AI API Usage Break-Even Pricing

Pressure-test AI API pricing before publishing a rate card. Blend provider token costs, average prompt size, traffic forecasts, and fixed platform overhead to reveal a per-call price, per-seat bundle, and gross profit outlook that protects the margin you target.

Provider charge for 1,000 tokens processed (prompt + completion) at the expected pricing tier.
Combined prompt and completion tokens consumed per API call in your typical workload.
Expected number of billable API calls per month at the target usage tier.
Desired gross margin after covering provider spend, infrastructure overhead, and support.
Defaults to $0. Include observability, support, and GPU idling costs allocated to this API tier.
Defaults to 2,500. Converts the per-call recommendation into a per-seat bundle for packaging.

Pricing guidance only. Validate unit economics with actual provider invoices and usage telemetry before setting customer prices.

Examples

  • $0.012 per 1K tokens, 800 tokens per call, 120,000 calls/month, 65% margin, $5,000 overhead, 2,500 requests per seat ⇒ Provider cost per call $0.01 USD • Overhead allocation per call $0.04 USD • Recommended price per call $0.15 USD • Price per 1,000 calls $146.48 USD • Monthly revenue $17,577.14 USD • Monthly gross profit $11,425.14 USD • Annualized gross profit $137,101.63 USD • Suggested per-seat package $366.19 USD/month • Gross margin achieved 65.00%.
  • $0.04 per 1K tokens, 2,100 tokens per call, 45,000 calls/month, 55% margin, no overhead, 1,200 requests per seat ⇒ Provider cost per call $0.08 USD • Overhead allocation per call $0.00 USD • Recommended price per call $0.19 USD • Price per 1,000 calls $186.67 USD • Monthly revenue $8,400.00 USD • Monthly gross profit $4,620.00 USD • Annualized gross profit $55,440.00 USD • Suggested per-seat package $224.00 USD/month • Gross margin achieved 55.00%.

FAQ

How should I treat cached or batched requests?

Adjust the average tokens per request and monthly volume to reflect traffic after caching or batching so you do not overstate model spend.

Can I include human review labor?

Yes. Add estimated monthly quality assurance labor or moderation headcount into the overhead field so those costs are recovered in your rate.

What if provider pricing is tiered?

Run the calculator for each tier using the marginal cost at that threshold, then blend the outputs according to the share of usage you expect in each tier.

How do I account for bursty workloads?

Increase the overhead field to reflect standby GPU capacity or use a higher average token count to cover spike behavior before setting public pricing.

Additional Information

  • Token cost per call multiplies the provider's per-1K token rate by the blended prompt and completion tokens you expect to consume.
  • Monthly overhead is prorated across the entered request volume, so underutilized tiers surface a higher per-call cost floor.
  • The calculator enforces your desired gross margin by dividing total unit cost by (1 − target margin).
  • Per-seat packaging translates consumption pricing into customer-friendly tiers for SaaS bundles or enterprise minimums.
  • Scenario testing different token counts or model rates highlights how prompting changes ripple through profitability.

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