How to reduce AI API call costs?
In 2026, 6 levers can divide your AI API costs by 3 to 10. (1) **Pick the right model** — Claude Haiku or GPT-4o mini cost 10-20× less than flagship models for simple tasks (classification, extraction, rephrasing).
In 2026, 6 levers can divide your AI API costs by 3 to 10.
(1) **Pick the right model** — Claude Haiku or GPT-4o mini cost 10-20× less than flagship models for simple tasks (classification, extraction, rephrasing).
(2) **Cap output tokens** — set max_tokens to the actually needed value, since output = 4-5× input price across all vendors.
(3) **Optimize the system prompt** — long system prompts apply on every request. Trimming from 200 to 50 tokens divides this recurring cost by 4.
(4) **Prompt caching** — Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google offer prompt caching that reduces repeated input by 90%.
(5) **Smart routing** — use expensive models only for complex queries, lightweight ones for the rest.
(6) **Pay-as-you-go vs subscription** — for moderate use, pay-as-you-go remains 5-10× cheaper than a $20/month plan. That's precisely the Ask Aurel model: Smart auto-routing, full cost transparency, top up from €10 with credit that never expires.