Methodology

The calculator compares providers on one objective measure — how many tokens you get per dollar — then weights it by a transparent capability tier. Here is exactly how it works.

Tokens per dollar

Every model has two API prices per 1 million tokens: input and output. Because output tokens cost roughly three times as much as input tokens in typical use, we blend them in a 1:3 ratio to get a single effective price per million tokens.

blended cost = (input × 1 + output × 3) / 4

tokens per $ = 1,000,000 / blended cost

The intelligence score

Not all tokens are equal. We multiply tokens per dollar by a quality factor based on the model's capability tier:

• Frontier (1.0) — top flagship models (e.g. GPT-5, Claude Opus, Gemini Pro)
• Balanced (0.8) — strong everyday models (e.g. Claude Sonnet, GPT-4o)
• Fast (0.5) — small, fast models (e.g. GPT-5 mini, Haiku, Flash)

The tier is an editorial judgment, not a lab benchmark. It exists so the score is honest about the difference between a fast mini model and a frontier flagship. Each card also shows the raw tokens-per-dollar figure so the two are never conflated.

Data freshness

AI pricing changes frequently. Every model carries a last-verified date and we review the data monthly. Treat all figures as estimates.