At 40 requests/user/day (totaling 6,000,000 queries/mo), running AI coding assistant on Text Embedding 3 (Small) costs $1,440.00 / month ($0.288 / user / mo).
Total expected API invoice for 5,000 Active Users generating 6,000,000 queries.
Direct inference cost per MAU to model your SaaS pricing tiers and gross margins.
Savings generated by exploiting 60% cache hits on prompt context.
| Model | Provider | Monthly Spend (5,000 Active Users) | Cost / User / Mo | Annual Spend | Context Limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Text Embedding 3 (Small) (Current) | openai | $1,440.00 | $0.288 | $17,280.00 | 8,191 |
| Text Embedding 3 (Large) | openai | $9,360.00 | $1.872 | $112,320.00 | 8,191 |
| Text Embedding 004 | $1,440.00 | $0.288 | $17,280.00 | 8,192 |
At 40 queries per user/day with Text Embedding 3 (Small), the estimated cost is $0.288 per monthly active user (MAU). Total monthly bill for 5,000 Active Users is $1,440.00.
Assuming a 60% cache hit rate on repeated system and context tokens, prompt caching saves $0.00 per month ($0.00/year) on Text Embedding 3 (Small).
With a direct COGS of $0.288 per user/month on Text Embedding 3 (Small), charging at least $1.44 per user/month ensures an 80%+ software gross margin.