Understanding token counts is crucial for working with AI APIs. Tokens affect both cost and context limits. Our token counter helps you estimate costs and optimize prompts before making API calls, saving money and avoiding truncation issues.
What are AI Tokens?
Tokens are the units AI models use to process text. A token might be a word, part of a word, or even a single character. For example, "Hello" is 1 token, but "tokenization" might be 3 tokens. Different models tokenize text differently, which affects both cost and context window usage.
Why Count Tokens?
- Estimate API costs before making expensive calls
- Ensure prompts fit within context limits
- Optimize prompts for cost efficiency
- Compare costs across different AI providers
- Plan token budgets for applications
- Avoid truncation of important context
How to Count Tokens
Paste Your Text
Enter your prompt, system message, or any text you want to analyze.
Select Model
Choose the AI model (GPT-4, Claude, Gemini) for accurate token counting.
View Token Count
See instant token count and estimated cost based on current pricing.
Optimize
Adjust your text and see how changes affect token count and cost.
Key Features
Multi-Model Support
Accurate counts for OpenAI (GPT-3.5, GPT-4), Anthropic (Claude), and Google (Gemini).
Cost Estimation
Real-time cost calculation based on current API pricing for each model.
Character & Word Count
Also shows traditional character and word counts for comparison.
Input/Output Split
Separate counts for prompts (input) and expected responses (output).
Context Window Check
Warns when approaching model context limits.
Best Practices for Token Optimization
- Use concise language - every token costs money
- Remove unnecessary formatting and whitespace
- Consider shorter model names for system prompts
- Use abbreviations where context is clear
- Split long conversations into summaries
- Estimate output tokens generously to avoid surprises
Common Use Cases
Cost Planning
Estimate monthly API costs for your application based on expected usage.
Prompt Engineering
Optimize prompts to use fewer tokens while maintaining quality.
Context Management
Ensure conversation history fits within model limits.
Provider Comparison
Compare token counts and costs across different AI providers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do different models give different token counts?
Each AI provider uses a different tokenizer. GPT models use tiktoken, Claude uses its own tokenizer, etc. The same text produces different token counts.
Are the cost estimates accurate?
We use current published API pricing, but always check the provider's website for the latest rates.
Does this tool use my API key?
No! Token counting happens entirely in your browser using local tokenizer libraries. No API calls are made.
How do I count tokens for images?
Image tokens are calculated differently. GPT-4 Vision uses a tile-based system. Check each provider's documentation for image token estimation.
Ready to Get Started?
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Open AI Token Counter