Input and output tokens burn different resources, so they get different prices. The answer prices each phase from first principles, then shows which assumption moves the list price most.
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Price an LLM API: go from a GPU-hour cost to a per-million-token price for input and for output. Why do they differ?
Input and output tokens burn different resources, so they get different prices. The answer prices each phase from first principles, then shows which assumption moves the list price most.
Updated Oct 2026 · Worked answers on inference mechanisms, with calculations, implementation details, and follow-up questions.
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