PLAN WITH YOUR OWN NUMBERS

What does a usable output cost?

A low generation price does not tell you the cost of an accepted result. Enter a rate from your provider, the average billed units per attempt, and your real or explicitly hypothetical acceptance counts.

How to use the estimate

For per-image billing, use one unit per image. For per-second video billing, enter the average billed duration. If billing has minimum durations, round-ups or several outputs per request, reflect those in the units. For token pricing, calculate a blended per-attempt charge separately and enter one unit; do not treat input and output token rates as equal.

Total cost = rate × units per attempt × attempts. Cost per accepted output = total cost ÷ accepted outputs. The initial values are an arithmetic example, not a model quote or measured acceptance rate. Zero accepted outputs has no finite cost per accepted result and is rejected.

Exclude neither failed billable attempts nor retries. This simple estimate does not automatically include subscriptions, discounts, caching, input references, storage, human review or tax. Compare models using the same acceptance criteria and currency, then record the source and date of each rate in the review worksheet.