AI Subscription vs API Calculator

It depends on how much you chat and on which model. The API bills every token, so light use costs very little, while a subscription costs the same whether you send one message or hundreds. The break-even point is where the two meet: below it the API is cheaper, above it the plan is. Small, fast models break even far later than a provider’s top model.

A chat model has no memory between requests, so each new message sends the whole conversation so far along with it, and all of that is billed as input. The tenth message of a chat pays for the nine before it. Starting a new chat for a new topic keeps the bill down, and prompt caching makes the repeated part much cheaper.

The chat app itself, on web, desktop and mobile, with features such as memory, projects, file handling, voice and image tools, depending on the plan. The API is only the model: you need your own app or a third-party chat client, an API key and a payment method, and you pay separately for anything beyond text.

No. Every plan has usage limits, but the providers describe them in relative terms, such as “5x more usage” than a lower plan, rather than as a number of messages. Because no figure is published, this tool doesn’t chart where a plan would cut you off; heavy users should check the provider’s plan page.

The one you would actually use through the API. A subscription usually gives access to several models, so there isn’t one exact equivalent. The “Break-even on every model” chart shows the same plan against each model so you can see the range.

Yes. Reasoning models bill their internal thinking as output tokens, even though you don’t see it. If you use a reasoning model, set the reply length well above the length of the visible answer.

Paste a typical message and reply into our token counter. As a rule of thumb, 1,000 tokens is about 750 English words. Pasted documents and code count too, so a message with an attachment can be thousands of tokens.