At 20 requests/user/day (totaling 300,000 queries/mo), running Content generation on Text Embedding 3 (Small) costs $4.80 / month ($0.0096 / user / mo).
Total expected API invoice for 500 Active Users generating 300,000 queries.
Direct inference cost per MAU to model your SaaS pricing tiers and gross margins.
Savings generated by exploiting 30% cache hits on prompt context.
| Model | Provider | Monthly Spend (500 Active Users) | Cost / User / Mo | Annual Spend | Context Limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Text Embedding 3 (Small) (Current) | openai | $4.80 | $0.0096 | $57.60 | 8,191 |
| Text Embedding 3 (Large) | openai | $31.20 | $0.0624 | $374.40 | 8,191 |
| Text Embedding 004 | $4.80 | $0.0096 | $57.60 | 8,192 |
At 20 queries per user/day with Text Embedding 3 (Small), the estimated cost is $0.0096 per monthly active user (MAU). Total monthly bill for 500 Active Users is $4.80.
Assuming a 30% 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 $0.0096 per user/month on Text Embedding 3 (Small), charging at least $0.048 per user/month ensures an 80%+ software gross margin.