Free calculator · Updated 2026
How much is your AI workload actually costing you?
Pick the model you are using today, plug in your call volume and average token mix, and see what every other major LLM would cost for the same workload. Sorted cheapest first.
Estimate your AI bill, model by model.
See what your current AI workload actually costs — and which model could do it cheaper without changing the result.
| Model | $ / M input | $ / M output | Monthly | vs. current |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Llama 3.1 8BMeta · Together | $0.18 | $0.18 | $108 | −96% |
| GPT-4o miniOpenAI | $0.15 | $0.60 | $135 | −96% |
| Qwen 2.5 72BAlibaba · OpenRouter | $0.40 | $0.40 | $240 | −92% |
| DeepSeek V3DeepSeek | $0.27 | $1.10 | $245 | −92% |
| Gemini 2.5 FlashGoogle | $0.30 | $2.50 | $400 | −87% |
| Llama 3.1 70BMeta · Together | $0.88 | $0.88 | $528 | −82% |
| Claude Haiku 4Anthropic | $0.80 | $4.00 | $800 | −73% |
| Mistral Large 2Mistral | $2.00 | $6.00 | $1,600 | −47% |
| Gemini 2.5 ProGoogle | $1.25 | $10.00 | $1,625 | −46% |
| GPT-4.1OpenAI | $2.00 | $8.00 | $1,800 | −40% |
| Claude Sonnet 4Anthropic | $3.00 | $15.00 | $3,000 | current |
| GPT-5OpenAI | $5.00 | $20.00 | $4,500 | +50% |
| Claude Opus 4Anthropic | $15.00 | $75.00 | $15,000 | +400% |
Prices reflect typical 2026 list pricing and may change. Verify with each provider before you commit to a budget.
Price alone doesn't tell you if a cheaper model can safely replace yours.
Find the cheapest safe replacement →One formula, every model.
Pick your model
Start with whatever you are paying for today — Claude Sonnet 4 is the default because it is the most common "expensive baseline."
Enter the workload
How many calls per month, average input tokens per call, average output tokens per call. Don't overthink the numbers — directionally correct is enough.
Read the table
Every model is ranked cheapest first. The "current" badge marks your baseline; the percentage is what each alternative would save you.
Verify before switching
Cheap is not the same as safe. Use ModelSwitch to run your real tasks against the top 3 cheaper models before you commit.
AI cost calculator, answered
How accurate is the AI cost calculator?
It uses 2026 list pricing for the major hosted models and a simple per-token model:
(calls × input tokens × $input/M) + (calls × output tokens × $output/M). Your actual bill may differ because of prompt caching, batching, free tiers, or negotiated enterprise rates. The calculator is a planning estimate, not an invoice.Which model is the default in the calculator?
Claude Sonnet 4 — the most common "expensive default" people compare against. Switch the dropdown to your real model and the table re-ranks immediately. The cheapest model in the table is highlighted; the percentage saving is computed against your current model.
Why is my real OpenAI bill different from this?
OpenAI charges for cached input tokens at a lower rate, gives image tokens a different multiplier, and offers batch API discounts. The calculator ignores all of that and uses a single list price for clarity. If you have detailed billing, paste your last invoice into the same formula and you will see the gap.
Does the calculator send my data anywhere?
No. The whole estimator runs in your browser — there is no network request. The four inputs (model, calls, input tokens, output tokens) never leave the page. We do not log your workload.
What is the cheapest LLM in 2026?
For open-weight models on hosted inference, Llama 3.1 8B (via Together) and Qwen 2.5 72B (via OpenRouter) are typically the cheapest. For hosted proprietary models, GPT-4o mini and Gemini 2.5 Flash dominate the budget tier. None of them will replace Claude Opus on hard reasoning tasks — that is what ModelSwitch is for.
What is the next step after I see a cheaper model?
Run your own 20–200 real tasks against it. Price is one axis; quality on your workload is the other. Harpd ModelSwitch does this comparison for you automatically and reports which cheaper model passes your acceptance bar.