Provider Comparison Guide

Understanding the differences between LLM providers and how to test effectively across them.

Why Compare Providers?

Different LLM providers have unique characteristics that affect your application:

• Response quality: Accuracy and relevance vary
• Response style: Formal vs. conversational tone
• Capabilities: Function calling, vision, multimodal support
• Performance: Speed and latency
• Cost: Pricing per token varies significantly
• Reliability: Uptime and rate limits differ

Testing across providers helps you:

• Choose the best fit for your use case
• Build fallback strategies
• Optimize cost without sacrificing quality
• Stay provider-agnostic

Major Provider Characteristics

OpenAI (GPT Series)

Strengths:

• Excellent general reasoning
• Strong function calling support
• Consistent performance
• Good documentation
• Fast iteration on new features

Models:

• gpt-4o: Balanced performance, multimodal
• gpt-4o-mini: Cost-effective, fast
• gpt-4-turbo: Extended context, reasoning

Best for:

• General purpose applications
• Function/tool calling
• Structured output (JSON mode)
• Rapid prototyping

Response characteristics:

# Typical OpenAI response style
- Length: Moderate (50-150 words for simple queries)
- Tone: Professional, concise
- Structure: Well-organized, bullet points common
- Formatting: Clean markdown, code blocks

Testing considerations:

apiVersion: promptkit.altairalabs.ai/v1alpha1
kind: Scenario
metadata:
  name: openai-conciseness-test

spec:
  task_type: general
  description: "OpenAI Test - expects concise responses"
  providers: [openai-gpt4o-mini]  # Test only this provider

  turns:
    - role: user
      content: "Explain quantum computing"
      assertions:
        - type: content_matches
          params:
            pattern: "^.{1,300}$"
            message: "Should be concise (under 300 chars)"

Anthropic (Claude Series)

Strengths:

• Superior long-context handling (200K+ tokens)
• Thoughtful, nuanced responses
• Strong ethical guardrails
• Excellent at following complex instructions
• Detailed explanations

Models:

• claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022: Best overall, fast
• claude-3-5-haiku-20241022: Fast and affordable
• claude-3-opus-20240229: Highest capability

Best for:

• Long document analysis
• Complex reasoning tasks
• Detailed explanations
• Ethical/sensitive content

Response characteristics:

# Typical Claude response style
- Length: Longer, more detailed (100-300 words)
- Tone: Thoughtful, conversational
- Structure: Narrative style, detailed explanations
- Formatting: Paragraphs over bullet points

Testing considerations:

apiVersion: promptkit.altairalabs.ai/v1alpha1
kind: Scenario
metadata:
  name: claude-test

spec:
  task_type: test
  description: "Claude Test"

    providers: [claude-sonnet]
    assertions:
      # Expect more verbose responses
      - type: content_matches
        params:
          pattern: "^.{100,}$"
          message: "Should be at least 100 characters"

      # Excellent at context retention
      - type: content_includes
        params:
          patterns: ["context", "previous"]
          message: "Should reference context"

      # Strong safety filtering
      - type: llm_judge
        params:
          criteria: "Response has appropriate tone"
          judge_provider: "openai/gpt-4o-mini"
          message: "Must be appropriate"

Google (Gemini Series)

Strengths:

• Fast response times
• Strong multimodal capabilities (vision, audio)
• Google Search integration potential
• Cost-effective
• Large context windows

Models:

• gemini-1.5-pro: High capability, multimodal
• gemini-1.5-flash: Fast, cost-effective
• gemini-2.0-flash-exp: Latest experimental

Best for:

• Multimodal applications
• High-throughput scenarios
• Cost optimization
• Real-time applications

Response characteristics:

# Typical Gemini response style
- Length: Moderate (50-200 words)
- Tone: Direct, informative
- Structure: Mixed bullet points and paragraphs
- Formatting: Good markdown support

Testing considerations:

apiVersion: promptkit.altairalabs.ai/v1alpha1
kind: Scenario
metadata:
  name: gemini-test

spec:
  task_type: test
  description: "Gemini Test"

    providers: [gemini-flash]
    assertions:
      # Expect fast responses
max_seconds: 2

      # Good at direct answers
      - type: content_includes
        params:
          patterns: "key information"

Ollama (Local LLMs)

