Input vs output token spend
Output tokens usually cost several times more than input, so answer length is what really drives your bill.
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AI & LLM Cost
AI Token Cost Calculator
See exactly what your tokens cost. Enter how many input and output tokens each request uses, choose a model, and this AI token cost calculator prices the split and compares every major 2026 model side by side.
Estimated monthly cost
$0
Cost per request—
Cost per 1,000 requests—
Input token cost—
Output token cost—
Tokens processed / month—
Annual estimate—
The same workload priced across AI models
Your monthly token volume run through popular 2026 models, cheapest first.
What the AI Token Cost Calculator does
Tokens are the unit AI providers bill in, so understanding token cost is the key to controlling any AI budget. A token is a short piece of text, about four characters on average. Your prompt, system message and any documents you attach count as input tokens, and everything the model writes back counts as output tokens, each priced at its own per million rate.
This AI token cost calculator makes that split visible. It shows how much of your spend comes from feeding the model context versus generating answers, so you can see whether to trim prompts, shorten replies or switch to a cheaper model for the volume you run.
Heads up on pricing. The rates built into this tool are public list estimates for July 2026 and can change without notice. Providers also offer batch discounts, prompt caching and volume tiers that lower real costs, so treat the output as a planning estimate, not a quote.
The formula
input cost = input tokens ÷ 1,000,000 × input rate
output cost = output tokens ÷ 1,000,000 × output rate
total token cost = input cost + output cost
output cost = output tokens ÷ 1,000,000 × output rate
total token cost = input cost + output cost
Worked example
On Claude Sonnet 4.5 ($3 input, $15 output per million), a request with 2,000 input tokens and 800 output tokens costs 0.002 × $3 + 0.0008 × $15 = $0.006 + $0.012 = $0.018 per request. Run 500,000 of those a month and you are looking at about $9,000.
AI model pricing used in this calculator (July 2026 estimates)
| Model | Provider | Input / 1M tokens | Output / 1M tokens |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPT-5 | OpenAI | $1.25 | $10.00 |
| GPT-5 mini | OpenAI | $0.25 | $2.00 |
| Claude Opus 4.1 | Anthropic | $15.00 | $75.00 |
| Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Anthropic | $3.00 | $15.00 |
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | Anthropic | $1.00 | $5.00 |
| Gemini 2.5 Pro | $1.25 | $10.00 | |
| Gemini 2.5 Flash | $0.30 | $2.50 | |
| DeepSeek V3 | DeepSeek | $0.27 | $1.10 |
| Grok 4 | xAI | $3.00 | $15.00 |
| Llama 4 Maverick | Meta | $0.20 | $0.60 |
Prices are public list estimates for planning as of July 2026 and change often. Providers bill per token, where roughly 1,000 tokens equals about 750 words. Always confirm live rates on the provider pricing page before you set a budget.
Ways to lower your AI costs
- Match the model to the task. Route simple requests to a small model like GPT-5 mini, Gemini Flash or DeepSeek V3, and keep premium models for complex reasoning where quality pays off.
- Cache repeated context. Prompt caching means you stop paying full price for the same system prompt or documents on every call.
- Cap output length. Output tokens cost several times more than input, so limiting response length is often the fastest saving you can make.
- Trim prompts and history. Summarize old conversation turns and drop context the model does not actually need to answer well.
- Batch non-urgent work. Many providers offer batch pricing at around half the standard rate for jobs that can wait a few hours.
Frequently asked questions
How do I count tokens?
A quick rule is 1 token ≈ 4 characters ≈ 0.75 words in English. For an exact count, use the provider tokenizer, since code, punctuation and other languages tokenize differently.
Do input and output tokens cost the same?
No. Output tokens usually cost three to six times more than input tokens, because generating text is far more compute intensive than reading it.
What uses up input tokens fastest?
Long system prompts, few-shot examples and large retrieved documents. Context you resend on every call adds up quickly, which is where caching helps most.
How many tokens is a typical chat reply?
A short answer is 50 to 200 tokens, a detailed one 400 to 900. Cap the maximum output length if you want predictable costs.
Are these token prices current?
They are July 2026 list estimates. Confirm the live per million token rate on the provider page before budgeting.