Context window costs

A context window is a ceiling, not a target. It tells you what a model will accept. It says nothing about what you should send, and the price of sending it climbs in a straight line with every token you add.

This page prices that line. It takes four input sizes and charges every model in the catalogue for reading each one once.

What it costs to fill a context window

337 models, snapshot 2026-09-15. Regenerated from the models.dev catalogue by apps/web/scripts/fetch-models.ts on every build, not maintained by hand.

Cost of reading a context of each size once. Models counts how many in the catalogue accept that size; cheapest, median and dearest price it across those.
ContextModelsCheapestMedianDearest
320 of 337$0.0015$0.029$14.00
190 of 337$0.0035$0.069$7.09
100 of 337$0.0075$0.200$15.00
96 of 337$0.015$0.400$30.00

Pick a size to price it against every model below. 236K is the median repository bundle measured across 60 public repositories, not a round number.

190 models accept 236,218 tokens

ModelPer 1M inTo fill
GLM-5.3-FlashMerge Gateway$0.015$0.0035
Qwen FlashAlibaba (China)$0.022$0.0052
Seed 1.6 FlashVolcengine Ark$0.022$0.0053
Qwen3.7 FlashAIHubMix$0.028$0.0067
Qwen3.5 FlashMerge Gateway$0.029$0.0069
Seed 2.0 MiniVolcengine Ark$0.030$0.0070
Solar Pro 4LLMTR$0.030$0.0071
DeepSeek V4 FlashMerge Gateway$0.035$0.0083
DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731Merge Gateway$0.035$0.0083
GPT-5 MiniQiHang$0.040$0.0094
Qwen3.5 9BCrofAI$0.040$0.0094
Gemma 4 26B A4B ITKilo Gateway$0.042$0.0099
Qwen TurboAlibaba (China)$0.044$0.010
GPT-5 NanoJiekou.AI$0.045$0.011
Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3BCrusoe$0.050$0.012
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3BRunInfra$0.050$0.012
Gemini 2.0 Flash-LitePoe$0.052$0.012
Qwen3.5 35B-A3BOrcaRouter$0.057$0.013
GPT-5.6 LunaBothub$0.060$0.014
Laguna XS 2.1OpenRouter$0.060$0.014
Ling 3.0 Flash FinOpenRouter$0.060$0.014
Nova LiteAmazon Bedrock$0.060$0.014
Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B InstructTensorX$0.060$0.014
Hy3 previewSiliconFlow$0.066$0.016
Gemini 3 Flash PreviewQiHang$0.070$0.017
Qwen3.6 35B-A3BEmpirioLabs AI$0.070$0.017
DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision ExpCrofAI$0.080$0.019
GPT-4.1 nanoSAP AI Core$0.080$0.019
Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12BKilo Gateway$0.080$0.019
Hy3Kilo Gateway$0.083$0.019
Qwen3.5 27BOrcaRouter$0.086$0.020
Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507OpenRouter$0.087$0.021
Seed 2.0 LiteVolcengine Ark$0.089$0.021
Gemini 2.5 FlashQiHang$0.090$0.021
Laguna S 2.1OpenRouter$0.090$0.021
Devstral Small 2Pioneer$0.100$0.024
Gemini 2.0 FlashPoe$0.100$0.024
Gemini 2.5 Flash-LiteLLMTR$0.100$0.024
Gemma 4 31B ITDevPass (LLM Gateway)$0.100$0.024
MiMo-V2-FlashHugging Face$0.100$0.024
Ministral 3 3BAmazon Bedrock$0.100$0.024
Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55Brouting.run$0.100$0.024
Ornith 1.5 35B A3BRunInfra$0.100$0.024
Qwen3.8 27BCortecs$0.100$0.024
Step 3.5 FlashHugging Face$0.100$0.024
Step 3.5 Flash 2603NanoGPT$0.100$0.024
Qwen3 Coder NextDevPass (LLM Gateway)$0.108$0.026
Qwen3.8 FlashDeep Infra$0.113$0.027
Qwen PlusAlibaba (China)$0.115$0.027
Qwen3.5 122B-A10BOrcaRouter$0.115$0.027
Qwen3.5 PlusMerge Gateway$0.115$0.027
Seed CharacterVolcengine Ark$0.119$0.028
Seed 1.6Ofox$0.120$0.028
Seed 1.6 VisionOfox$0.120$0.028
Seed 1.8Ofox$0.120$0.028
Gemini 3.1 Flash LiteKilo Gateway$0.125$0.030
Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite PreviewKilo Gateway$0.125$0.030
DeepSeek V4 Flash 0423Venice AI$0.138$0.033
DeepSeek V4.1 FlashAMD$0.140$0.033
GPT-5.2 CodexQiHang$0.140$0.033
Llama 4 Maverick 17B InstructAbacus$0.140$0.033
MiMo-V2-OmniXiaomi$0.140$0.033
MiMo-V2.5OpenRouter$0.140$0.033
Qwen3-VL PlusAlibaba (China)$0.143$0.034
Qwen3 Coder FlashAlibaba (China)$0.144$0.034
DeepSeek ChatOrcaRouter$0.147$0.035
DeepSeek ReasonerOrcaRouter$0.147$0.035
Gemini 3.5 Flash LiteKilo Gateway$0.150$0.035
Ministral 3 8BAmazon Bedrock$0.150$0.035
Mistral Small (latest)Eden AI$0.150$0.035
Mistral Small 4Eden AI$0.150$0.035
Qwen3.8 Flash NextAMD$0.150$0.035
Qwen3.6 FlashMerge Gateway$0.165$0.039
Qwen3.5 397B-A17BAlibaba (China)$0.172$0.041
