Particle Ai lists 1 models and Scaledown 2. Scaledown is cheaper on a typical model ($0.03 per 1M tokens median). Below: line-up, price tiers, the cheapest model for each capability, and what each costs for five real workloads.
| Particle Ai | Scaledown | |
|---|---|---|
| Models listed | 1 | 2 |
| Models with published pricing | 1 | 2 |
| Typical price (median, 3:1 blend per 1M) | $0.44 | $0.03 |
| Cheapest paid model | Particle AI: Particle-1 ($0.44) | ScaleDown: Extract ($0.03) |
| Longest context | Particle AI: Particle-1 (1.0M) | ScaleDown: Extract (1M) |
| Free models | 0 | 0 |
| Newest model | Particle AI: Particle-1 (2026-10-28) | ScaleDown: Extract (2026-10-13) |
| 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) | Particle Ai | Scaledown |
|---|---|---|
| Customer-support chatbot 50,000 conversations — each a 6-turn conversation | $38.75 with Particle AI: Particle-1 | $3.00 with ScaleDown: Extract |
| RAG search over documents 20,000 questions — each a question answered from ~8 retrieved passages | $40.00 with Particle AI: Particle-1 | $4.80 with ScaleDown: Extract |
| Coding / tool-using agent 2,000 tasks — each a multi-step task with tool calls and file context | $42.00 with Particle AI: Particle-1 | no suitable model |
| Batch summarisation 10,000 documents — each a 6,000-word report summarised to a page | $26.00 with Particle AI: Particle-1 | $3.20 with ScaleDown: Extract |
| Long-document analysis 500 documents — each a 150-page contract or codebase read in one pass | $13.50 with Particle AI: Particle-1 | $2.00 with ScaleDown: Extract |
| You need | Particle Ai | Scaledown |
|---|---|---|
| Any model | Particle AI: Particle-1 ($0.44) | ScaleDown: Extract ($0.03) |
| With tool calling | Particle AI: Particle-1 ($0.44) | none listed |
| With image input | Particle AI: Particle-1 ($0.44) | ScaleDown: Extract ($0.03) |
| With reasoning mode | Particle AI: Particle-1 ($0.44) | none listed |
| 128K+ context | Particle AI: Particle-1 ($0.44) | ScaleDown: Extract ($0.03) |
| 1M+ context | Particle AI: Particle-1 ($0.44) | ScaleDown: Extract ($0.03) |
| Model type | Particle Ai | Scaledown |
|---|---|---|
| text+image+file->text | 0 | 2 |
| text+image->text | 1 | 0 |
| Price per 1M (3:1 blend) | Particle Ai | Scaledown |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 0 | 0 |
| Under $0.50 | 1 | 2 |
| $0.50 – $3 | 0 | 0 |
| $3 – $10 | 0 | 0 |
| $10 and up | 0 | 0 |
Scaledown is cheaper on a typical model: a median of $0.03 per 1M tokens (3:1 input/output) against $0.44 for Particle Ai. The cheapest paid models are Particle AI: Particle-1 at $0.44 and ScaleDown: Extract at $0.03.
It depends on the job: Scaledown offers the broader line-up (1 models vs 2), Scaledown 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.
Scaledown: Particle Ai lists 1 models and Scaledown lists 2.
Particle Ai: Particle Ai's longest is Particle AI: Particle-1 at 1.0M tokens; Scaledown's is ScaleDown: Extract at 1M.
Neither lists a free model; both are pay-per-token.
Particle Ai: 1 of 1 models accept images. Scaledown: 2 of 2.