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MSP Economics · AICost.ai cost decision engine

🤖 Price the AI service your clients keep asking for — without eating the risk

48% of MSPs rank AI a top client need; 13% earn meaningful AI revenue†. This prices a white-label managed AI service: model usage from the pricing SSOT, governance scaled to data risk (a launch floor, not garnish), and fees that hold your margin.

Grounded typical ranges, sourced* Decision-first — a verdict and a next step MCP engine: aicost.msp-managed-ai-service-pricing
Monthly fee
$2,492
What this calculator does

48% of MSPs rank AI a top client need; 13% earn meaningful AI revenue†. This prices a white-label managed AI service: model usage from the pricing SSOT, governance scaled to data risk (a launch floor, not garnish), and fees that hold your margin.

Every number recomputes live; the same logic answers on the web, in the PDF one-pager, and to AI agents over MCP — identical results on every surface.

Why use it

New to this calculator? Start with the ⚡ Playground — a few sliders, instant ballpark. Then switch to the 🧮 Calculator for your exact number.

Two ways to use this: visualize in the Playground, then get your number in the Calculator.

Playground A quick, visual way to see which factors move your result the most. Open the playground → Calculator Enter your real workload for a precise result you can apply to your own usage. Go to the calculator →
⚡ Managed AI Service Pricing & Governance Playground
The 3 factors that move this the most — drag and watch the decision change.
Monthly fee
$2,492 PREMIUM SERVICE
→ PRICE & LAUNCH
12000
2
50 %
Try a scenario: 📄 Print one-pager ✉ Email me this

Managed AI Service Pricing & Governance — your exact numbers

Enter your shop's numbers. Everything recomputes live.
📊 Not sure of a value? Fields with a ▾ Typical pill offer broad industry ballparks (sourced typical ranges; Managed AI service (2026): client AI implementations sell $3-15K + recurring; governance floors 2/4/8 hrs/mo by risk tier; usage>50% of cost => meter it. NIST AI RMF is voluntary guidance - never claim the service makes a client compliant. * = typical.) so you can move forward now — your result gets more accurate as you replace them with your own measured numbers. Values marked * are rough estimates.
Seats the service covers.
Prompts, agent runs, automations.
1 public/internal · 2 customer data · 3 regulated (PHI/finance).
Same floor discipline as everything else.
For SSOT pricing.
For SSOT pricing.
With tokens above, usage is priced vendor-exact from the SSOT.
Used only when no model selected (estimated*).
The orchestration/assistant platform.
Prompts, adoption, tuning.
Registry, output review, incident path — floors: 2/4/8 by risk tier*.
Your delivery labor.
Discovery, policy, rollout, training.
Verdict
PREMIUM SERVICE

Delivery cost $1246/mo (model $180 · platform $250 · labor $816 at risk-tier 2) → $2492/mo fee at 50% margin = $62/AI user.

Monthly fee
$2,492
Implementation fee
$4,896
Per AI user / mo
$62
Delivery cost / mo
$1,246
Model cost / mo
$180
Usage share of cost
14%
Model cost basis
manual input (estimated*)
What to do
PRICE & LAUNCH
Why
Costs are labor-led and stable — flat monthly fee of $2492 (+$4896 implementation) holds your 50% margin. Review usage quarterly.

Method memo

Fee = cost ÷ (1 − margin). Model usage priced vendor-exact from the pricing SSOT when a model + token workload is supplied (modelBasis says which). Governance hours scale with data-risk tier and are a launch FLOOR, not garnish. This assessment does not make the client legally compliant and never claims to — sell governance as ongoing work, which it is.

Questions to pressure-test with

  1. What data can the assistant reach — and is any of it regulated? (That sets the risk tier, not the use case.)
  2. Who reviews outputs weekly, and where do incidents go?
  3. What happens to your margin if usage doubles? If the answer hurts, meter it now.

Assumptions

  • Governance floors (2/4/8 hrs by tier) and risk multipliers are typical* starting points.
  • Manual model cost is estimated*; supply a model + tokens for SSOT pricing.

Values marked * are analyst estimates rather than vendor-verified data.

📖 Data sources & methodology 150 text models · 9 embeddings · 40 vision · 55 audio · 8 vector DBs across 10 vendor pages · last verified 2026-09-13

Methodology

  • All prices are USD per 1 million tokens, current as of 2026-09-13.
  • Vendor-published values have no mark. Inferred/extrapolated values are marked with * and listed below.
  • Batch API discounts are 50% off standard rates across providers that offer Batch mode.
  • Prompt caching discounts vary by provider (typically 80-90% off cached input tokens).
  • Regional data-residency surcharges (Anthropic 1.1x, OpenAI 1.1x, Google regional tiers) are NOT included in base rates.
  • Long-context pricing tiers apply when input exceeds model threshold.
  • Embedding prices are input-only (no output tokens generated).

Primary sources

Last-verified date is the most recent successful daily snapshot (aicost_pricing_snapshots) or, when no snapshot exists yet, the latest successful crawler run (aicost_crawler_runs). 10 of 10 vendors are currently verified. Aggregator services (TokenCost, AI Pricing Guru, etc.) are not listed.

