AI API cost glossary
Cost per request
Cost per request is the sum of all billable usage generated by one API call, commonly input token cost plus output token cost for a text model.
Why it matters for API cost
It is the bridge between a model's unit rates and product economics. Once measured, it can drive budget limits, pricing tiers, and gross-margin analysis.
Formula
Example
A $0.001 request used 100,000 times per month produces roughly $100 in modeled provider usage.
Frequently asked questions
Should failed requests be included?
Include any failed or retried call that can still create provider usage. Billing behavior depends on the failure stage and provider.
Related guides
How to Calculate LLM Tokens and Estimate API Cost
Learn how to estimate LLM tokens, convert input and output usage into API cost, and build a realistic monthly AI budget.
OpenOpenAI API Pricing Explained: Tokens, Cache, Batch, and Cost
Understand OpenAI API input, output, cached input, batch, image, audio, and embedding pricing with practical formulas.
Open