Pricing
Updated:
Rates are shown per 1M tokens. Long context pricing applies to requests with 200k tokens or more.
| Model | Context | Short context | Long context | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input | Cached | Output | Input | Cached | Output | ||
| grok-4.5 Long context ≥ 200k tokens | 500k | $1.00 | $0.15 | $3.00 | $2.00 | $0.30 | $6.00 |
| grok-4.6 Long context ≥ 200k tokens | 500k | $1.00 | $0.25 | $3.00 | $2.00 | $0.50 | $6.00 |
How the price is worked out
Billing is measured in tokens. Every call carries two counters: the input tokens you send and the output tokens the model generates. Both are charged, at different rates, and output always costs more than input.
Input tokens
Everything you send: the system prompt, the conversation history, any retrieved context, and the user's own message.
Output tokens
Everything the model generates, reasoning tokens included. Priced 3× higher than input.
Cached input
A repeated prompt prefix lands in the cache and is billed about 7× cheaper than regular input.
What a token is
A token is the basic unit of text a model works with. For English one token is roughly 4 characters, or about three quarters of a word. Treat that as a guide rather than a rule: the real count depends on the model, the language, and the content. Cyrillic, Chinese characters, code, and rare words split into more tokens for the same amount of text.
- “Hello, world!”
- about 4 tokens
- A 1,000-word English article
- about 1,300 tokens
- A typical source file
- about 500–2,000 tokens
You never have to count them by hand: every API response returns the exact input and output totals, and the charge is taken from those.
A worked example
Given:
- Active users
- 300
- Input tokens per user per day
- 12,000
- Output tokens per user per day
- 3,000
- Days in the month
- 30
- Model
- grok-4.5
- Input price per 1M
- $2.00 → $1.00
- Output price per 1M
- $6.00 → $3.00
Find:
Cost per month
Solution:
Input tokens per month
300 × 12,000 × 30108,000,000
Output tokens per month
300 × 3,000 × 3027,000,000
At official rates
108M × $2.00 + 27M × $6.00$378.00
Through GrokAPI
108M × $1.00 + 27M × $3.00$189.00
Answer:
$189.00 per month · $2,268.00 per year
The arithmetic is the same at any volume: divide the token count by 1,000,000, multiply by the per-1M rate, then add input and output together. Work out your own load
Frequently asked questions
How much does the Grok API cost?
Grok 4.5 is $1.00 per 1M input tokens and $3.00 per 1M output tokens — 50% below the official xAI rate of $2.00 and $6.00. Repeated prompt prefixes are cheaper still, at $0.15 per 1M.
Is there a subscription or a monthly minimum?
No. No subscription, no recurring fee, and no monthly minimum. You top up a single balance and it is drawn down only by the tokens the API actually processes, so an idle month costs nothing.
How do I top up the balance?
With cryptocurrency. Create an account and open the balance section — it lists the supported currencies and networks, along with the address to transfer to. Check the network before sending: a transfer on an unsupported one may not be recoverable.
When does long context pricing apply?
From 200k tokens in a single request. Below that threshold the short context rates apply; at or above it the request is billed at $2.00 per 1M input and $6.00 per 1M output. The full window is 500k tokens.
Can I try it before paying?
Yes. A new account gets $0.25 in test credit right after sign-up — enough to verify the connection and send your first requests before topping up.
Ready to connect Grok models?
Open your account, add balance, and create an API key.