Anthropic
2026-09-13
https://www.anthropic.com/pricing
Daily snapshot since Sep 2023 · 677 days captured
Anthropic Docs
2026-09-13
https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/about-claude/pricing
Daily snapshot since Sep 2023 · 677 days captured
OpenAI
2026-09-13
https://openai.com/api/pricing/
Daily snapshot since Sep 2023 · 678 days captured
Google AI
2026-09-13
https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing
Daily snapshot since Dec 2023 · 653 days captured
Google Vertex
2026-09-13
https://cloud.google.com/vertex-ai/generative-ai/pricing
Daily snapshot since Dec 2023 · 653 days captured
DeepSeek
2026-09-13
https://api-docs.deepseek.com/quick_start/pricing
Daily snapshot since May 2024 · 592 days captured
xAI
2026-09-13
https://x.ai/api
Daily snapshot since Nov 2024 · 510 days captured
Mistral
2026-09-13
https://mistral.ai/pricing
Daily snapshot since Dec 2023 · 651 days captured
Cohere
2026-09-13
https://cohere.com/pricing
Daily snapshot since Sep 2023 · 677 days captured

Inferred values (marked with * in calculator tables)

Derived from industry conventions, not directly published by the vendor. Typical conventions: cached input = 10% of base (90% off), Batch API = 50% of base (50% off).

Vendor / Model Field Why it’s inferred
Anthropic — Claude Sonnet 4.6 cachedInput Derived at 10% of input rate — Anthropic publishes 90% cache-hit discount on this tier.
Anthropic — Claude Sonnet 4.5 cachedInput Derived at 10% of input rate; same 90% cache-hit convention as Sonnet 4.6.
Anthropic — Claude Sonnet 4.5 batchInput Derived at 50% of standard input — Anthropic documents uniform 50% Batch discount.
Anthropic — Claude Sonnet 4.5 batchOutput Derived at 50% of standard output — Anthropic documents uniform 50% Batch discount.
Anthropic — Claude Haiku 4.5 cachedInput Derived at 10% of input rate — Anthropic 90% cache-hit discount convention.
OpenAI — GPT-5.4 Mini cachedInput Derived at 10% of input — OpenAI documents automatic 90% discount on cache hits across GPT-5.x tier.
OpenAI — GPT-5.4 Nano cachedInput Derived at 10% of input — OpenAI 90% cache-hit convention.
OpenAI — GPT-5.4 Nano batchInput Derived at 50% of input — OpenAI Batch API uniform 50% discount.
OpenAI — GPT-5.4 Nano batchOutput Derived at 50% of output — OpenAI Batch API uniform 50% discount.
OpenAI — GPT-5.4 Pro cachedInput Derived at 10% of input — OpenAI 90% cache-hit convention.
OpenAI — GPT-5.4 Pro batchInput Derived at 50% of input — OpenAI Batch API uniform 50% discount.
OpenAI — GPT-5.4 Pro batchOutput Derived at 50% of output — OpenAI Batch API uniform 50% discount.
OpenAI — GPT-5.2 cachedInput Derived at 10% of input; no residency uplift.
OpenAI — GPT-5.2 batchInput Derived at 50% of input.
OpenAI — GPT-5.2 batchOutput Derived at 50% of output.
OpenAI — GPT-5 cachedInput Derived at 10% of input.
OpenAI — GPT-5 batchInput Derived at 50% of input.
OpenAI — GPT-5 batchOutput Derived at 50% of output.
OpenAI — GPT-5.5 Pro cachedInput Derived at 10% of input — OpenAI does not publish a cached rate for *-pro models; using the family convention.
OpenAI — GPT-5.5 Pro batchInput Derived at 50% of input.
OpenAI — GPT-5.5 Pro batchOutput Derived at 50% of output.
OpenAI — GPT-5.2 Pro cachedInput Derived at 10% of input — pro-tier convention.
OpenAI — GPT-5.2 Pro batchInput Derived at 50% of input.
OpenAI — GPT-5.2 Pro batchOutput Derived at 50% of output.
OpenAI — GPT-5.1 batchInput Derived at 50% of input.
OpenAI — GPT-5.1 batchOutput Derived at 50% of output.
OpenAI — GPT-5 Pro batchInput Derived at 50% of input.
OpenAI — GPT-5 Pro batchOutput Derived at 50% of output.
OpenAI — GPT-5 Nano cachedInput Derived at 10% of input.
OpenAI — GPT-5 Nano batchInput Derived at 50% of input.
OpenAI — GPT-5 Nano batchOutput Derived at 50% of output.
Google — Gemini 3 Flash cachedInput Derived at 10% of input — Google caching discount convention ~90%.
Google — Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite cachedInput Derived at 10% of input — Google caching convention.
Google — Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite batchInput Derived at 50% of input — Google Batch API uniform 50% discount.
Google — Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite batchOutput Derived at 50% of output — Google Batch API uniform 50% discount.
Google — Gemini 2.5 Pro cachedInput Derived at 10% of input.
Google — Gemini 2.5 Flash cachedInput Derived at 10% of input.
Google — Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite cachedInput Derived at 10% of input — Google caching convention.
Google — Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite batchInput Derived at 50% of input — Google Batch API uniform 50% discount.
Google — Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite batchOutput Derived at 50% of output — Google Batch API uniform 50% discount.
xAI — Grok 4 (legacy) cachedInput Extrapolated at 25% of base.

Pricing is cross-verified against the LiteLLM community registry when available. Daily snapshots are kept in aicost_pricing_snapshots; every change is logged to aicost_price_changelog with old & new values for full audit trail. Read the full methodology →