ZIMASPACE TOOLS / AI COSTS
Compare API spend with a local AI budget.
Estimate text-token costs across 8 providers and 26 model configurations. Then put hardware, electricity and upkeep into the same monthly budget.
1. Define the API workload
Use billable model calls and token counts from real usage logs.
Cache, extra fees and rate conditions
Cache writes use the shortest quoted retention tier where loaded (OpenAI: 30 minutes; Claude: 5 minutes). Cache storage and tool charges belong in additional fees. Missing cache-write quotes are never treated as free.
2. Model a local AI budget
Illustrative inputs, not a hardware recommendation or benchmark.
Value your maintenance time
Validate that the intended model fits and meets your workload before comparing costs. Storage hardware alone is not a complete inference system.
GPT-6.1 Sol
$270.00Modeled API month · token charges plus your extra-fee allowanceLocal monthly cost
$48.01Net hardware amortization + power + running costs + optional laborWorkload in this scenario
30,000 calls60,000,000 input · 15,000,000 output tokensBudget comparison only. Tokenizers, model quality and achievable local throughput differ. Payback assumes the same workload and unchanged local power/operating inputs.
- Input, cache reads and writes
- Billed output
- Additional fees
- Net hardware / useful life
- Electricity
- Other running costs + labor
Compare the same token budget.
Prices are USD / 1M tokens. Sorted by your modeled monthly estimate, not model quality. Endpoint scope and rate notes matter.
| Provider / model | Input / 1M | Cache read / 1M | Output / 1M | Modeled month | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ministral 3 8BMistral · StandardOfficial pricing | $0.15 | $0.015 | $0.15 | $11.25 | Use the selector above |
| GPT-6 LunaOpenAI · StandardOfficial pricing | $0.1 | $0.01 | $0.5 | $13.50 | Use the selector above |
| Claude Haiku 5.5Anthropic · StandardOfficial pricing | $0.1 | $0.01 | $0.5 | $13.50 | Use the selector above |
| Mistral Small 4Mistral · StandardOfficial pricing | $0.15 | $0.015 | $0.6 | $18.00 | Use the selector above |
| DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017DeepSeek · StandardOfficial pricing | $0.3 | $0.006 | $1.2 | $36.00 | Use the selector above |
| Qwen3.7 Plus · USAlibaba Cloud · StandardOfficial pricing | $0.4 | — | $1.6 | $48.00 | Use the selector above |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash-LiteGoogle · StandardOfficial pricing | $0.3 | $0.03 | $2.5 | $55.50 | Use the selector above |
| Mistral Large 4Mistral · StandardOfficial pricing | $0.7 | $0.07 | $2.1 | $73.50 | Use the selector above |
| Grok Build 0.1xAI · StandardOfficial pricing | $1 | $0.2 | $2 | $90.00 | Use the selector above |
| Gemini 3.8 FlashGoogle · StandardOfficial pricing | $0.75 | $0.075 | $3.75 | $101.25 | Use the selector above |
| Grok 4.3xAI · StandardOfficial pricing | $1.25 | $0.2 | $2.5 | $112.50 | Use the selector above |
| GPT-6.1 TerraOpenAI · StandardOfficial pricing | $1 | $0.05 | $5 | $135.00 | Use the selector above |
| DeepSeek V4 ProDeepSeek · StandardOfficial pricing | $1.32 | $0.044 | $3.96 | $138.60 | Use the selector above |
| Mistral Medium 3.5Mistral · StandardOfficial pricing | $1.5 | $0.15 | $7.5 | $202.50 | Use the selector above |
| Grok 4.7xAI · StandardOfficial pricing | $2 | $0.5 | $6 | $210.00 | Use the selector above |
| Qwen3.8 Max · USAlibaba Cloud · StandardOfficial pricing | $2 | — | $6 | $210.00 | Use the selector above |
| GPT-6.1 SolOpenAI · StandardOfficial pricing | $2 | $0.1 | $10 | $270.00 | Use the selector above |
| Claude Sonnet 5.5Anthropic · StandardOfficial pricing | $2 | $0.1 | $10 | $270.00 | Use the selector above |
| Gemini 4 ArgonGoogle · StandardOfficial pricing | $2 | $0.1 | $10 | $270.00 | Use the selector above |
