Monthly Cost Summary

Cost Comparison per month

Detailed Breakdown

Model	Input $/1M	Output $/1M	Daily Cost	Monthly Cost	Annual Cost	Context

12-Month Cost Projection

Optimization Recommendations

Frequently Asked Questions

How are AI API costs calculated?

AI APIs charge per token processed. Tokens are roughly 4 characters or 0.75 words. You pay separately for input tokens (your prompt) and output tokens (the AI's response). Costs vary significantly by model tier, with budget models costing 10-50x less than premium ones.

What is prompt caching and how much does it save?

Prompt caching stores frequently-used prompt prefixes (system prompts, context) so you don't pay full price for re-sending them. Anthropic's caching saves up to 90% on cached input tokens. OpenAI offers similar savings. It's most effective when you have large, repeated system prompts across requests.

What is the Batch API?

The Batch API lets you submit multiple requests at once for asynchronous processing. In exchange for slower response times (up to 24 hours), you get a 50% discount on both Anthropic and OpenAI platforms. It's ideal for data processing, evaluation, and offline analysis tasks.

Which AI model is cheapest for my use case?

For simple tasks (classification, extraction, formatting), budget models like Gemini Flash Lite ($0.075/$0.30), DeepSeek V3 ($0.27/$1.10), or Claude Haiku ($1/$5) offer excellent value. For complex reasoning, coding, or analysis, mid-tier models like GPT-4.1 ($2/$8) or Gemini Pro ($2/$12) balance cost and quality. Premium models (Claude Opus, GPT-4o) are best reserved for tasks requiring the highest capability.

How accurate is this calculator?

Prices are updated monthly from official provider pricing pages. Last updated March 2026. Actual costs may vary based on rate limits, prompt caching hit rates, long-context surcharges (some providers charge more for prompts over 128K-200K tokens), and volume discounts.