Cost Calculation
Sim automatically calculates costs for all workflow executions, providing transparent pricing based on AI model usage and execution charges. Understanding these costs helps you optimize workflows and manage your budget effectively.
How Costs Are Calculated
Every workflow execution includes two cost components:
Base Execution Charge: $0.001 per execution
AI Model Usage: Variable cost based on token consumption
modelCost = (inputTokens × inputPrice + outputTokens × outputPrice) / 1,000,000
totalCost = baseExecutionCharge + modelCostAI model prices are per million tokens. The calculation divides by 1,000,000 to get the actual cost. Workflows without AI blocks only incur the base execution charge.
Model Breakdown in Logs
For workflows using AI blocks, you can view detailed cost information in the logs:
The model breakdown shows:
- Token Usage: Input and output token counts for each model
- Cost Breakdown: Individual costs per model and operation
- Model Distribution: Which models were used and how many times
- Total Cost: Aggregate cost for the entire workflow execution
Pricing Options
Hosted Models - Sim provides API keys with a 2.5x pricing multiplier:
| Model | Base Price (Input/Output) | Hosted Price (Input/Output) |
|---|---|---|
| GPT-4o | $2.50 / $10.00 | $6.25 / $25.00 |
| GPT-4.1 | $2.00 / $8.00 | $5.00 / $20.00 |
| o1 | $15.00 / $60.00 | $37.50 / $150.00 |
| o3 | $2.00 / $8.00 | $5.00 / $20.00 |
| Claude 3.5 Sonnet | $3.00 / $15.00 | $7.50 / $37.50 |
| Claude Opus 4.0 | $15.00 / $75.00 | $37.50 / $187.50 |
The 2.5x multiplier covers infrastructure and API management costs.
Your Own API Keys - Use any model at base pricing:
| Provider | Models | Input / Output |
|---|---|---|
| Gemini 2.5 | $0.15 / $0.60 | |
| Deepseek | V3, R1 | $0.75 / $1.00 |
| xAI | Grok 4, Grok 3 | $5.00 / $25.00 |
| Groq | Llama 4 Scout | $0.40 / $0.60 |
| Cerebras | Llama 3.3 70B | $0.94 / $0.94 |
| Ollama | Local models | Free |
Pay providers directly with no markup
Pricing shown reflects rates as of September 10, 2025. Check provider documentation for current pricing.
Cost Optimization Strategies
Usage Monitoring
Monitor your usage and billing in Settings → Subscription:
- Current Usage: Real-time usage and costs for the current period
- Usage Limits: Plan limits with visual progress indicators
- Billing Details: Projected charges and minimum commitments
- Plan Management: Upgrade options and billing history
Programmatic Usage Tracking
You can query your current usage and limits programmatically using the API:
Endpoint:
GET /api/users/me/usage-limitsAuthentication:
- Include your API key in the
X-API-Keyheader
Example Request:
curl -X GET -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" https://sim.ai/api/users/me/usage-limitsExample Response:
{
"success": true,
"rateLimit": {
"sync": { "isLimited": false, "limit": 10, "remaining": 10, "resetAt": "2025-09-08T22:51:55.999Z" },
"async": { "isLimited": false, "limit": 50, "remaining": 50, "resetAt": "2025-09-08T22:51:56.155Z" },
"authType": "api"
},
"usage": {
"currentPeriodCost": 12.34,
"limit": 100,
"plan": "pro"
}
}Response Fields:
currentPeriodCostreflects usage in the current billing periodlimitis derived from individual limits (Free/Pro) or pooled organization limits (Team/Enterprise)planis the highest-priority active plan associated with your user
Plan Limits
Different subscription plans have different usage limits:
| Plan | Monthly Usage Limit | Rate Limits (per minute) |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $10 | 5 sync, 10 async |
| Pro | $100 | 10 sync, 50 async |
| Team | $500 (pooled) | 50 sync, 100 async |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom |
Cost Management Best Practices
- Monitor Regularly: Check your usage dashboard frequently to avoid surprises
- Set Budgets: Use plan limits as guardrails for your spending
- Optimize Workflows: Review high-cost executions and optimize prompts or model selection
- Use Appropriate Models: Match model complexity to task requirements
- Batch Similar Tasks: Combine multiple requests when possible to reduce overhead
Next Steps
- Review your current usage in Settings → Subscription
- Learn about Logging to track execution details
- Explore the External API for programmatic cost monitoring
- Check out workflow optimization techniques to reduce costs