At 10 requests/user/day (totaling 15,000 queries/mo), running RAG / search-augmented answers on o3-mini costs $132.00 / month ($2.64 / user / mo).
Total expected API invoice for 50 Active Users generating 15,000 queries.
Direct inference cost per MAU to model your SaaS pricing tiers and gross margins.
Savings generated by exploiting 50% cache hits on prompt context.
| Model | Provider | Monthly Spend (50 Active Users) | Cost / User / Mo | Annual Spend | Context Limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| o3-mini (Current) | openai | $132.00 | $2.64 | $1,584.00 | 200,000 |
| GPT-5.6 Terra | openai | $222.00 | $4.44 | $2,664.00 | 1,050,000 |
| GPT-5.4 Workhorse | openai | $277.50 | $5.55 | $3,330.00 | 256,000 |
| o4-mini | openai | $115.50 | $2.31 | $1,386.00 | 256,000 |
| o1-mini | openai | $132.00 | $2.64 | $1,584.00 | 128,000 |
| Claude Sonnet 5 | anthropic | $207.00 | $4.14 | $2,484.00 | 1,000,000 |
At 10 queries per user/day with o3-mini, the estimated cost is $2.64 per monthly active user (MAU). Total monthly bill for 50 Active Users is $132.00.
Assuming a 50% cache hit rate on repeated system and context tokens, prompt caching saves $33.00 per month ($396.00/year) on o3-mini.
With a direct COGS of $2.64 per user/month on o3-mini, charging at least $13.20 per user/month ensures an 80%+ software gross margin.