# Token Budgeter

> Independent, daily-updated AI API price tracker and plain-English cost calculators for founders and developers. Compares 55 models from OpenAI (GPT), Anthropic (Claude), Google (Gemini), xAI (Grok), DeepSeek, Mistral and Meta (Llama). Last updated 2026-10-28. Prices: OpenRouter public API (https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/models), cross-checked with InferIndex. Standard non-batch, non-cached list prices; ~1.33 tokens per English word.

## Key answers (2026-10-28)
- Which AI API is cheapest for a chatbot? As of 2026-10-28, Meta: Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is the cheapest tracked model for a typical chatbot: about $7.18/month for 10,000 users × 30 messages ($0.02 input / $0.04 output per 1M tokens).
- What does it cost to run 1,000 chats? About $0.02 on Meta: Llama 3.1 8B Instruct for 1,000 chats of 600 words in / 150 words out, the cheapest option as of 2026-10-28.
- Is GPT or Claude cheaper? For the same 10k-user chatbot, the cheapest OpenAI model (OpenAI: GPT-6 Luna Pro) costs about $53.87/month and the cheapest Anthropic model (Anthropic: Claude Haiku 5.5) about $53.87/month as of 2026-10-28.
- What is the cheapest model for coding agents? For an agent running 1,000 eight-step tasks a day, Meta: Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is cheapest at about $22.34/month on list prices (2026-10-28). Price alone doesn't measure coding quality.
- What is the cheapest AI for summarizing documents? Meta: Llama 3.1 8B Instruct summarizes 2,000 five-page documents for about $0.15/month as of 2026-10-28.
- How current are these prices? Prices refresh daily from the OpenRouter public API and are cross-checked against InferIndex. Last updated 2026-10-28; 55 models tracked.

## Calculators
- [Home calculators](https://tokenbudgeter.com/): chatbot, game NPC and document-summary cost calculators
- [AI API Cost Cheat Sheet](https://tokenbudgeter.com/cheat-sheet/): cheapest models by tier, cost per 1,000 chats ([PDF](https://tokenbudgeter.com/cheat-sheet/ai-api-cost-cheat-sheet.pdf))
- [Embeddable widget](https://tokenbudgeter.com/embed/)

## Comparisons
- [GPT vs Claude: what a chatbot costs per month (2026-10-28)](https://tokenbudgeter.com/compare/gpt-vs-claude-chatbot-cost/): Monthly cost of running a 10k-user chatbot on every current OpenAI GPT and Anthropic Claude model, from live API prices.
- [Cheapest LLM API for AI game NPCs (2026-10-28)](https://tokenbudgeter.com/compare/cheapest-llm-api-for-game-npcs/): What AI-driven NPC dialogue costs for 5,000 players across 55 models from 7 vendors, cheapest first.
- [How much does an AI customer support bot cost? (2026-10-28)](https://tokenbudgeter.com/compare/ai-customer-support-bot-cost/): Monthly API cost of an AI support bot handling 3,000 tickets, compared across every major model.
- [Cheapest LLM API right now (2026-10-28)](https://tokenbudgeter.com/compare/cheapest-llm-api/): Every tracked model ranked by real monthly cost for a typical chatbot workload, with price sources and cross-checks.
- [Gemini vs GPT API cost (2026-10-28)](https://tokenbudgeter.com/compare/gemini-vs-gpt-cost/): Google Gemini vs OpenAI GPT: monthly cost for a 10k-user chatbot from current list prices.
- [DeepSeek vs GPT API cost (2026-10-28)](https://tokenbudgeter.com/compare/deepseek-vs-gpt-cost/): DeepSeek vs OpenAI: how much cheaper is it for a real chatbot workload?
- [Grok vs Claude API cost (2026-10-28)](https://tokenbudgeter.com/compare/grok-vs-claude-cost/): xAI Grok vs Anthropic Claude monthly cost for a 10k-user chatbot.
- [OpenAI API cost calculator: every GPT model by monthly cost (2026-10-28)](https://tokenbudgeter.com/compare/openai-api-cost-calculator/): OpenAI API cost by model for a 10k-user chatbot, from live list prices, with a calculator for your own numbers.
- [Claude API cost per model (2026-10-28)](https://tokenbudgeter.com/compare/claude-api-cost-calculator/): Anthropic Claude API cost by model (Haiku, Sonnet, Opus, Fable) for a 10k-user chatbot, from live prices.
- [ChatGPT / OpenAI API cost per message (2026-10-28)](https://tokenbudgeter.com/compare/chatgpt-api-cost-per-message/): What one chat message costs on each OpenAI model, and on every other vendor, in dollars per message.
- [LLM API cost comparison table (2026-10-28)](https://tokenbudgeter.com/compare/llm-api-cost-comparison-table/): Every tracked LLM ranked by what a single 600-word-in / 150-word-out message costs, with sources and cross-checks.
- [How much does an AI agent cost per month? (2026-10-28)](https://tokenbudgeter.com/compare/ai-agent-cost-per-month/): Monthly API cost of an AI agent running 1,000 multi-step tasks a day on each major model.
- [RAG cost calculator: LLM generation cost per month (2026-10-28)](https://tokenbudgeter.com/compare/rag-cost-calculator/): Monthly generation cost of a retrieval-augmented (RAG) Q&A app with 20,000 questions, across every major model.
- [Gemini vs DeepSeek API pricing (2026-10-28)](https://tokenbudgeter.com/compare/gemini-vs-deepseek-api-pricing/): Google Gemini vs DeepSeek: monthly cost for a 10k-user chatbot from live prices.
- [Gemini vs Claude API pricing (2026-10-28)](https://tokenbudgeter.com/compare/gemini-vs-claude-api-pricing/): Google Gemini vs Anthropic Claude: monthly cost for a 10k-user chatbot from live prices.
- [Cost to summarize documents with AI (2026-10-28)](https://tokenbudgeter.com/compare/ai-document-summarization-cost/): What it costs to summarize 2,000 five-page documents a month on each major model.

## Optional
- [Full price table](https://tokenbudgeter.com/llms-full.txt)
- [Sponsor](https://tokenbudgeter.com/sponsor/)
- Contact: tokenbudgeter@gmail.com