LLM Token Cost Calculator
Free LLM token cost calculator. Compare API pricing per 1M tokens for OpenAI, Claude and Gemini, and find the break-even vs self-hosting on your own GPU.
What is a LLM Token Cost Calculator?
Every LLM API bills by the token — the small text chunks a model reads and writes, roughly three-quarters of an English word each. Prices are quoted per million tokens, with input (your prompts and context) charged at a much lower rate than output (the model's replies). That split makes real bills hard to predict from a price list: at a typical 4:1 input-to-output ratio, a workload of 50 million tokens per month on GPT-5.4 Mini ($0.75 in / $4.50 out per 1M) works out to about $75 a month — while the same volume on a premium frontier model can cost more than $1,000.
This calculator answers the question price lists can't: at your volume, is the API still the cheap option, or would renting a GPU server and self-hosting an open-weights model save money? It converts a server's rental price, throughput and utilization into an effective cost per million tokens, compares that with the API's blended price at your input:output ratio, and shows the break-even volume — including a capacity check that flags when a single server physically cannot produce the tokens you need.
| Value | Meaning | Example | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Token | The unit LLMs bill by, ≈ ¾ of an English word | "hello world" ≈ 2–3 tokens | Estimating your volume |
| Input price | Dollars per 1M prompt and context tokens | $0.75 per 1M (GPT-5.4 Mini) | RAG and long-context work |
| Output price | Dollars per 1M generated tokens | $4.50 per 1M (GPT-5.4 Mini) | Generation-heavy workloads |
| Blended price | Average $/1M at your input:output ratio | $1.50 per 1M at 4:1 | Comparing models fairly |
| Throughput | Tokens/sec a self-hosted server produces | ≈1,500 tok/s (Llama 3.3 70B on an H100) | Sizing a self-host rig |
| Utilization | Share of the month the server does useful work | 60% | Honest self-host math |
| Break-even | Volume where self-hosting beats the API | ≈1.4B tokens/mo vs GPT-5.4 Mini | The rent-or-build decision |
How it works
Set your monthly token volume and the input : output ratio of your workload.
Choose an API model and a rental GPU server — current prices are filled in for you.
See both monthly bills, the effective price per 1M tokens, and the break-even volume.
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