Calculator
AI RAG Pipeline Cost Calculator
Estimate monthly retrieval-augmented generation costs for embedding, generation, vector lookups and platform storage.
Result
Estimated monthly RAG cost
$167.20
Generation model cost
$130.00
Embedding cost
$2.20
Vector lookups and platform
$35.00
How to use this calculator
What this calculator does
Estimate monthly retrieval-augmented generation costs for embedding, generation, vector lookups and platform storage.
How to use it
Enter your own measured volumes and current USD prices; defaults are illustrative assumptions, not live provider quotations. Compare low and high scenarios before making purchasing or deployment decisions.
What the result means
Review the cost components separately, verify the assumed service and quality level, and replace estimates with observed production data when available.
Browse more ai calculators for related estimates and comparisons.
Actual AI costs depend on provider pricing, model choice, token usage, discounts, caching, retries, batching, tool calls, workflow design, and usage volume.
Scenario guidance
When to use this
Size an internal knowledge assistant or document-retrieval application.
Example scenario
An HR assistant retrieves relevant policy passages before answering.
Inputs that usually matter most
- Ingestion volume and embeddings
- Query rate, model rates and retrieved context size
Common mistake to avoid
Do not double-count retrieved context tokens in model input.
How to interpret the result
Embedding may be cheap compared with generation and platform minimums.
Educational USD scenario only. Actual vendor pricing and workflow characteristics vary.
Formula
Generation input token volume should already include retrieved context once. Parsing, reranking, human review and network charges are excluded unless entered in platform fee.
Worked scenario
100,000 queries, 2,000 new 1,000-token documents, 200 query embedding tokens, $0.10/1M embeddings, 1,400 input/300 output tokens, generation $0.50/$2 per million, $0.05/1,000 lookups and $30 platform fee yields $167.20 per month.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are the default prices live provider quotes?
No. They are transparent, editable examples; check the actual provider rate card before budgeting.
Does this guarantee the same quality of service?
No. Evaluate latency, accuracy, retries and human review separately from direct costs.
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