Token Based Pricing

Token-based pricing is how many language-model services charge for use. A token is a small chunk of text, roughly four characters or part of a word. The service counts every token that goes into the model (your prompt) and every token that comes out (the reply). It then multiplies this total by a listed price per thousand tokens. Some plans set one price for input tokens and a higher or lower price for output tokens. Because the bill grows with each token, users often shorten prompts, trim extra words, or cap response length to spend less.