A Layperson’s Guide to Understanding Chat GPT’S Token-Based Pricing

The Affordable Way to Bring Conversations to Life

cengkuru michael
3 min readMar 2, 2023
Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash

Are you curious about ChatGPT API pricing? Do you want to know why it’s 10x cheaper than other language models like GPT-3.5? Well, you’ve come to the right place! In this blog post, we’ll explore the ChatGPT API pricing model and explain it in layperson’s terms.

What is ChatGPT API?

First things first, let’s define what ChatGPT API is. ChatGPT API is a service that allows you to use a powerful language model called GPT-3.5-turbo to create natural and engaging conversations with your users. A language model is a computer program that can understand and generate text based on some input. You can use ChatGPT API to create chatbots, virtual assistants, and other conversational interfaces that can naturally interact with your users.

How is ChatGPT API priced?

Now that you know ChatGPT API, let’s talk about pricing. The pricing of ChatGPT API is based on how many tokens you use. A token is a piece of text with some metadata that the model consumes.

For example, the sentence “Hello, how are you today?” has 16 tokens.

ChatGPT API costs $0.002 per 1000 tokens (as of the time of writing this article). This means that for every 1000 tokens you use, you pay $0.002 or 0.2 cents. This pricing model is much cheaper than other language models like GPT-3-davinci-003, costing $0.02 per token or $20 per 1000 tokens.

Updated Pricing list as of September 2023

Why is ChatGPT API so cheap?

You might wonder why ChatGPT API is so cheap compared to other language models. The reason is that ChatGPT API is designed to be a budget-friendly option for developers who want to create natural language interfaces without breaking the bank. It is built on top of GPT-3.5-turbo, a slightly less powerful version of GPT-3 optimized for cost-effectiveness.

To give you an analogy, imagine that you want to buy some candy from a store. The store sells different kinds of candy at different prices. Some candies are more expensive because they are bigger, tastier, or better quality. Conversely, some candies are cheaper because they are smaller, less tasty, or have lower quality.

ChatGPT API is like a cheap but good candy that gives you a lot of value for your money. You can buy much of it with a small budget and enjoy its flavor without worrying too much about the cost.

Other language models are expensive but great candy that gives you a premium experience and costs much more. You can buy only a few with a big budget and savor their taste but also feel guilty about spending too much.

Conclusion

In conclusion, ChatGPT API is a budget-friendly option for developers who want to create natural language interfaces without breaking the bank. Its pricing model is based on the number of tokens you use, costing $0.002 per 1000 tokens. This makes it 10x cheaper than other language models like GPT-3.5. So, if you’re looking for a cost-effective way to create engaging conversations with your users, ChatGPT API might be the solution you’ve been searching for.

I hope you found this blog post informative and helpful. Please get in touch with me if you have any further questions about ChatGPT API pricing. Thanks for reading!

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cengkuru michael

I turn data into meaningful stories by analyzing and visualizing information to create a cohesive narrative. Love helping others see the world in a new light.