AI Token Calculator: count tokens & estimate API cost
Paste a prompt below. This free token estimator gives you an exact token count for OpenAI models and close estimates for every other provider, then compares API cost across six providers at once — GPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, DeepSeek and Grok.
Runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you paste is uploaded or stored.
One AI token price calculator, six providers
Every major AI API bills by the token, but each provider prices input and output differently — and rates change often. Instead of checking six separate pricing pages, use this AI token calculator to see the token count and AI token cost side by side, updated the moment you paste your text.
Whether you're sizing a single prompt or budgeting a production workload, the tool below doubles as a token estimator (for quick sizing) and a precise AI token cost calculator (for the actual dollar figure per request).
Cost by provider
Pick a model per provider — the cost updates instantly using the token counts above.
Current AI token prices, per 1M tokens
Reference table for every model in the calculator above. Figures are USD, sourced from each provider's official pricing documentation.
| Provider | Model | Context | Input | Cached input | Output |
|---|
Rates last checked September 2026. DeepSeek runs peak/off-peak pricing (peak: 9am–12pm & 2pm–6pm Beijing time); Gemini 3.1 Pro and select Claude context windows carry a surcharge above their base tier. Always confirm against the provider's live pricing page before budgeting.
Frequently asked questions
What does this AI token calculator actually calculate?
It counts the tokens in the text you paste, estimates how many tokens a typical reply will use based on the output size you pick, and multiplies both by each provider's published per-token rate to show an approximate API cost. It works as both a token estimator and a cost calculator in one tool.
What is a token?
A token is a chunk of text a language model reads at a time — often a word, part of a word, or a punctuation mark. English text averages roughly four characters per token, so a 1,000-word document is usually somewhere around 1,300–1,500 tokens.
How accurate is the token count?
OpenAI counts are computed with the same tokenizer OpenAI's models use, so they're exact. Other providers don't publish a tokenizer that runs in a browser, so those figures are close estimates based on character density — usually within a few percent of the real count.
Why does output cost more than input?
Generating new text takes more computation than reading existing text, so most providers price output tokens several times higher than input tokens — often 3 to 6 times as much on flagship models.
How current is the AI token price data?
Rates are entered manually from each provider's official pricing documentation and reviewed periodically. Providers change pricing with little notice — DeepSeek in particular shifts rates between peak and off-peak hours — so confirm against the provider's own pricing page before budgeting a production workload.
Does this work for code or non-English text?
You can paste anything. Code and non-English text often tokenize less predictably than English prose, so treat the estimate as directional rather than exact for those cases.
What's the difference between a token calculator and a token estimator?
In practice the terms are used interchangeably. This tool doubles as both: an exact token calculator for OpenAI text, and a character-based token estimator for every other provider — then it converts either figure into an AI cost estimate.