Strengths:

• Zero API costs (local inference)
• No rate limits
• Data privacy (runs locally)
• OpenAI-compatible API
• Fast iteration during development
• No internet required

Models:

• llama3.2:1b: Lightweight, fast
• llama3.2:3b: Good balance
• mistral: Strong reasoning
• llava: Vision capabilities
• deepseek-r1: Advanced reasoning

Best for:

• Local development and testing
• Privacy-sensitive applications
• Cost-free experimentation
• Offline development
• CI/CD pipelines (with self-hosted runner)

Response characteristics:

# Typical Ollama response style (varies by model)
- Length: Model-dependent (similar to base model)
- Tone: Varies by model
- Structure: Varies by model
- Formatting: Good markdown support

Testing considerations:

apiVersion: promptkit.altairalabs.ai/v1alpha1
kind: Scenario
metadata:
  name: ollama-test

spec:
  task_type: test
  description: "Ollama Local Test"

    providers: [ollama-llama]
    assertions:
      # Local models may be slower (depends on hardware)
      max_seconds: 10

      # Good for iterative development
      - type: content_includes
        params:
          patterns: "key concepts"

Response Style Comparison

Formatting Preferences

Different providers format responses differently:

# Test query: "List 3 benefits of exercise"

# OpenAI tends toward:
"""
Here are 3 key benefits:
1. Improved cardiovascular health
2. Better mental well-being
3. Increased energy levels
"""

# Claude tends toward:
"""
Exercise offers numerous benefits. Let me highlight three important ones:

First, it significantly improves cardiovascular health by...
Second, it enhances mental well-being through...
Third, it boosts energy levels because...
"""

# Gemini tends toward:
"""
Here are 3 benefits:
* Cardiovascular health improvement
* Enhanced mental well-being
* Increased energy
"""

Test across styles:

assertions:
  # Provider-agnostic content check
  - type: content_includes
    params:
      patterns: ["cardiovascular", "mental", "energy"]

  # Not: format-specific assertion
  # - type: regex
  #   value: "^1\\. .+"  # Too OpenAI-specific

Verbosity Differences

Response length varies significantly:

Provider	Typical Length	Tendency
OpenAI	50-150 words	Concise, to the point
Claude	100-300 words	Detailed, explanatory
Gemini	50-200 words	Direct, informative

Accommodate variation:

assertions:
  # Instead of exact length (use regex)
  - type: content_matches
    params:
      pattern: "^.{50,500}$"
      message: "Should be 50-500 characters"

  # Focus on content completeness
  - type: content_includes
    params:
      patterns: ["point1", "point2", "point3"]
      message: "Must cover all key points"

Tone and Personality

Providers have distinct “personalities”:

# Same prompt: "Help me debug this error"

# OpenAI: Professional, structured
"""
To debug this error, follow these steps:
1. Check the error message
2. Review the stack trace
3. Verify your inputs
"""

# Claude: Empathetic, thorough
"""
I understand debugging can be frustrating. Let's work through
this systematically. First, let's examine the error message
to understand what's happening...
"""

# Gemini: Direct, solution-focused
"""
Error debugging steps:
- Check error message for root cause
- Verify inputs and configuration
- Review recent code changes
"""

Test for appropriate tone:

assertions:
  # Not provider-specific phrases
  - type: llm_judge
    params:
      criteria: "Response is helpful and constructive"
      judge_provider: "openai/gpt-4o-mini"
      message: "Must be helpful"

  # Not exact wording
  - type: llm_judge
    params:
      criteria: "Response is supportive and encouraging"
      judge_provider: "openai/gpt-4o-mini"
      message: "Must be supportive"

Performance Characteristics

Response Time

Typical latencies (approximate):

# Single-turn, 100 token response
openai-gpt4o-mini:     ~0.8-1.5 seconds
claude-haiku:          ~1.0-2.0 seconds
gemini-flash:          ~0.6-1.2 seconds

openai-gpt4o:          ~1.5-3.0 seconds
claude-sonnet:         ~1.5-2.5 seconds
gemini-pro:            ~1.0-2.0 seconds

Test with appropriate thresholds:

assertions:
  # Fast models
max_seconds: 2
    providers: [openai-mini, gemini-flash, claude-haiku]

