GPT-4o mini Cost Calculator: OpenAI low-cost API estimator
Estimate cost for GPT-4o mini — OpenAI's small, low-cost model. Input $0.15/1M, output $0.60/1M (as of 2026). Useful for high-volume / lower-stakes use cases.
GPT-4o mini pricing (per 1M tokens)
OpenAI's cheapest mainline chat model. Output is 4x more expensive than input.
| Model | Input | Output | Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPT-4o mini | $0.15 | $0.60 | 128K |
What you'll use this for
Forecasting AI spend is the difference between a sustainable feature and an unexpected invoice. Pre-flight every prompt.
Budget planning
Forecast monthly and annual costs based on expected call volume and prompt size.
Model selection
Compare model size variants side-by-side to pick the right cost/quality tradeoff.
Cost optimization
See how prompt caching, shorter outputs, and smaller models slash bills.
Pricing transparency
All rates visible up front — no surprises after the invoice arrives.
How to estimate GPT costs
Paste your prompt
Drop a representative prompt into the left editor. Tokens are estimated at ~4 chars/token.
Set expected output tokens
How long do you expect the response to be? Default 500 covers a paragraph or two.
Set calls per day
How often does this prompt run? 100 = trial-scale, 10000+ = production-scale.
Read the forecast
Per-call, per-day, per-month, per-year totals update live as you tweak inputs.
Frequently asked questions
We use ~4 chars/token, accurate to about ±20%. For exact counts use the model-specific token counter such as the OpenAI token counter.
OpenAI's public pricing pages as of 2026. Subject to change — always confirm at openai.com/pricing before signing contracts.
Yes. Completely free, no signup, runs entirely in your browser.
Toggle "Cached input" to apply the model's published cached rate. OpenAI's prompt caching kicks in for repeated prefixes ≥ 1024 tokens and the discount is per-model (typically 50–87%). DeepSeek and Anthropic offer ~90% off cached input.
Provider tokenizers can differ slightly from our estimate; system prompts and tool definitions also count toward input; rates change over time. Treat this as a planning tool, not a billing replica.
About GPT-4o mini API pricing
GPT-4o mini is OpenAI's low-cost workhorse: $0.15/1M input, $0.60/1M output. At ~17x cheaper than GPT-4o, it's the right default for high-volume background tasks where quality is "good enough" rather than "best possible."
Where it shines
- Batch classification, tagging, extraction.
- Routing/triage in front of pricier models.
- Simple chat assistants on a tight budget.
- Embeddings pipelines' downstream steps.
Watch outs
- Output bills 4x input — keep responses tight.
- Reasoning weaker than 4o; complex multi-step tasks may need escalation.