Why your data costs are rising

Regular AI use in organisations rose from 55% in 2023 to 88% in 2025. 

AI is changing how people work, study and create. The world is moving faster, and knowing how to use AI is becoming an important skill.

However, better results do not always come from using more AI. They come from using it wisely.

AI reads information in small pieces called tokens. Token usage can affect how much businesses pay when using an AI application programming interface, (API) connected to their LLM. But how much are you actually paying, and is it effective use? 

Long chats, large documents and unclear prompts use more tokens and can make answers less focused.

Simple tricks can help you use tokens more effectively, get clearer answers and save time. Learning these skills now will help you keep up as AI continues to grow.

 

AI Token Cost Calculator

Estimate monthly and annual AI spend across your workforce. Switch between cloud LLM pricing and a cloud vs. local hosting comparison.

Business inputs
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Cloud LLM pricing
Defaults converted from published USD pricing. Edit to match your provider quote.
Tokens / month
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Cost / employee / month
NZD$0
Total cost / month
NZD$0
Annual projection
NZD$0
Cloud vs. local hosting
Cloud monthly
NZD$0
Annual
NZD$0
Local monthly
NZD$0
Annual
NZD$0
Adjust inputs to see break-even analysis.
FactorCloudLocal / on-device
PrivacyShared infrastructureData stays in-house
LatencyNetwork dependentLow and predictable
Model qualityFrontier-gradeOpen weights, capable
ScalabilityElastic on demandCapped by hardware
Setup complexityAPI key and goHardware, ops, tuning

Pricing estimates are indicative only and based on publicly available model pricing. Verify current rates with your provider.

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