AI/LLM Token Calculator
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Understanding LLM Tokens
What are tokens?
Tokens are the basic units that language models use to process text. A token can be as short as one character or as long as one word. On average, one token is approximately 4 characters or 0.75 words in English.
How tokenization works
Different models use different tokenization methods. OpenAI models use BPE (Byte Pair Encoding), while other models may use SentencePiece or custom tokenizers. This means the same text might result in different token counts across models.
Cost optimization strategies
- Use prompt caching: Anthropic's Claude models offer up to 90% discount on cached prompts
- Batch processing: Many providers offer 50% discounts for batch API requests
- Choose the right model: Smaller models like GPT-4o mini or Gemini Flash can be 10-20x cheaper
- Optimize prompts: Remove unnecessary words and use concise instructions
Token limits and context windows
Each model has a maximum context window - the total number of tokens it can process in a single request. This includes both your input prompt and the model's output. Larger context windows allow for more complex tasks but may come with higher costs.
When to use different models
- GPT-4o: Best for complex reasoning and creative tasks
- Claude 3.5 Sonnet: Excellent for coding and analysis with prompt caching
- Gemini 1.5 Pro: Ideal for very long documents (up to 2M tokens)
- Llama models: Open-source option with competitive performance
- Smaller models: Perfect for simple tasks, classification, and high-volume processing