GPT-5.4 nanoPoe$0.180$0.043
Llama 4 Scout 17B InstructDevPass (LLM Gateway)$0.180$0.043
Step 3.7 FlashStepFun (China)$0.185$0.044
Gemini 3.5 FlashUnoRouter$0.186$0.044
GPT-5.5UnoRouter$0.188$0.044
Grok 4.1 FastOfox$0.200$0.047
Grok 4.1 Fast (Reasoning)FrogBot$0.200$0.047
MAI-Code-1.1-FlashGitHub Copilot$0.200$0.047
Ministral 14BDevPass (LLM Gateway)$0.200$0.047
Ministral 3 14BDigitalOcean$0.200$0.047
Nemotron 3 Nano Omni 30B A3B ReasoningDeep Infra$0.200$0.047
Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instructsubmodel$0.200$0.047
GPT-5.1 Codex miniPoe$0.220$0.052
MiniMax-M3EmpirioLabs AI$0.225$0.053
Gemini Flash-Lite LatestVertex$0.250$0.059
GPT-5.2QiHang$0.250$0.059
Trinity Large ThinkingArcee$0.250$0.059
Kimi K2.6routing.run$0.275$0.065
Kimi K2.7 Coderouting.run$0.275$0.065
Qwen3.6 PlusMerge Gateway$0.276$0.065
Qwen3.7 PlusAIHubMix$0.282$0.067
Codestral (latest)Eden AI$0.300$0.071
GLM-5.2CrofAI$0.300$0.071
Kimi K2.5NanoGPT$0.300$0.071
LongCat-2.0OpenRouter$0.300$0.071
Nova 2 LiteOpenRouter$0.300$0.071
DeepSeek V4 Prorouting.run$0.348$0.082
DeepSeek V4 Pro 0813CrofAI$0.350$0.083
Seed 2.1 TurboOfox$0.354$0.084
GPT-4.1 miniPoe$0.360$0.085
Qwen3 MaxOfox$0.360$0.085
Gemini 3.6 FlashKilo Gateway$0.375$0.089
GPT-5.4 miniXpersona$0.375$0.089
Devstral 2Eden AI$0.400$0.094
Devstral 2 (latest)Eden AI$0.400$0.094
GLM-5.3CrofAI$0.400$0.094
MiMo-V2.5-ProCrofAI$0.400$0.094
Mistral Medium (latest)Merge Gateway$0.400$0.094
Seed 2.0 CodeEmpirioLabs AI$0.400$0.094
Claude Opus 4.8UnoRouter$0.425$0.100
MiMo-V2-ProXiaomi$0.435$0.103
Inkling SmallOpenRouter$0.450$0.106
Kimi K2 ThinkingVercel AI Gateway$0.470$0.111
Seed 2.0 ProVolcengine Ark$0.475$0.112
Gemini Flash LatestOrcaRouter$0.500$0.118
Mistral Large (latest)Merge Gateway$0.500$0.118
Mistral Large 3Eden AI$0.500$0.118
Gemini 3 Pro PreviewQiHang$0.570$0.135
Qwen3 Coder PlusMerge Gateway$0.574$0.136
Palmyra X5Amazon Bedrock$0.600$0.142
Qwen3.6 27BPioneer$0.600$0.142
Hy4 previewVancine$0.670$0.158
Seed 2.1 ProOfox$0.707$0.167
Gemini 3.7 Flash302.AI$0.750$0.177
Gemini 3.8 Flash302.AI$0.750$0.177
GPT-5.4Xpersona$0.750$0.177
MAI-Code-1-FlashGitHub Copilot$0.750$0.177
Nova ProAmazon Bedrock$0.800$0.189
Qwen3.7 MaxMerge Gateway$0.825$0.195
Gemini 2.5 ProPoe$0.870$0.206
Seed EvolvingOfox$0.884$0.209
Claude Sonnet 4.6Xpersona$0.900$0.213
InklingDeep Infra$0.950$0.224
Sakana NamazuKilo Gateway$0.950$0.224
Gemini 3.1 Pro PreviewKilo Gateway$1.00$0.236
Grok Build 0.1AIHubMix$1.00$0.236
Qwen3.6 Max PreviewKilo Gateway$1.03$0.243
Vision SmallVispark$1.05$0.248
GPT-5OpenCode Zen$1.07$0.253
GPT-5-CodexOpenCode Zen$1.07$0.253
GPT-5.1OpenCode Zen$1.07$0.253
GPT-5.1 CodexOpenCode Zen$1.07$0.253
GPT-5.1 Codex MaxPoe$1.10$0.260
GPT-5 Chat (latest)Jiekou.AI$1.13$0.266
Kimi K2 Thinking TurboZenMux$1.15$0.272
Grok 4.20 (Non-Reasoning)Vertex$1.25$0.295
Grok 4.20 (Reasoning)Vertex$1.25$0.295
Grok 4.3302.AI$1.25$0.295
Muse Spark 1.1EmpirioLabs AI$1.25$0.295
Muse Spark 1.2Abacus$1.25$0.295
Muse Spark 1.3EmpirioLabs AI$1.25$0.295
MiMo-V2.5-Pro-UltraSpeedXiaomi$1.30$0.308
Claude Sonnet 5UnoRouter$1.44$0.340
GPT-5.6 TerraXpersona$1.50$0.354
GPT-5.3 CodexPoe$1.60$0.378
Qwen3.8 MaxVancine$1.60$0.378
DeepSeek V4 Pro 0423Merge Gateway$1.65$0.390
Qwen3.8 Max 0902Ofox$1.71$0.404
Mistral Medium 3.5evroc$1.73$0.407
GPT-4.1Poe$1.80$0.425
Kimi K2.7 Code HighspeedAIHubMix$1.90$0.449
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom ToolsAIHubMix$2.00$0.472
GPT-5.6 SolCloudflare AI Gateway$2.00$0.472
Grok 4.5AIHubMix$2.00$0.472
Grok 4.6Vertex$2.00$0.472
Kimi K3CrofAI$2.00$0.472
Qwen3.8 2.4T A95BOpenRouter$2.00$0.472
Qwen3.8 Max PreviewCharm Hyper$2.00$0.472
Command AEden AI$2.50$0.591
Command A ReasoningCohere$2.50$0.591
Claude Fable 5Xpersona$3.00$0.709
Vision MediumVispark$4.21$0.994
Claude Opus 4.6Poe$4.30$1.02
Claude Opus 4.7Poe$4.30$1.02
Claude Opus 5302.AI$5.00$1.18
Fugu UltraRequesty$5.00$1.18
GPT-5.5 InstantZenMux$5.00$1.18
Vision LargeVispark$7.37$1.74
Claude Fable 5.1302.AI$10.00$2.36
Claude Mythos 5Azure$10.00$2.36
GPT-6 Astra302.AI$10.00$2.36
GPT-5 ProJiekou.AI$13.50$3.19
GPT-5.2 ProPoe$19.00$4.49
GPT-6 Astra (Fast)Vercel AI Gateway$20.00$4.72
GPT-5.5 ProPoe$27.27$6.44
GPT-5.4 ProAzure$30.00$7.09

