OptimToken: AI and Compute Economics changelog

• − compare-llm-models
• − estimate-llm-cost
• − compare-models-side-by-side
• − recommend-llm-model
• − compare-compute-pricing

• + compare-model-hosts
• + estimate-self-hosting-breakeven
• + track-llm-price-changes

description

Compare LLM API and cloud compute pricing, estimate workload costs, pick a model within budget. → For FinOps: what an AI workload costs, where to buy it, when to self-host, what moved. All sourced.

title

OptimToken → OptimToken: AI and Compute Economics

version

0.4.2 → 0.11.0

https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/llms.txt

− more has a page of its own at /models/{maker}: 24 of the 45 makers− on 2026-10-22− - [ARM against x86: what Graviton, Ampere and Axion save](https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/guides/arm-against-x86): The ARM discount clouds advertise is a discount against Intel. This guide measures it at matched vCPU and memory, against Intel and against AMD.− - [Batch API economics: when the -50% applies](https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/guides/batch-api-economics): Batch APIs cut LLM token prices roughly in half, but only for async workloads and only where a batch rate is published. Worked examples, current prices.− - Model makers in the catalogue on 2026-10-22: 45 in all. The 12 with the most models are OpenAI, Alibaba, Google, Mistral, Meta, Zhipu, Anthropic, DeepSeek, MiniMax, ByteDance, Moonshot, xAI, and 33 others−   free: the price is simply unpublished, prompts are retained by the anonymous+ more has a page of its own at /models/{maker}: 23 of the 45 makers+ on 2026-11-05+ - [ARM against x86: what Graviton, Ampere and Axion save](https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/guides/arm-against-x86): The ARM discount clouds advertise is a discount against Intel. This guide measures it at matched vCPU and memory, against Intel and against AMD. Figures as JSON: https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/guides/arm-against-x86/figures.json+ - [Batch API economics: when the -50% applies](https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/guides/batch-api-economics): Batch APIs cut LLM token prices roughly in half, but only for async workloads and only where a batch rate is published. Worked examples, current prices. Figures as JSON: https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/guides/batch-api-economics/figures.json+ - [Memory-optimised against general purpose: what a GB costs](https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/guides/memory-optimised-against-general-purpose): Memory-optimised instances cost more an hour and less per GB. This guide reads the price of one GB and one vCPU off each cloud's rate card, at matched sizes. Figures as JSON: https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/guides/memory-optimised-against-general-purpose/figures.json+ - [Savings plans against reserved instances: what the flexibility costs](https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/guides/savings-plans-vs-reserved-instances): AWS and Azure each sell a flexible commitment and a locked one. What each takes off on-demand, the gap between the two and the utilisation where each pays off. Figures as JSON: https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/guides/savings-plans-vs-reserved-instances/figures.json+ - Model makers in the catalogue on 2026-11-05: 45 in all. The 12 with the most models are OpenAI, Alibaba, Google, Mistral, Zhipu, Meta, Anthropic, DeepSeek, MiniMax, Moonshot, ByteDance, xAI, and 33 others+   free: the price is unpublished, prompts are retained by the anonymous

https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/llms.txt

− <!-- GUIDES-START -->− - [ARM against x86: what Graviton, Ampere and Axion save](https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/guides/arm-against-x86): The ARM discount clouds advertise is a discount against Intel. Measured at matched vCPU and memory, it halves against AMD. Current prices.− <!-- GUIDES-END -->− The block between GUIDES-START and GUIDES-END is regenerated by− scripts/prerender.mjs from scripts/guides/*.mjs on every build. Editing it here− by hand is pointless: the list a hand kept had already drifted a guide behind.− - Providers include OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, DeepSeek, Mistral, xAI, Cohere, Amazon, Alibaba, AI21 Labs, and others−   the cheapest 70% of ranked models, and a stable release (no preview/beta/experimental label,−   not a frontier model released in the last 3 months, and no retirement announced by the model maker).− Terms: free to use with attribution, cite https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/ as the− source. Data is provided as-is for comparison; verify final numbers with official− provider pricing pages.+ Models by maker: https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/models, every model in the+ catalogue as a plain link, grouped by maker. A maker with 3 models or+ more has a page of its own at /models/{maker}: 24 of the 45 makers+ on 2026-10-22+ - [ARM against x86: what Graviton, Ampere and Axion save](https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/guides/arm-against-x86): The ARM discount clouds advertise is a discount against Intel. This guide measures it at matched vCPU and memory, against Intel and against AMD.+ - [How the models are scored: Arena quality, Efficiency, the FinOps badge and quality bars](https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/guides/how-models-are-scored): Where the quality score comes from, how the Efficiency score and the FinOps badge are calculated, and how a quality bar is set for a use case.+ - [A quality bar for each use case, and the cheapest model that clears it](https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/guides/quality-bar-price-floor): Decide per use case how good the answer has to be, set the bar on Arena, then buy the cheapest model that clears it. A method, with current prices.+ - Model makers in the catalogue on 2026-10-22: 45 in all. The 12 with the most models are OpenAI, Alibaba, Google, Mistral, Meta, Zhipu, Anthropic, DeepSeek, MiniMax, ByteDance, Moonshot, xAI, and 33 others+ - Price tier is set by list price alone and shown as Premium, Mid-range, Budget or Image (the API's `category` values Frontier, Mid-tier, Budget, Image). It is not a quality grade+ - "Frontier" on the site means quality, not price: a model whose Arena score is within 25 points of the best ranked model: the 20 points under which Arena does not separate two models, plus 5. Shown as a chip and a filter in both views. A model with no Arena score is never called Frontier+   the cheapest 70% of ranked models and not an outlier listing, and a stable release (no preview/beta/experimental label,+   not a Premium-tier model (API category "Frontier") released in the last 3 months,+   and no retirement announced by the model maker).+ Licence: the data is published under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0,+ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/): cite https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/+ as the source. Data is provided as-is for comparison; verify final numbers with+ official provider pricing pages.