  # Powerful models (allow more time)
max_seconds: 4
    providers: [openai-gpt4o, claude-sonnet, gemini-pro]

Context Window Handling

Maximum context varies:

Provider	Max Context	Best Use
GPT-4o	128K tokens	General purpose
Claude Sonnet	200K tokens	Long documents
Gemini Pro	2M tokens	Massive context

Test long context:

apiVersion: promptkit.altairalabs.ai/v1alpha1
kind: Scenario
metadata:
  name: long-document-analysis

spec:
  task_type: test
  description: "Long Document Analysis"

    providers: [claude-sonnet, gemini-pro]  # Best for long context
    context:
      document: "${fixtures.50k_word_doc}"
    turns:
      - role: user
        content: "Summarize the key points"
        assertions:
          - type: references_document
            value: true

Cost Analysis

Pricing Comparison (per 1M tokens, approximate)

Provider	Model	Input	Output	Use Case
OpenAI	gpt-4o-mini	$0.15	$0.60	Cost-effective
OpenAI	gpt-4o	$2.50	$10.00	Balanced
Anthropic	claude-haiku	$0.25	$1.25	Fast & cheap
Anthropic	claude-sonnet	$3.00	$15.00	Premium
Google	gemini-flash	$0.075	$0.30	Most affordable
Google	gemini-pro	$1.25	$5.00	Mid-tier
Ollama	Any model	$0.00	$0.00	Free (local)

Cost-Effective Testing Strategy

# Tier 0: Local development (Ollama, $0)
local_tests:
  providers: [ollama-llama]
  scenarios: unlimited
  cost: $0

# Tier 1: Smoke tests (mock, $0)
smoke_tests:
  provider: mock
  scenarios: 50
  cost: $0

# Tier 2: Integration (mini/flash, ~$0.10)
integration_tests:
  providers: [openai-mini, gemini-flash]
  scenarios: 100
  estimated_cost: $0.10

# Tier 3: Quality validation (premium, ~$1.00)
quality_tests:
  providers: [openai-gpt4o, claude-sonnet]
  scenarios: 50
  estimated_cost: $1.00

# Total per run: ~$1.10 (excluding local tests)

Capability Differences

Function/Tool Calling

Support varies:

# OpenAI: Excellent
turns:
  - name: "Tool Calling Test"
    providers: [openai-gpt4o]
    turns:
      - role: user
        content: "What's the weather in Paris?"
        assertions:
          - type: tools_called
            params:
              tools: ["get_weather"]
              message: "Should call weather tool"
    conversation_assertions:
      - type: tool_calls_with_args
        params:
          tool: "get_weather"
          expected_args:
            location: "Paris"
          message: "Should pass correct location"

# Claude: Good
# Gemini: Good (Google AI Studio format)

Structured Output

JSON mode support:

# OpenAI: Native JSON mode
providers:
  - type: openai
    response_format: json_object

# Claude: JSON via prompting
providers:
  - type: anthropic
    # Must prompt for JSON in system message

# Gemini: JSON via schema
providers:
  - type: google
    # Supports schema-based generation

Multimodal Capabilities

Vision/image support:

# All support images, but differently
turns:
  - name: "Image Analysis"
    providers: [gpt-4o, claude-opus, gemini-pro]
    turns:
      - role: user
        content: "Describe this image"
        image: "./test-image.jpg"
        assertions:
          - type: content_includes
            params:
              patterns: ["objects", "colors", "scene"]

Testing Strategy by Provider

Cross-Provider Baseline

Test all providers with same scenario:

apiVersion: promptkit.altairalabs.ai/v1alpha1
kind: Scenario
metadata:
  name: standard-support-query

spec:
  task_type: test
  description: "Standard Support Query"

    providers: [openai-gpt4o-mini, claude-sonnet, gemini-flash]

    turns:
      - role: user
        content: "What's your refund policy?"
        assertions:
          # Common requirements for ALL providers
          - type: content_includes
            params:
              patterns: ["refund", "policy", "days"]
              message: "Must mention refund policy details"
          - type: llm_judge
            params:
              criteria: "Response is helpful and informative"
              judge_provider: "openai/gpt-4o-mini"
              message: "Must be helpful"