Input only: what the model charges to read the context once. Output is billed separately and depends on what you ask for. Each row carries the cheapest listed provider for that model, which is often a gateway rather than the lab that trained it.

Why the window is not the target

Two things move when you send more context.

The first is the bill, and it is exactly linear. Input is priced per million tokens, so doubling the context doubles the cost every time. A model having room to spare is not a discount.

The second is harder to price. Retrieval accuracy does not stay flat across a full window. Liu et al. found that performance "is often highest when relevant information occurs at the beginning or end of the input context, and significantly degrades" in the middle, "even for explicitly long-context models". Chroma's sweep of 18 models across 8 input lengths reported that "across all experiments, model performance consistently degrades with increasing input length". Neither result says long context is useless. Both say the last half million tokens are not free even when you can afford them.

What a repository actually weighs

Across 60 public repositories tokenized on 2026-09-11, the median assembles into 236,218 tokens. Only 38% fit a 128,000 token window, 43% fit 200,000 and 72% fit 1,000,000. The spread runs from 34,860 to 3,044,662 between the 10th and 90th percentiles.

So for most projects the question is not whether a model can hold the codebase. It is whether sending all of it is the cheapest way to get the answer.

Filtering does less of that work than people expect. On a fresh clone the defaults remove a median of 22.7% of tokens, and more than half of that is test files dropped by name; a clone has no node_modules to remove in the first place. What moves the number past that is deciding that a whole directory does not belong in this prompt.

Cross-link

How many tokens is a codebase has the measurement behind the 236,218 figure and the distribution around it. Token estimation covers the tokenizer that produces the count on the result screen, and Token costs covers the output settings that change how much of a window a bundle consumes. File filtering is where you decide what goes in. ChatGPT Projects source limit is the other kind of ceiling, a file count per Project, which is why a folder goes in as one bundle.

References