How to Estimate LLM API Costs Before You Build

Building with LLMs is exciting, but the costs can spiral out of control if you're not careful. A single prompt might cost fractions of a cent, but multiply that by thousands of users and multiple turns of conversation, and you're looking at a significant bill.

The Formula

Cost = (Input Tokens × Input Price) + (Output Tokens × Output Price)

Input tokens are usually cheaper than output tokens. For example, GPT-4 Turbo might cost $10/1M input tokens and $30/1M output tokens.

Using the Estimator

Our LLM Cost Estimator simplifies this math:

1. Select your model (e.g., GPT-4, Claude 3 Opus).
2. Enter your estimated input tokens per request.
3. Enter your estimated output tokens per request.
4. Enter your expected number of requests.

The tool will project your daily, monthly, and yearly costs, helping you budget effectively.