A request and a token are not the same thing
An API request is one call to the endpoint. Tokens are the units of text inside that call. One request can carry a handful of tokens or hundreds of thousands. LLM providers bill by tokens; many other APIs (payments, maps, SMS) bill per request or per action. Mixing the two up is the most common budgeting mistake.
Where each model applies
| API type | Billed by |
|---|---|
| LLM / AI (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.) | Tokens (input + output) |
| Embeddings | Tokens (input only) |
| Image generation | Per image / per step |
| Maps, search, SMS, payments | Per request / per action |
How to estimate before you build
For an LLM feature, estimate: tokens per call × calls per user × users. A chat reply might be ~500 input + ~300 output tokens; multiply by monthly conversations to get token volume, then price it. This is far more accurate than guessing "per request", because token count per request varies wildly.
Token cost →Context window cost →Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a token and an API request?
An API request is a single call to the endpoint; tokens are the units of text inside it. One request can contain very few or hundreds of thousands of tokens. LLMs bill per token, while many other APIs bill per request.
How many tokens is a typical chatbot message?
A short user message plus a system prompt is often a few hundred input tokens, and a reply a few hundred output tokens — roughly 500–1,000 tokens per exchange, though it varies with prompt length and answer verbosity.
How do I estimate my monthly token usage?
Multiply tokens per call by calls per user by number of users. Estimate input and output tokens separately since they're priced differently, then run the total through a token cost calculator for your chosen model.
Educational reference only — prices are estimates; confirm current rates on each provider's pricing page.