Free tool · Prices last checked 2026-08-24
What does the AI API really cost per month?
Official prices for OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and DeepSeek, applied to your volume, your document sizes, and your language. No email required.
documents processed, conversations, summaries, extractions
prompt plus the document or conversation the model reads
what the model writes back
| Model | Input $/M | Output $/M | Monthly cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini 2.5 Flash-LiteGoogle · Budgetcheapest | $0.10 | $0.40 | $2.24/mo |
| DeepSeek v4 FlashDeepSeek · Budget | $0.14 | $0.28 | $2.24/mo |
| GPT-5.4 nanoOpenAI · Budget | $0.20 | $1.25 | $5.92/mo |
| DeepSeek v4 ProDeepSeek · Mid tier | $0.435 | $0.87 | $6.96/mo |
| Gemini 3.1 Flash-LiteGoogle · Budget | $0.25 | $1.50 | $7.20/mo |
| GPT-5.4 miniOpenAI · Budget | $0.75 | $4.50 | $22/mo |
| Claude Haiku 4.5Anthropic · Budget | $1.00 | $5.00 | $26/mo |
| Gemini 3.6 FlashGoogle · Mid tier | $1.50 | $7.50 | $38/mo |
| Gemini 3.1 ProGoogle · Flagship Up to 200K context | $2.00 | $12.00 | $58/mo |
| Claude Sonnet 5Anthropic · Mid tier | $2.00 | $10.00 | $67/mo |
| GPT-5.4OpenAI · Mid tier | $2.50 | $15.00 | $72/mo |
| GPT-5.5OpenAI · Flagship | $5.00 | $30.00 | $144/mo |
| Claude Opus 5Anthropic · Mid tier | $5.00 | $25.00 | $166/mo |
| Claude Fable 5Anthropic · Flagship | $10.00 | $50.00 | $333/mo |
Official standard-tier rates, each read from the provider's own pricing page on the date shown: OpenAI 2026-07-08, Anthropic 2026-08-24, Google 2026-08-03, DeepSeek 2026-07-08. Claude Fable 5, Opus 5 and Sonnet 5 use a newer tokenizer that produces roughly 30% more tokens for the same text (per Anthropic's pricing page); the estimate accounts for it.
Sources and method
Where these numbers come from
Every price here was read from the provider's own official page, standard tier, no batch discounts: OpenAI (developers.openai.com), Anthropic (platform.claude.com), Google (ai.google.dev) and DeepSeek (api-docs.deepseek.com). Providers are re-checked on different dates rather than all at once, so each one carries the date its page was last read: OpenAI 2026-07-08, Anthropic 2026-08-24, Google 2026-08-03, DeepSeek 2026-07-08. Nothing on this table is older than 2026-07-08. NVIDIA Nemotron is excluded because build.nvidia.com publishes no per-token price: its hosted catalog is a free prototyping tier and production runs self-hosted under NVIDIA AI Enterprise.
Word-to-token conversion uses ~1.33 tokens per English word (the 4-characters heuristic both OpenAI and Anthropic publish) and ~1.6 for Spanish, based on tokenization fairness research. Prices change: always confirm with the provider before budgeting. And if what you actually need is the cost of implementing AI end to end, that is a different number: see the full implementation pricing guide, the AI agent cost breakdown, and how to budget the year-one project.
FAQ
Common questions
How much does the AI (LLM) API cost per month for a company?
It depends on three numbers: tasks per month, words the model reads per task, and words it writes. As a reference, 10,000 monthly tasks reading 600 words and writing 200 in Spanish cost from a few dollars per month on budget models (DeepSeek v4 Flash, Gemini Flash-Lite) to a few hundred on flagships. The calculator above computes it with official prices.
Why does Spanish cost more tokens than English?
Tokenizers were trained mostly on English, so Spanish splits into more pieces: roughly 1.5 to 1.7 tokens per word versus about 1.33 in English (Petrov et al., NeurIPS 2023). The same document in Spanish can cost 15 to 25 percent more.
Is the API the main cost of implementing AI?
Almost never. For a production agent, model tokens are usually a small fraction of the total: the real costs are integration engineering, evaluation, and day-two operation. Our full pricing guide breaks down what an implementation actually costs.
Which AI model is cheapest in 2026?
Among official APIs, DeepSeek v4 Flash ($0.14 in / $0.28 out per million tokens) and Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite ($0.10 / $0.40) are the cheapest published tiers as of August 2026. Cheapest is not always best: accuracy on your real cases decides the true cost.
Cost & ROI hub
The business case, by question
Pillar page
AI implementation cost (pillar)
Market ranges, cost drivers, and the ROI calculator for a production agent in LatAm.
ROI of AI automation
How to build the internal business case: baseline, payback, and when not to automate.
Operational cost reduction with AI
Where operating cost actually sits, and which workflows move it.
What an AI agent costs
Build, operate, and the line items most quotes leave out.
Budgeting an enterprise AI project
A year-one budget: audit, build, operation, and change management.
Chatbot vs agent TCO
SaaS chatbot versus a custom agent, measured per resolved conversation.
Next step
Turn the number into a decision
The ranges on this page are the market. A 10-day validation on one of your workflows turns them into a fixed-scope quote — or tells you to wait.
Analysis
Related reading
4 min read
AI Agent Cost-Benefit Analysis: Build, Buy, or Outsource?
Explore a detailed cost-benefit analysis of AI agents to decide whether to build, buy, or outsource for optimal enterprise operations.
5 min read
What is the ROI of AI Agents in Enterprise Operations?
AI agents in enterprise operations deliver ROI by reducing costs, boosting efficiency, and enhancing data quality, but metrics vary by context.
6 min read
AI-Managed Service vs Traditional Sales Models: Cost Comparison for LatAm
AI-managed services can yield 41-370% ROI, while traditional sales models face rising SDR burnout costs. Compare these models for LatAm businesses...