $0.56 and $2.54 converted at ¥7.1 to the dollar.
How does ERNIE compare to DeepSeek or Qwen on price?
ERNIE 5.1 is more expensive than DeepSeek V4 Pro and Qwen3.7 Flash, and cheaper than Qwen3.8 Max. All three sit well below the US providers. The comparison table ranks them alongside everything else tracked here.