Open-Weight AI Models Surge in Token Volume, Outpacing Closed Models

As of August 2026, open-weight AI models have dramatically increased their share of token volume on Vercel’s AI Gateway, rising from 11% in April to 56%. This significant growth marks a pivotal moment in the AI model landscape, with open models surpassing closed models for the first time in this metric. On August 22, the share of open models peaked at approximately 62%, and subsequent data indicated it could be as high as 78.4%.

Despite the surge in volume for open-weight models, closed models still dominate revenue generation. Anthropic, the creator of the Claude series of closed models, accounts for 61-65% of total spending on the gateway, even though it processes only about 30% of the tokens. The pricing strategy for closed models allows them to command premiums of up to 4.4 times the average token price, highlighting a distinct economic divide in the AI market.

The trend towards open-weight models is accompanied by a notable decline in average token prices, which fell by 23.2% in August alone, marking the third consecutive month of price decreases. Over the past five months, prices have plummeted by more than 50%. Open-weight models, such as those from DeepSeek, Z.ai, and Moonshot, are now able to handle high-volume workloads at a fraction of the cost of their closed counterparts, which has contributed to their rising popularity.

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Source: KLEA News