| Kimi K3.1 ProKimi · StandardOfficial pricing | $2 | $0.2 | $10 | $270.00 | Use the selector above |
| Gemini 3.1 Pro PreviewGoogle · StandardOfficial pricing | $2 | $0.2 | $12 | $300.00 | Use the selector above |
| Kimi K3Kimi · StandardOfficial pricing | $3 | $0.3 | $15 | $405.00 | Use the selector above |
| Claude Opus 5.5Anthropic · StandardOfficial pricing | $4 | $0.2 | $20 | $540.00 | Use the selector above |
| Kimi K3.1 Pro HighspeedKimi · StandardOfficial pricing | $4 | $0.2 | $20 | $540.00 | Use the selector above |
| GPT-6 AstraOpenAI · StandardOfficial pricing | $10 | $1 | $50 | $1350.00 | Use the selector above |
| Claude Fable 5.1Anthropic · StandardOfficial pricing | $10 | $0.25 | $50 | $1350.00 | Use the selector above |
What goes into the calculation?
Input tokens are split into ordinary input, cache reads and cache writes. Read and write shares cannot overlap. The selected date and average prompt length determine the applicable loaded price tier. DeepSeek’s window selector applies to that provider only.
Local month = (hardware cost − expected resale) ÷ useful life + whole-system electricity + running costs + maintenance time
Power uses active watts for the hours you enter and idle watts for the remainder of each 24-hour day. The local cost is a planning budget, not a measured inference-cost benchmark. For a worked example and a decision checklist, read cloud AI API pricing vs local AI costs.
Official sources and pricing scope
- OpenAI official pricing
- Anthropic official pricing
- Google official pricing
- DeepSeek official pricing
- Kimi official pricing
- xAI official pricing
- Mistral official pricing
- Alibaba Cloud official pricing
Direct provider endpoints are used where stated. Alibaba entries use US deployment-scope list prices. This is a text-token comparison, not a quote for AWS Bedrock, Azure, Vertex AI, reseller endpoints or chat subscriptions. Known Gemini introductory-price end dates are included; future unannounced changes are not.
FAQ
Are these live provider quotes?
No. These are official-source rates checked on October 30, 2026, with the scheduled changes recorded in the dataset. Review the linked provider pages before committing spend. The date selector applies known changes only; it does not fetch new prices.
How are long prompts priced?
The input-token count selects any documented request-level tier. OpenAI, Claude Haiku, Gemini Pro, Grok and the listed Qwen Plus option have different thresholds. Rates for the entire modeled request change at the relevant boundary.
What does cached-input share mean?
It is the fraction of input tokens billed as cache reads. Cache writes are a separate share. Eligibility, prefix matching and cache lifetime are provider-specific. If a cached-read rate is not loaded, this tool uses the full input price; if a write rate is missing, a write scenario needs a quote.
What is excluded from the API estimate?
Taxes, free credits, subscriptions, batch/flex discounts, premium regional routing, non-text generation, search/tool calls, cache storage and other services are excluded unless entered as additional monthly fees. Only the documented rate categories are modeled.
Does a cheaper local estimate mean it can run the same model?
No. Test model quality, memory fit, throughput, latency and concurrency independently. The local budget assumes your measured active hours and power; it does not predict how much inference the machine can deliver.
What is simple hardware payback?
Net hardware cost divided by the selected monthly API estimate minus local monthly operating costs. Depreciation is excluded from that savings denominator. A non-positive difference has no positive payback under these assumptions.
Can I compare a private quote?
Choose Custom endpoint and enter your verified input, output and cache rates. The calculator runs in your browser and does not request an API key or upload prompts.
