LLM Cost Calculator
Estimate your monthly spend at list price.
Plan your monthly AI budget. Start with provider spend before fees, or estimate from tokens. See usage, platform fees and your annual outlook.
Your usage
Per month · USDYour provider spend at list price, before fees — not a gateway bill that already includes a markup. Maximum $5,000,000 per month.
Monthly estimate
Pay as you go$2,000.00/ month
Provider usage with a 0% platform fee. A funding estimate, not an invoice.
- Provider usage (pass-through)
- $2,000.00
- Platform fee · 0%
- + $0.00
- Annual outlook
- $24,000.00
Provider usagePlatform fee: $0.00 (0% platform fee)
Assumes credit purchases equal usage, with one aggregate fee calculation. Purchase timing and per-purchase rounding will differ. Annual outlook: 12 unchanged months, calculated before display rounding; it may differ from 12 displayed monthly amounts. Not a quote.
nrouter/auto is available to pay-as-you-go customers and settles at the served model's list price — see /pricing and per-model rates on /models.
Fee comparison on the same usage
At $2,000.00 in provider spend, a 5.5% gateway fee on credit purchases brings the benchmark to $2,110.00. nRouter Pay as you go comes to $2,000.00 — 5.2% lower on the same usage.
- Fee difference per month
- $110.00
- Per year, 12 unchanged months
- $1,320.00
| Path | Fee basis | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct to providerSeparate keys and bills per provider | None | $2,000.00 | $24,000.00 |
| Public gateway benchmarkCurrent published percentage fee on credit card purchases | 5.5% of credit purchases | $2,110.00 | $25,320.00 |
| nRouter · Pay as you goNo commitment | 0% platform fee | $2,000.00 | $24,000.00 |
Methodology note: the comparison uses the publicly listed 5.5% baseline (October 2026), a published percentage fee on credit purchases rather than a per-request markup. It leaves out that benchmark's minimum purchase fee, taxes, FX, subscriptions, discounts and cache pricing. Bars share a zero baseline and are drawn to scale; amounts are shown to the cent, so a difference can be a cent away from the rounded figures beside it.
Method and assumptions
- Provider usage is your own figure, or input plus output tokens multiplied by the blended rate you assume. On nRouter, model list prices pass through without a per-token markup.
- The platform fee is 0% on Pay as you go: provider usage is charged with no platform fee on top. You receive 100% of the credits you buy.
- Limits: $5,000,000 of monthly spend, 100,000 million tokens per field and $1,000 per 1M tokens. A value outside them is reported as an error rather than adjusted.
Formulas
nrouter_bill = provider_cost + ceil_to_cent(provider_cost × tier_fee% / 100)
openrouter_bill = provider_cost × (1 + 5.5 / 100)
FAQs
How does the nRouter cost calculator work?
Enter your current monthly LLM provider spend. The calculator treats that figure as your provider spend at list price, then applies the nRouter platform fee on Pay as you go: a 0% platform fee. It compares the result against a public gateway's 5.5% credit-purchase fee so you can see your savings.
Is the platform fee added on top or deducted from credits?
nRouter has a 0% platform fee: $100 of credits costs $100.00 and you receive 100% of the credits you buy. There is no minimum fee, and every model is billed at list price.
Do monthly plans change the fee?
nRouter sells one plan: Pay as you go with a 0% platform fee. No subscription plans (Starter, Pro, Max) are offered to new customers. Existing subscribers keep their plan and its allowance, and Enterprise is available by contacting sales.
Related resources.
Planning committed volume or a private deployment? See nRouter Enterprise.