Sakana Fugu models: merged from other models, not trained anew
Sakana
Services found: 2
| # | AI model | Capabilities | API $/1M (in / out) | Context window | Price / mo | Output $/1M | Overview | Visit site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Fugu Ultra Sakana |    | $5 / $30 | 1M tokens | API only | 30 | View | |
| 2 | Fugu Max Sakana |   | $2 / $6 | API only | 6 | View |
Browse by need
Sakana AI contributes Fugu Ultra at $5 input and $30 output per 1M tokens, priced in frontier territory. Sakana is a Tokyo research lab known for evolutionary and nature-inspired approaches to model building.
At this price it competes directly with Claude Opus 5 and GPT-5.6 Sol, so the question is whether its different research lineage produces different strengths on your particular tasks. Benchmark rather than assume.
Frontier pricing$30 per 1M output, alongside the major flagships.
Research lineageEvolutionary approaches rather than pure scaling.
Japanese labStrong regional language coverage.
Models from this vendor
1 Sakana model in this rating. Prices are input and output per 1M tokens from the vendor official price list; for dirhams multiply by 3.6725. Tap a card to open the model page.
How to choose
- Benchmark against a comparable model from a larger vendor before committing production traffic — line-ups this size get less independent testing.
- Start with Fugu Max at $2 / $6 per 1M tokens; it is the cheapest entry point here.
- Check the context window against your longest input — the largest here is Fugu Ultra at 1M tokens.
- Confirm support terms and deprecation policy, which smaller vendors document less thoroughly.
Common mistakes
Assuming parity with the majorsOn the hardest tasks the frontier labs remain ahead; compare on your own cases.
Skipping the exit planA smaller vendor can change terms or availability faster. Identify a fallback model before you depend on this one.
Who this suits
Cost-driven teamsFugu Ultra at $5 / $30 undercuts most mainstream options.
EvaluatorsA useful comparison point when benchmarking the single model against larger line-ups.
Regional usersRelevant where this vendor platform or language coverage matters more than raw capability.
Related filters
Text & chat228 models for text generation and chat
Vision156 models that read images
Long context 1M+82 models holding 1M tokens or more
Frontier tier41 flagship models, the best each vendor sells
Alibaba (Qwen)34 models in this rating
OpenAI30 models in this rating
Google DeepMind17 models in this rating
Frequently asked questions
Is Fugu competitive with Opus or Sol?
It is priced there. Verify on your own hardest cases.
What makes Sakana different?
A research approach built on evolutionary methods rather than scale alone.
Is it open weight?
Not in this rating.
How many Sakana models are in this rating?
2, covering text & chat, vision, long context 1M+.
Is Sakana a good default choice?
For most teams no — start with a mainstream vendor and use this one where its pricing or specialisation gives a concrete advantage.
Frequently searched
By capabilityReasoningCodingVisionLong context 1M+Free tierOpen weightsLow latencyRealtime voiceImage generation
By vendorAnthropic (13)OpenAI (30)Google DeepMind (17)xAI (8)Meta (6)DeepSeek (9)Mistral AI (11)Alibaba (Qwen) (34)Z.ai (12)Moonshot AI (5)
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