LLM API Cost Estimator
Calculate the cost of using language model APIs. Estimate expenses for GPT-4, Claude, Gemini, and more.
Cost Calculator
Cost Breakdown
Model Pricing Comparison
| Model | Input | Output |
|---|---|---|
GPT-4 Turbo OpenAI | $0.0100 | $0.0300 |
GPT-4 OpenAI | $0.0300 | $0.0600 |
GPT-3.5 Turbo OpenAI | $0.0005 | $0.0015 |
Claude 3 Opus Anthropic | $0.0150 | $0.0750 |
Claude 3.5 Sonnet Anthropic | $0.0030 | $0.0150 |
Claude 3 Haiku Anthropic | $0.0003 | $0.0013 |
Gemini 1.5 Pro Google | $0.0035 | $0.0105 |
Gemini 1.5 Flash Google | $0.0001 | $0.0003 |
* Prices per 1,000 tokens (USD)
Quick Examples
Cost Saving Tips
- • Use cheaper models for simple tasks
- • Optimize prompts to reduce tokens
- • Cache common responses
- • Batch requests when possible
- • Monitor usage with quotas
Free LLM API Cost Estimator - Calculate AI Expenses Instantly
Welcome to DevToolVault's free LLM API cost estimator, the essential tool for budgeting your AI projects. Whether you're building with GPT-4, Claude, Gemini, or other language models, our calculator helps you estimate API expenses based on token usage—helping you choose the right model and optimize your costs before deployment.
Understanding LLM API Pricing
Language model APIs charge based on tokens—the basic units that models process. A token is roughly 4 characters or 0.75 words in English. Most providers charge separately for input tokens (your prompts) and output tokens (model responses), with output typically costing 2-5x more due to the computational intensity of text generation.
How to Use This Calculator
Select your target model from the dropdown, enter estimated input and output tokens per request, and specify how many requests you expect. The calculator instantly shows cost per request and total cost. Use the quick examples to estimate common use cases like chatbots, content generation, or classification tasks.
Model Pricing Comparison
Key pricing tiers across major providers:
- Budget Tier: GPT-3.5-Turbo, Claude 3 Haiku, Gemini Flash — Best for high-volume, simple tasks
- Balanced Tier: GPT-4-Turbo, Claude 3 Sonnet, Gemini Pro — Good quality-to-cost ratio
- Premium Tier: GPT-4, Claude 3 Opus — Highest capability, best for complex reasoning
Cost Optimization Strategies
Reduce LLM costs by: using concise prompts (fewer input tokens), choosing appropriately-sized models (don't use GPT-4 for simple tasks), implementing response caching for common queries, batching similar requests, setting reasonable max token limits, and considering fine-tuning for repetitive tasks to reduce prompt length.
Token Estimation Tips
For accurate cost estimates, use our AI Token Counter to measure actual token counts for your prompts. Remember that different languages tokenize differently— Chinese, Japanese, and code typically use more tokens per character than English prose.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do LLM API pricing models work?
LLM providers charge per token (roughly 4 characters or 0.75 words in English). Most charge separately for input tokens (your prompt) and output tokens (the response). Output tokens are typically 2-5x more expensive because they require more computation.
Why are output tokens more expensive than input tokens?
Output tokens require the model to generate new text through multiple inference steps, while input tokens only need to be processed once. Generation is computationally intensive, involving repeated forward passes through the neural network.
How can I reduce my LLM API costs?
Optimize prompts to use fewer tokens, cache common responses, use cheaper models for simple tasks (GPT-3.5 vs GPT-4), implement rate limiting, batch similar requests, and consider fine-tuning for repetitive tasks to reduce prompt length.
What's the difference between GPT-4 and GPT-4-Turbo pricing?
GPT-4-Turbo (128K context) is significantly cheaper than standard GPT-4, with lower per-token costs while offering the same capabilities. It's typically the better choice unless you specifically need GPT-4 (8K) compatibility.
How do Claude's pricing tiers compare to GPT?
Claude offers tiered pricing: Claude 3 Haiku (cheapest, fastest), Claude 3 Sonnet (balanced), and Claude 3 Opus (most capable, expensive). Haiku often beats GPT-3.5-Turbo on price while offering comparable quality.
What are tokens and how do I count them?
Tokens are the basic units LLMs process—subword pieces that may be whole words, parts of words, or punctuation. Use our AI Token Counter tool to count tokens precisely. As a rough estimate: 1 token ≈ 4 characters or 0.75 words in English.
Do all LLM providers charge the same way?
Most use per-token pricing, but specifics vary. OpenAI and Anthropic charge input/output separately. Google (Gemini) uses similar pricing. Some offer free tiers, volume discounts, or committed use discounts for enterprise customers.
How accurate is this cost estimator?
Our estimates use official published pricing from each provider. Actual costs may vary based on prompt optimization, caching, retries, and special pricing agreements. We update pricing regularly, but always verify current rates on provider websites.
Related AI Tools: Try our AI Token Counter, JSON to JSONL Converter, and Text Chunker for more AI development utilities.