Use routing for workload separation
Keep complex, high-risk, or quality-sensitive requests on the primary model and send routine traffic only when your tests support it.
Model an agent workloadBlended API cost planning
Model routing cost calculator
Estimate what happens when a primary model handles complex requests and a lower-cost model handles routine traffic. Use the result to plan a routing experiment, not to assume equal model quality.
Estimated blended monthly cost
$0.00
Calculating...
Primary only$0.00
Blended estimate$0.00
Difference$0.00
Measure quality separately
A lower blended cost does not establish equivalent answers, latency, retries, or tool-call success. Keep an evaluation set beside the cost estimate.
Build a model shortlistCheck the token mix
Long outputs can dominate the estimate. Count a representative prompt and compare input, output, and cached-input rates before changing the route.
Count prompt tokensFAQ
Questions teams ask before choosing
What does a model routing calculator estimate?
It estimates token spend when traffic is split between two models. Change the traffic mix and workload assumptions to see how routing changes a monthly planning estimate.
Does routing always reduce cost?
No. Savings depend on the selected models, traffic split, input and output volume, caching, and whether the fallback model is suitable for the task. This calculator does not measure quality or routing accuracy.
Should the cheaper model handle every request?
Not necessarily. Keep higher-risk, complex, or quality-sensitive requests on a model that fits them, and test routing rules against representative traffic before rollout.