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Building & Product

How much does it cost to run AI features, and how do I keep costs sane?

You pay per token (roughly per word) in and out, so cost scales with usage; a small feature can run on tens of dollars a month while a chat-heavy product can quietly eat 30-60% of revenue. The good news is prices for the same capability keep falling about 10x a year, and three habits (prompt caching, routing easy requests to cheap models, and batching non-urgent work) routinely cut bills 50-80%. Instrument cost per user per feature from day one so pricing decisions are based on data, not fear.

Go deeper

19 resources.

More in AI in Your Product

Should my startup add AI features, and which ones actually matter to users? 20 → How do founders ship their first AI feature (APIs, wrappers, RAG in plain terms)? 19 → Which AI model should I build on (GPT, Claude, Gemini, open-source), and how do I avoid locking myself in? 17 → How do I test whether my AI feature actually works before launch (evals, in plain terms)? 18 → How do I stop my AI feature from making things up in front of customers? 17 → Prompt engineering, RAG, or fine-tuning: which one does my product actually need? 18 → How do I design AI features people trust (chat vs buttons, streaming, showing the work)? 18 → What is my moat if I'm building on someone else's model? 19 → Should I put an AI agent in my product, or is a simple workflow enough? 18 → Is it safe to send customer data to AI APIs, and what about privacy laws like India's DPDP Act? 18 → How should I price AI features: per seat, per use, or per outcome? 17 → My AI feature is live. How do I monitor it and make it better with real usage? 18 →

Also in Starting Up

The same ground, over in Build the product, our Starting Up track.

What actually counts as an MVP, and what's the smallest one I can get away with? 20 → Which no-code tool should I use to build my first product? 20 →
eChai Partner Brands The partnership →