https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/llms.txt

− - [ARM against x86: what Graviton, Ampere and Axion save](https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/guides/arm-against-x86): The 20% ARM discount is a discount against Intel. Measured at matched vCPU and memory across 4 clouds, it halves against AMD. Current prices.− - [Context windows: what a million tokens costs to fill](https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/guides/context-window-economics): A 1M context window is a spec-sheet capability and an invoice line. What one full prompt costs across the catalogue, and what re-reading it costs.− - [Bedrock, Vertex, Azure or direct: what the channel changes](https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/guides/where-to-run-a-model): The same model is sold by its model maker and 3 hyperscalers. Across the catalogue the token rate is usually identical; regions and commitment terms are not.+ - [ARM against x86: what Graviton, Ampere and Axion save](https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/guides/arm-against-x86): The ARM discount clouds advertise is a discount against Intel. Measured at matched vCPU and memory, it halves against AMD. Current prices.+ - [Context windows: what a million tokens costs to fill](https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/guides/context-window-economics): A million-token context window is a spec-sheet capability and an invoice line. What one full prompt costs across the catalogue, and what re-reading it costs.+ - [Bedrock, Vertex, Azure or direct: what the channel changes](https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/guides/where-to-run-a-model): The same model is sold by its model maker and by the hyperscalers. The token rate is identical on most comparisons; regions and commitment terms are not.

https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/llms.txt

− Price barometer: https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/barometer, every LLM list-price− move over the latest measured window, with the blended 30/70 price before and− after each one and the rules behind the figures− - [Bedrock, Vertex, Azure or direct: what the channel changes](https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/guides/where-to-run-a-model): The same model is sold by its maker and 3 hyperscalers. Across the catalogue the token rate is usually identical; the regions and commitment terms are not.−   not a frontier model released in the last 3 months, and no vendor-announced deprecation).− MCP server (Model Context Protocol, streamable HTTP): https://ai-pricing-hub-mcp-9604f763.alpic.live/−   model or a better one; most current models carry it),+ Price barometer: https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/barometer, every change of 1% or+ more in the price we quote for an LLM over the last 7 days, with the blended+ 30/70 price before and after. Two parts: price changes, and moves flagged as a+ change of quoted host or an outlier listing (most models are sold by several+ hosts at different rates, and the site quotes one of them). One permanent page+ per week at /barometer/{year}-w{week}, listed at+ https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/barometer/weeks, and an RSS feed at+ https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/barometer/feed.xml+ - [Vision, audio, agents: what each capability adds to the bill](https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/guides/capability-premium): What image input, audio and tool use add to an LLM bill, measured within each model maker's line-up and across the catalogue, and the shortlist each leaves.+ - [LLM API pricing statistics: cheapest and median](https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/guides/llm-pricing-statistics): How many LLM APIs carry a token price, which are the cheapest and the dearest, and the median price per million tokens by tier and by licence. Rebuilt daily.+ - [Bedrock, Vertex, Azure or direct: what the channel changes](https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/guides/where-to-run-a-model): The same model is sold by its model maker and 3 hyperscalers. Across the catalogue the token rate is usually identical; regions and commitment terms are not.+   not a frontier model released in the last 3 months, and no retirement announced by the model maker).+ MCP server (Model Context Protocol, streamable HTTP): https://optimtoken-mcp.optimnow.io/mcp+   model or a better one; most current models carry it. There is no "Code" tag:+   it was a price threshold and was removed in schemaVersion 2.5),

remote_url

https://ai-pricing-hub-mcp-9604f763.alpic.live/ → https://optimtoken-mcp.optimnow.io/mcp

version

0.4.0 → 0.4.2

description

Compare LLM API pricing, estimate workload costs, and benchmark cloud compute. By OptimNow. → Compare LLM API and cloud compute pricing, estimate workload costs, pick a model within budget.

version

0.2.0 → 0.4.0