--- title: "Pricing Calculator (Cost Estimation)" url: "/docs/proxy/pricing_calculator" canonical_url: "https://docs.litellm.ai/docs/proxy/pricing_calculator" type: "docs" last_updated: "2026-10-01" summary: "Estimate LLM costs based on expected token usage and request volume. This tool helps developers and platform teams forecast spending before deploying models to production." related: - "/docs/proxy/ptu_flat_cost" - "/docs/proxy/provider_margins" --- # Pricing Calculator (Cost Estimation) > Index of all LiteLLM docs: https://docs.litellm.ai/llms.txt Estimate LLM costs based on expected token usage and request volume. This tool helps developers and platform teams forecast spending before deploying models to production. ## When to Use This Feature Use the Pricing Calculator to: - **Budget planning** - Estimate monthly costs before committing to a model - **Model comparison** - Compare costs across different models for your use case - **Capacity planning** - Understand cost implications of scaling request volume - **Cost optimization** - Identify the most cost-effective model for your token requirements ## Using the Pricing Calculator This walkthrough shows how to estimate LLM costs using the Pricing Calculator in the LiteLLM UI. ### Step 1: Navigate to Settings From the LiteLLM dashboard, click on **Settings** in the left sidebar. ![Click Settings](https://colony-recorder.s3.amazonaws.com/files/2026-01-05/183c437e-bda9-48b4-ab8f-95f023ba1146/ascreenshot_a1013487f545484194a9a4929eef4c49_text_export.jpeg) ### Step 2: Open Cost Tracking Click on **Cost Tracking** to access the cost configuration options. ![Click Cost Tracking](https://colony-recorder.s3.amazonaws.com/files/2026-01-05/05c92350-cbae-42ed-935b-e96a26003de8/ascreenshot_cc85f175a6664fc5be8dfdcc1759b442_text_export.jpeg) ### Step 3: Open Pricing Calculator Click on **Pricing Calculator** to expand the calculator panel. This section allows you to estimate LLM costs based on expected token usage and request volume. ![Click Pricing Calculator](https://colony-recorder.s3.amazonaws.com/files/2026-01-05/31ab5547-fa7d-4abd-b41a-7b4bbc0401f7/ascreenshot_f7f8b098ceba4b5199e5cbc60dddfd0a_text_export.jpeg) ### Step 4: Select a Model Click the **Model** dropdown to select the model you want to estimate costs for. ![Click Model field](https://colony-recorder.s3.amazonaws.com/files/2026-01-05/a6c236ce-3154-42a8-9701-120e3f7a017b/ascreenshot_635c61b832594e809f8ab79b5b3f32e1_text_export.jpeg) Choose a model from the list. The models shown are the ones configured on your LiteLLM proxy. ![Select model](https://colony-recorder.s3.amazonaws.com/files/2026-01-05/96c4ebc4-1b88-4dea-b3b2-ea32fde36d9e/ascreenshot_7c2920f05a984ebbb530a8a85e669537_text_export.jpeg) ### Step 5: Configure Token Counts Enter the expected **Input Tokens (per request)** - this is the average number of tokens in your prompts. ![Click Input Tokens field](https://colony-recorder.s3.amazonaws.com/files/2026-01-05/d0b5ad8a-56e4-4f73-ac66-e1d728c81dc5/ascreenshot_42502082d6204a3891e0a2c3e89a1e38_text_export.jpeg) Enter the expected **Output Tokens (per request)** - this is the average number of tokens in model responses. ![Click Output Tokens field](https://colony-recorder.s3.amazonaws.com/files/2026-01-05/d7481177-c63c-47f5-9316-1e87695f67f9/ascreenshot_8718cac4c0d14a82ab9f2b71795250c2_text_export.jpeg) ### Step 6: Set Request Volume Enter your expected request volume. You can specify **Requests per Day** and/or **Requests per Month**. ![Click Requests per Month field](https://colony-recorder.s3.amazonaws.com/files/2026-01-05/42270e11-93f1-41dc-b9c7-3bb6971ced31/ascreenshot_79f2ea9937b34e48ab1ff832ce7f7cb7_text_export.jpeg) For example, enter `10000000` for 10 million requests per month. ![Enter request volume](https://colony-recorder.s3.amazonaws.com/files/2026-01-05/5e6c4338-ff87-44dd-9059-7577217fa3c8/ascreenshot_15c36610dc914536ac9446470eb39f05_text_export.jpeg) ### Step 7: View Cost Estimates The calculator automatically updates as you change values. View the cost breakdown including: - **Per-Request Cost** - Total cost, input cost, output cost, and margin/fee per request - **Daily Costs** - Aggregated costs if you specified requests per day - **Monthly Costs** - Aggregated costs if you specified requests per month ![View cost estimates](https://colony-recorder.s3.amazonaws.com/files/2026-01-05/4436cd11-df58-47cb-9742-c0d08865a61c/ascreenshot_f961298a4231464ea841bc4d184f731e_text_export.jpeg) ### Step 8: Export the Report Click the **Export** button to download your cost estimate. You can export as: - **PDF** - Opens a print dialog to save as PDF (great for sharing with stakeholders) - **CSV** - Downloads a spreadsheet-compatible file for further analysis ## Cost Breakdown Details The Pricing Calculator shows: | Field | Description | |-------|-------------| | **Total Cost** | Complete cost including any configured margins | | **Input Cost** | Cost for input/prompt tokens | | **Output Cost** | Cost for output/completion tokens | | **Margin/Fee** | Any configured [provider margins](/docs/proxy/provider_margins) | | **Token Pricing** | Per-token rates (shown as $/1M tokens) | ## API Endpoint You can also estimate costs programmatically using the `/cost/estimate` endpoint: ```bash curl -X POST "http://localhost:4000/cost/estimate" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $LITELLM_API_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "model": "gpt-5.6-terra", "input_tokens": 1000, "output_tokens": 500, "num_requests_per_day": 1000, "num_requests_per_month": 30000 }' ``` **Response:** ```json { "model": "gpt-5.6-terra", "input_tokens": 1000, "output_tokens": 500, "num_requests_per_day": 1000, "num_requests_per_month": 30000, "cost_per_request": 0.008, "input_cost_per_request": 0.002, "output_cost_per_request": 0.006, "margin_cost_per_request": 0.0, "daily_cost": 8.0, "daily_input_cost": 2.0, "daily_output_cost": 6.0, "daily_margin_cost": 0.0, "monthly_cost": 240.0, "monthly_input_cost": 60.0, "monthly_output_cost": 180.0, "monthly_margin_cost": 0.0, "input_cost_per_token": 2e-06, "output_cost_per_token": 1.2e-05, "provider": "openai" } ``` ## Related Features - [Provider Margins](/docs/proxy/provider_margins) - Add fees or margins to LLM costs - [Provider Discounts](/docs/proxy/provider_discounts) - Apply discounts to provider costs - [Cost Tracking](/docs/proxy/cost_tracking) - Track and monitor LLM spend ## Related pages - [Azure PTU Flat Cost Attribution](https://docs.litellm.ai/docs/proxy/ptu_flat_cost.md) - [Fee/Price Margin on LLM Costs](https://docs.litellm.ai/docs/proxy/provider_margins.md)