OpenAI text-embedding-3-small Cost Calculator
Simulate vector database indexing and search query embedding costs at $0.02 per 1,000,000 tokens.
Parameters & Config
Pre-configured official API pricing for this specific model tier
Prompt payload size including system prompt, user prompt, and chat history
Generated output tokens returned by the model
Total API requests processed per day across all users
Cost per 1,000,000 incoming prompt tokens
Cost per 1,000,000 generated completion tokens
Estimated 30-day cloud billing based on current traffic and model selection
Average daily API infrastructure expenditure incurred
Key Metrics & Sub-Totals
3 itemsCalculation Summary & Unit Breakdown
| Metric | Calculated Value | Notes / Logic |
|---|---|---|
| Active Model Configuration | Custom Configured Model | - |
| Daily Request Volume | 50,000 | queries/day |
| Tokens per Request | 500 | Prompt: 500 / Output: 0 |
| Daily Token Burn | 25,000,000 | tokens/day |
| Monthly Total Tokens | 750,000,000 | 30-day projection |
| Daily Average Infrastructure Cost | $0.50 | USD |
| Monthly Prompt (Input) Token Cost | $15.00 | USD |
| Monthly Completion (Output) Token Cost | $0.00 | USD |
| Total Projected Monthly Cloud Bill | $15.00 | USD |
Overview & Methodology
OpenAI text-embedding-3-small provides high-efficiency vector representations (1536 dimensions) for semantic search and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) at just $0.02 per 1,000,000 tokens.
Mathematical Formulation
Embedding Cost = (Total Document Tokens / 1,000,000) × $0.02.Optimization Best Practices
Use dimension reduction (shortening embeddings down to 512 dimensions) to cut vector database RAM storage by 66% with negligible accuracy loss.
Pre-chunk documents into 500–800 token sections with 10% overlap for optimal retrieval relevance.
Store pre-computed vectors in Pinecone, Qdrant, or pgvector to avoid re-embedding unchanged documents.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q.How much does it cost to embed 10 million tokens with text-embedding-3-small?
Embedding 10,000,000 tokens costs exactly $0.20 (20 cents).
Q.Does embedding have separate output token costs?
No. Embedding models return fixed numerical vector arrays; you are billed strictly for incoming input tokens at $0.02/1M.
Q.What is the maximum token input for text-embedding-3-small?
A single input string can contain up to 8,191 tokens.