Pricing & Cost

Pay-Per-Token

Quick Answer

A billing model charging per token processed (input and output separately).

Pay-per-token is the standard pricing model for LLMs. You pay per input token + per output token. This aligns cost with usage. Reduces cost for short queries but increases cost for long responses. Pay-per-token incentivizes efficiency. Understanding token counts is essential. All major APIs use some form of per-token pricing. Cost optimization focuses on reducing token consumption.

Last verified: 2026-04-08

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