Essential AI lists 1 models and Particle Ai 1. Essential AI is cheaper on a typical model ($0.15 per 1M tokens median). Below: line-up, price tiers, the cheapest model for each capability, and what each costs for five real workloads.
| Essential AI | Particle Ai | |
|---|---|---|
| Models listed | 1 | 1 |
| Models with published pricing | 1 | 1 |
| Typical price (median, 3:1 blend per 1M) | $0.15 | $0.44 |
| Cheapest paid model | EssentialAI: Rnj 1 Instruct ($0.15) | Particle AI: Particle-1 ($0.44) |
| Longest context | EssentialAI: Rnj 1 Instruct (33K) | Particle AI: Particle-1 (1.0M) |
| Free models | 0 | 0 |
| Newest model | EssentialAI: Rnj 1 Instruct (2025-12-07) | Particle AI: Particle-1 (2026-10-28) |
| Price changes in the last 90 days | 0 | 0 |
For each workload: the cheapest model from each provider that can actually do it (fits the context window; tool calling required for the agent), and its monthly cost at list price.
| Workload (per month) | Essential AI | Particle Ai |
|---|---|---|
| Customer-support chatbot 50,000 conversations — each a 6-turn conversation | $14.25 with EssentialAI: Rnj 1 Instruct | $38.75 with Particle AI: Particle-1 |
| RAG search over documents 20,000 questions — each a question answered from ~8 retrieved passages | $19.50 with EssentialAI: Rnj 1 Instruct | $40.00 with Particle AI: Particle-1 |
| Coding / tool-using agent 2,000 tasks — each a multi-step task with tool calls and file context | no suitable model | $42.00 with Particle AI: Particle-1 |
| Batch summarisation 10,000 documents — each a 6,000-word report summarised to a page | $12.90 with EssentialAI: Rnj 1 Instruct | $26.00 with Particle AI: Particle-1 |
| Long-document analysis 500 documents — each a 150-page contract or codebase read in one pass | no suitable model | $13.50 with Particle AI: Particle-1 |
| You need | Essential AI | Particle Ai |
|---|---|---|
| Any model | EssentialAI: Rnj 1 Instruct ($0.15) | Particle AI: Particle-1 ($0.44) |
| With tool calling | EssentialAI: Rnj 1 Instruct ($0.15) | Particle AI: Particle-1 ($0.44) |
| With image input | none listed | Particle AI: Particle-1 ($0.44) |
| With reasoning mode | none listed | Particle AI: Particle-1 ($0.44) |
| 128K+ context | none listed | Particle AI: Particle-1 ($0.44) |
| 1M+ context | none listed | Particle AI: Particle-1 ($0.44) |
| Model type | Essential AI | Particle Ai |
|---|---|---|
| text+image->text | 0 | 1 |
| text->text | 1 | 0 |
| Price per 1M (3:1 blend) | Essential AI | Particle Ai |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 0 | 0 |
| Under $0.50 | 1 | 1 |
| $0.50 – $3 | 0 | 0 |
| $3 – $10 | 0 | 0 |
| $10 and up | 0 | 0 |
Essential AI is cheaper on a typical model: a median of $0.15 per 1M tokens (3:1 input/output) against $0.44 for Particle Ai. The cheapest paid models are EssentialAI: Rnj 1 Instruct at $0.15 and Particle AI: Particle-1 at $0.44.
It depends on the job: both list 1 models, Essential AI the lower typical price, Particle Ai the longest context (1.0M tokens). The workload table above shows which wins for chat, RAG, agents, batch jobs and long documents.
Neither — both list 1 models.
Particle Ai: Essential AI's longest is EssentialAI: Rnj 1 Instruct at 33K tokens; Particle Ai's is Particle AI: Particle-1 at 1.0M.
Neither lists a free model; both are pay-per-token.
Essential AI: 0 of 1 models accept images. Particle Ai: 1 of 1.