GPT-4o mini Cost Calculator
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" for a 90% input discount — this is approximate and varies by provider. OpenAI's prompt caching kicks in for repeated prefixes ≥ 1024 tokens.
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.