Provider-Specific Tests

Test unique capabilities:

# OpenAI: Function calling
turns:
  - name: "Function Calling"
    providers: [openai-gpt4o]
    assertions:
      - type: tools_called
        params:
          tools: ["specific_function"]
          message: "Should call the specific function"

# Claude: Long context
turns:
  - name: "Long Document Processing"
    providers: [claude-sonnet]
    context:
      document: "${fixtures.100k_token_doc}"

# Gemini: Speed
turns:
  - name: "High Throughput"
    providers: [gemini-flash]
    assertions:
max_seconds: 1

Fallback Testing

Test provider redundancy:

apiVersion: promptkit.altairalabs.ai/v1alpha1
kind: Scenario
metadata:
  name: provider-failover

spec:
  task_type: test
  description: "Provider Failover"

    primary_provider: openai-gpt4o
    fallback_providers: [claude-sonnet, gemini-pro]

    scenarios:
      # Test primary
      - provider: openai-gpt4o
        expected_to_work: true

      # Test fallbacks
      - provider: claude-sonnet
        expected_to_work: true
      - provider: gemini-pro
        expected_to_work: true

Best Practices

1. Provider-Agnostic Assertions

Write tests that work across providers:

# ✅ Good: Works for all providers
assertions:
  - type: content_includes
    params:
      patterns: ["key", "terms"]
      message: "Must contain key terms"
  - type: llm_judge
    params:
      criteria: "Response is appropriate for the context"
      judge_provider: "openai/gpt-4o-mini"
      message: "Must be appropriate"

# ❌ Avoid: Provider-specific expectations
assertions:
  - type: content_matches
    params:
      pattern: "^Here are 3"
      message: "Exact phrase - too OpenAI-specific"

2. Normalize for Comparison

Account for style differences:

# Test content, not format
assertions:
  - type: content_similarity
    baseline: "${fixtures.expected_content}"
    threshold: 0.85  # 85% similar

3. Use Tags for Provider Categories

apiVersion: promptkit.altairalabs.ai/v1alpha1
kind: Scenario
metadata:
  name: fast-provider-test

spec:
  task_type: test
  description: "Fast Provider Test"

    tags: [fast-providers]
    providers: [openai-mini, gemini-flash, claude-haiku]

  - name: "Premium Provider Test"
    tags: [premium-providers]
    providers: [openai-gpt4o, claude-sonnet, gemini-pro]

4. Cost-Aware Testing

# Development: Use cheap/mock
promptarena run --provider openai-mini

# CI: Use cost-effective
promptarena run --provider gemini-flash

# Pre-production: Use target provider
promptarena run --provider claude-sonnet

5. Benchmark Regularly

Track provider changes over time:

# Monthly benchmark suite
benchmark:
  frequency: monthly
  providers: [openai-gpt4o, claude-sonnet, gemini-pro]
  scenarios: standard_benchmark_suite
  track:
    - pass_rate
    - average_response_time
    - cost_per_run
    - quality_scores

When to Switch Providers

Reasons to Use Multiple Providers

During Development:

• Test with cheap models (mini/flash)
• Validate with target model (final choice)
• Compare quality across options

In Production:

• Primary + fallback for reliability
• Route by use case (simple → mini, complex → premium)
• Cost optimization per scenario

Decision Framework

decision_matrix:
  use_openai_when:
    - need: function_calling
    - need: structured_output
    - priority: ease_of_use

  use_claude_when:
    - need: long_context
    - need: detailed_explanations
    - priority: quality

  use_gemini_when:
    - need: speed
    - need: cost_optimization
    - priority: throughput

  use_ollama_when:
    - need: zero_cost
    - need: data_privacy
    - need: offline_development
    - priority: local_iteration

Conclusion

Provider choice affects:

• Response quality and style
• Performance and latency
• Cost per interaction
• Capabilities available

Test across providers to:

• Find the best fit
• Build resilient systems
• Optimize cost
• Stay flexible

PromptArena makes cross-provider testing straightforward, enabling data-driven provider decisions.

Further Reading

• Testing Philosophy - Core testing principles
• Validation Strategies - Assertion design
• How-To: Configure Providers - Provider setup
• Tutorial: Multi-Provider Testing - Hands-on guide