# LLM Subscription vs API Monthly TCO Calculator

Canonical: https://aideal.kr/en/tools/llm-tco-calculator

Enter monthly requests, tokens per prompt, reasoning multiplier, cache hit ratio, and tax to see whether a $20/mo plan or pay-as-you-go API costs less.

## Monthly Token Volume & Break-Even Summary

- Total input tokens / mo: 12,000,000
- Total billed output tokens / mo: 5,400,000

| Model / Route | Est. Monthly API Cost | Reference Plan |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Claude Fable / Sonnet (Official API) (Anthropic) | $100.80 | Claude Pro ($20/mo) |
| OpenAI Flagship API (OpenAI) | $76.50 | ChatGPT Plus ($20/mo) |
| DeepSeek / Qwen3 Open API (Novita) (Novita AI) | $8.40 | $0 base fee |
| Multi-Model Pay-Per-Prompt (NanoGPT) (NanoGPT) | $9.18 | $0 base fee |
| Google Gemini Flash API (Google AI) | $4.38 | Google AI Pro ($19.99/mo) |

## Methodology & Billing Notes

- Rates reflect published USD prices per 1M tokens; verify final billing on each provider's pricing page.
- Reasoning models bill hidden thinking tokens at the output token rate; use 2.5x or higher for reasoning-heavy tasks.
- Consumer chat subscriptions ($20/mo) and developer API console billing are metered separately.