OpenAI
API for the GPT models, plus image, voice, transcription and embeddings in one account.
- Price
- gpt-6.1-sol: $2 input / $10 output per million tokens
- Free plan
- No
- Setup
- Needs a developer
- Up and running
- An afternoon for the first answer; some newer models may ask for organization verification first, which can add days.
What OpenAI is for
OpenAI's API puts the GPT models inside your app, so it can answer, summarize, transcribe audio and generate images without you building any AI. The draw is having text, voice, images and embeddings (the piece behind "search by meaning") in one account, one SDK and one bill, paid in dollars by usage.
How it plugs into your product
- 1Create an account on the OpenAI platform and an organization for your company.
- 2Add a card and buy prepaid credits; $5 in purchases moves you out of the starting tier.
- 3Create an API key for a project and keep it on your server, never in the browser.
- 4Call the model from your backend and set a budget limit so a loop can't burn the balance.
Does it fit your idea?
It fits if
- Your product mixes text, audio transcription and image generation, like an app that turns voice notes into illustrated posts.
- You need a very cheap model for high volume: gpt-6-luna costs $0.10 in / $0.50 out per million tokens.
- Your team already knows the OpenAI SDK, which most tutorials and no-code tools use by default.
Look elsewhere if
- You want to test with real users without paying anything: start on the Gemini free tier.
- You want to switch between GPT, Claude and Gemini without opening an account at each: use OpenRouter.
- Your bot's main problem is response speed and an open model is good enough: Groq is faster and cheaper.
What people only find out after building
Read this before you build on it. Each item links to the official page that says so.
Your monthly spend is capped by tier: $500 on Build ($5 purchased), $5,000 on Launch ($100 purchased). Tiers rise only with total credit purchases, so a launch spike can hit the ceiling.
Official source: developers.openai.comPurchased credits expire after one year, OpenAI can't extend the date, and unused credits are generally non-refundable.
Official source: help.openai.comSome models and features only unlock after verifying your organization (business documents or a government ID and selfie). Check before building around a specific model.
Official source: help.openai.comModels are shut down on a schedule: at least 6 months' notice for generally available models, about 2 weeks for previews. GPT-5.1 shuts down on April 1, 2027.
Official source: developers.openai.comPrompts over 272K input tokens cost more: on gpt-6.1-sol, input goes from $2 to $4 per million and output from $10 to $15.
Official source: developers.openai.com
Price
gpt-6.1-sol: $2 input / $10 output per million tokens
No free tier for GPT models; only the moderation model is free.
- Price per million tokens (main model)
- gpt-6.1-sol: $2 in / $10 out
- Models
- GPT-6 family, image, voice, embeddings
- Free tier
- No free tier
Checked on Oct 28, 2026 · official pricing
What it costs in practice
Estimate: 1,000 users × 30 chats a month × about 2,000 tokens per chat (1,500 in, 500 out) = 45M input and 15M output tokens. On gpt-6.1-sol ($2 in / $10 out per million): 45 × $2 + 15 × $10 ≈ $240/month, which already needs the Build tier's $500 cap. On gpt-6-luna ($0.10 / $0.50) it's about $12/month.
Estimate from the official price. Check it before you decide.
At a glance
- Free plan: no
- Open source: no
“Not stated” means the official site doesn’t say.
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