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Sakana AI review

Updated September 28, 2026 · DeployCue Editorial Team · Facts checked September 26, 2026

We earn a commission when you sign up through links on this site. Partner status can affect where a brand appears in our rankings. Partners with a live offer in your country come first, then every other brand by score.

Our verdict

Sakana AI suits developers who want long-context, OpenAI-compatible models from a single vendor rather than a routing layer. Its own Fugu and Namazu families top out at a 1,000,000 context window, but input fees of $0.95 to $10 and output fees of $4 to $45 are the weak point.

Key facts

Best for
Long-context work on a single vendor's own models.
Input price from
$0.95 to $10↗
Output price from
$4 to $45↗
Models offered
Fugu, Fugu Ultra, Fugu Max, Fugu Cyber, Sakana Namazu↗
Largest context window
1,000,000↗
OpenAI-compatible API
Yes↗
Legal entity
Sakana AI K.K.↗
Headquarters
Japan↗
Founded
2023↗
Support channels
Help-centre, Community↗
Official website
sakana.ai

LLM gateways

Fee model
Pay-as-you-go tokens plus monthly subscriptions↗
Bring your own key
No↗

Facts checked September 26, 2026, 5 sources

Apps and profiles

Elsewhere
WikidataWikipediaLinkedInXgithub.com

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Largest context window in the group at 1,000,000
  • OpenAI-compatible API, so existing client code carries over
  • A tight, own-model catalogue: Fugu, Fugu Ultra and Fugu Max
  • Billing is Pay-as-you-go tokens plus monthly subscriptions

Cons

  • Input fees of $0.95 to $10 are among the highest in the group
  • Output fees of $4 to $45 sit far above cheaper rivals
  • Support runs on help centre and community only, with no direct channel

Ready to try Sakana AI?

Scored 8.4 / 10 by DeployCue.

See alternatives

Who it suits

  • Developers already building against an OpenAI-style client
  • Teams whose prompts need very long context
  • Small teams that prefer one vendor's own models to a router

Who should look elsewhere

  • Teams chasing the cheapest tokens, who should look at Salad
  • Buyers who want a deep catalogue of third-party models, who should look at Azure AI Foundry or Supascale AI

Where it sits among rivals

Against 71 brands ranked on input price, Sakana AI sits at 65, and output price is similar at 65 of 70. The context picture inverts: its 1,000,000 window places it at 21 of 72. So the cost story is a weak point while the context story is a strength.

How Sakana AI compares

Where Sakana AI is available

Available
Everywhere except Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Belarus, Switzerland, Cuba, Cyprus, Czechia, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Spain, Finland, France, United Kingdom, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Ireland, Iran, Iceland, Italy, North Korea, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Sweden, Slovenia, Slovakia, Syria

Countries from the brand (Source, checked September 26, 2026)

Frequently asked questions

How does Sakana AI price its API?+

Billing is Pay-as-you-go tokens plus monthly subscriptions, so you pay per token and can add a monthly subscription. Entry input pricing starts at $0.95 to $10 and output at $4 to $45 for the Fugu family.

Which models can I call?+

The catalogue is Sakana AI's own: Fugu, Fugu Ultra and Fugu Max. The Fugu family covers general, larger and cyber variants, with Sakana Namazu as a separate line.

How large is the context window?+

The largest context window is 1,000,000, which puts Sakana AI at 21 of 72 brands ranked on that measure.

Is the API OpenAI-compatible?+

Yes, Sakana AI offers an OpenAI-compatible API. Most OpenAI-style client code can point at it without rework, which suits teams migrating providers.

Can I bring my own key?+

Bring your own key is not supported, so you use Sakana AI's hosted models rather than routing a key you already hold. A routing gateway that accepts your own key may fit better.

What support is available?+

Support runs on help centre and community only. There is a help centre and a community channel, and no live or direct channel is listed for account issues.

Who runs Sakana AI and where?+

The provider is Sakana AI K.K., headquartered in Japan and founded in 2023. Contracts and support come from that single legal entity.

Sources

  • console.sakana.ai/get-started checked September 26, 2026

    Backs: Largest context window, Support channels

    “"context_window": 1000000”

  • console.sakana.ai/models checked September 26, 2026

    Backs: Models offered

    “Supported models: `fugu`, `fugu-ultra`, `fugu-ultra-v2.0`, `fugu-max`, `fugu-cyber`, `sakana-namazu`”

  • console.sakana.ai/pricing checked September 26, 2026

    Backs: Input price from, Output price from

    “Fugu Ultra Input $5, Context > 272K $10; Fugu Max Input $2; sakana-namazu-v1.0 Input $0.95 (per 1M tokens)”

  • sakana.ai/company-info checked September 26, 2026

    Backs: Founded, Headquarters, Legal entity

    “founded by David Ha (CEO), Ren Ito (Chairman), and Llion Jones (CTO) in 2023”

  • sakana.ai/fugu checked September 26, 2026

    Backs: Bring your own key, Fee model, OpenAI-compatible API

    “Point your existing client or coding harness at the Fugu endpoint with your API key and start sending requests”

Compiled from 5 source pages, checked September 26, 2026. We did not open an account.

Sakana AI

Long-context work on a single vendor's own models.

8.4/10See alternatives