Customer support chatbot cost drivers
Support assistants combine repeated instructions with high request volume, so small changes in routing and output length can materially change monthly spend.
Workload cost scenario
Customer Support Chatbot API Cost Calculator
Estimate monthly LLM API cost for a customer support chatbot with repeated context, concise answers, and steady request volume.
Support and platform teams planning a production chatbot budget.
Lowest tracked estimate
$18.15
Gemini 1.5 Flash for the current assumptions
Lowest cost does not mean best model. Test output quality, latency, retries, and reliability on your own workload.
Cost comparison
Estimated monthly cost by model
Comparing 45 models that fit the initial input length.
| Model | Provider | Input cost | Output cost | Monthly estimate | Context usage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini 1.5 Flash | $7.65 | $10.50 | $18.15 | 0.1% | |
| GPT-OSS 20B on Groq | Groq | $8.088 | $10.50 | $18.59 | 0.9% |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash non-thinking | DeepSeek | $13.51 | $9.80 | $23.31 | 0.1% |
| Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite | $9.84 | $14.00 | $23.84 | 0.1% | |
| Llama 4 Scout on Groq | Groq | $13.20 | $11.90 | $25.10 | 0.9% |
| GPT-4o mini | OpenAI | $16.20 | $21.00 | $37.20 | 0.9% |
| GPT-OSS 120B on Groq | Groq | $16.20 | $21.00 | $37.20 | 0.9% |
| Command R 08-2024 | Cohere | $18.00 | $21.00 | $39.00 | 0.9% |
| Qwen3-32B on Groq | Groq | $34.80 | $20.65 | $55.45 | 0.9% |
| GPT-5.6 Luna | OpenAI | $19.68 | $42.00 | $61.68 | 0.1% |
| gpt-5.4-nano | OpenAI | $19.68 | $43.75 | $63.43 | 0.3% |
| DeepSeek V4 Pro | DeepSeek | $41.85 | $30.45 | $72.30 | 0.1% |
| Gemini 3.5 Live Translate Preview | $24.60 | $52.50 | $77.10 | 0.9% | |
| Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite | $24.60 | $52.50 | $77.10 | 0.1% | |
| Gemini 2.5 Flash | $29.52 | $87.50 | $117.02 | 0.1% | |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite | $29.52 | $87.50 | $117.02 | 0.1% | |
| Gemini 3 Flash Preview | $49.20 | $105.00 | $154.20 | 0.1% | |
| Gemini 3.6 Flash | $73.80 | $131.25 | $205.05 | 0.1% | |
| Gemini 3.7 Flash | $73.80 | $131.25 | $205.05 | 0.1% | |
| Gemini 3.8 Flash | $73.80 | $131.25 | $205.05 | 0.1% | |
| gpt-5.4-mini | OpenAI | $73.80 | $157.50 | $231.30 | 0.3% |
| Kimi K2.6 | Moonshot AI | $95.04 | $140.00 | $235.04 | 0.5% |
| Kimi K2.7 Code | Moonshot AI | $95.76 | $140.00 | $235.76 | 0.5% |
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | Anthropic | $98.40 | $175.00 | $273.40 | 0.6% |
| Gemini 1.5 Pro | $150.00 | $175.00 | $325.00 | 0.1% | |
| Mistral Medium 3.5 | Mistral | $147.60 | $262.50 | $410.10 | 0.5% |
| Grok 4.5 | xAI | $204.00 | $210.00 | $414.00 | 0.2% |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | $147.60 | $315.00 | $462.60 | 0.1% | |
| Kimi K2.7 Code High-Speed | Moonshot AI | $191.52 | $280.00 | $471.52 | 0.5% |
| Gemini 2.5 Pro | $123.00 | $350.00 | $473.00 | 0.1% | |
| Claude Sonnet 5 | Anthropic | $196.80 | $350.00 | $546.80 | 0.1% |
| GPT-5.6 Terra | OpenAI | $196.80 | $420.00 | $616.80 | 0.1% |
| Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview | $196.80 | $420.00 | $616.80 | 0.1% | |
| GPT-4o | OpenAI | $270.00 | $350.00 | $620.00 | 0.9% |
| Command R+ 08-2024 | Cohere | $300.00 | $350.00 | $650.00 | 0.9% |
| Command A | Cohere | $300.00 | $350.00 | $650.00 | 0.5% |
| Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Anthropic | $295.20 | $525.00 | $820.20 | 0.1% |
| Kimi K3 | Moonshot AI | $295.20 | $525.00 | $820.20 | 0.1% |
| GPT-5.6 Sol | OpenAI | $393.60 | $700.00 | $1,093.60 | 0.1% |
| Claude Opus 4.8 | Anthropic | $492.00 | $875.00 | $1,367.00 | 0.1% |
| Claude Opus 5 | Anthropic | $600.00 | $875.00 | $1,475.00 | 0.1% |
| Claude Fable 5 | Anthropic | $984.00 | $1,750.00 | $2,734.00 | 0.1% |
| Claude Mythos 5 | Anthropic | $984.00 | $1,750.00 | $2,734.00 | 0.1% |
| GPT-6 Astra | OpenAI | $984.00 | $1,750.00 | $2,734.00 | 0.1% |
| GPT-5.6 Cyber | OpenAI | $1,230.00 | $2,625.00 | $3,855.00 | 0.3% |
What to measure
- Measure retries and escalations separately.
- Cache repeated policies or product context where the provider supports it.
- Cap routine answers before routing complex cases to a higher-cost model.
Estimate boundary: This estimate excludes retrieval, embeddings, moderation, tool calls, storage, and human support costs.
View pricing sources
How StackLens verifies data and calculates cost
OpenAI model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-09-08
Tracked prices for included OpenAI models are checked against official provider documentation.
Anthropic model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-09-08
Tracked prices for included Anthropic models are checked against official provider documentation.
Google model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-09-03
Tracked prices for included Google models are checked against official provider documentation.
DeepSeek model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-08-16
Tracked prices for included DeepSeek models are checked against official provider documentation.
Groq model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-07-15
Tracked prices for included Groq models are checked against official provider documentation.
Groq model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-07-15
Tracked prices for included Groq models are checked against official provider documentation.
Groq model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-07-15
Tracked prices for included Groq models are checked against official provider documentation.
Groq model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-07-15
Tracked prices for included Groq models are checked against official provider documentation.
Google model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-07-17
Tracked prices for included Google models are checked against official provider documentation.
Google model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-07-17
Tracked prices for included Google models are checked against official provider documentation.
Cohere model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-07-17
Tracked prices for included Cohere models are checked against official provider documentation.
Cohere model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-07-17
Tracked prices for included Cohere models are checked against official provider documentation.
Cohere model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-07-17
Tracked prices for included Cohere models are checked against official provider documentation.
Mistral model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-07-17
Tracked prices for included Mistral models are checked against official provider documentation.
Moonshot AI model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-07-17
Tracked prices for included Moonshot AI models are checked against official provider documentation.
Moonshot AI model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-07-17
Tracked prices for included Moonshot AI models are checked against official provider documentation.
Moonshot AI model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-07-17
Tracked prices for included Moonshot AI models are checked against official provider documentation.
xAI model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-07-17
Tracked prices for included xAI models are checked against official provider documentation.
Anthropic model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-09-08
Tracked prices for included Anthropic models are checked against official provider documentation.
Provider pricing used in this comparison
Review the source-tracked provider pages before using this workload estimate in a budget.