Low-cost alternative to OPA197

The OPA197 is a nice opamp. Many other opamps beat it in specific areas but the OPA197 has a well balanced set of all-round good specs. But, at ~US$2 apiece, it's a bit pricey to keep as a general stock part. I'm wondering if anyone here can suggest a lower-cost alternative. For those who are not familiar with the OPA197, here's a summary:

- 4.5-36V (or ±2.25 to ±18) power supply range with excellent specs down to the lower limit.
- 5.5nV/√Hz input noise
- 1mA supply current
- 0.25mV max offset, 25µV typ
- 5pA bias current
- Rail-to-rail input and output
- 10 MHz GBW
- 20V/µS slew rate

I'm willing to trade off some of the properties for a lower cost. First, this is what I want to retain:
- Wide power supply range, especially the low limit
- Low noise
- Low supply current
- R-R in/out

What I'm willing to trade off:
- Very low offset
- Very low bias current
- Bandwidth, slew rate and max supply voltage could be halved

I didn't list things like open-loop gain, CMRR, PSRR, etc because most opamps are good enough in these areas.

Can anyone please suggest a suitable opamp that's substantially cheaper than the OPA197?

Its price 0.662 Euro for 250pcs in Europe ( Mouser) .I believe the price can be around 0.4 $ or a bit more for high volume in Asia or at chinese/taiwan distributors for 3K-5K pcs..

One of the roadblocks I see is the R/R in/ out capability while simultaneously having such a wide supply range.

The R/R in/out I have seen are mostly below 16 volt TOTAL supply range.

That's one of the good things about the OPA197. R-R in/out with a supply range of 4.5 to 36V. I'll be happy with the upper limit halved, or even brought down to 16V total.

~US$2 isn't really expensive if the opamp were to be used only in some costly high-precision design. And as BigBoss pointed out, the price comes down in large quantities. But what I want to do is keep 10-20 pcs as a general-purpose part, ready to be used as and when needed - sort of a high-grade version of an LM358 which is my GP workhorse.

I was hoping to find something costing roughly $0.50 in small quantities, which is still ten times the price of an LM358.

Note: I have to stock a wide range of parts because I live in a remote part of a developing country where online parts shops are practically non-existent. I've come to rely more and more on AliExpress in recent years, but it takes a minimum of one month, often much longer, for my orders to arrive.

I too have had little luck finding a lower cost replacement.
For example, the MC34071/72/74, series has a 3-44V supply voltage with a 4.5MHz GBW and operates from a single supply but is not RR (rather like an LM324) and is about U$1.50 in small quantities.

So perhaps you just have to byte(sp) the bullet and pay the price for the OPA197.

I've decided to go for the TLV2372 for the time being.

- 2.7 to 16V supply voltage
- R-R in/out over the full supply range
- 3MHz BW
- 2.4V/µsec slew rate
- 0.5mV offset
- 39nV/√Hz
- 1.1mA supply current at 5V, 1.5mA at 15V
- 1pA bias current typ., 60pA max

Available for a tenth of the price of an OPA197. And it's a dual, therefore even more economical if more than one opamp is to be used in a circuit. The only sore point is the high noise level, but then you can't have everything.

This is precisely the art and science of analog design, of which opamps are such an important building block:

Choosing among dozens of perfomance parameters, including cost and availability, and distinguish between must have, nice to have, and not important.