AI Answer Engine

Tools & buying

AI Tool Cost Comparison

Pricing pages are designed to look cheap at the volume you have today. Enter the volume you will have next year instead.

Advertisement

Per-seat suite

Usage-based API

Team platform

Cheapest — Per-seat suite

$195 / month

$65 a month less than Usage-based API, or $780 a year.

Per-seat suite
$195 / mo · $2,340 / yr · $0.0163 per unit
Usage-based API
$260 / mo · $3,120 / yr · $0.0217 per unit
Team platform
$324 / mo · $3,888 / yr · $0.027 per unit
  • Per-seat suite: Flat seats, generous allowance, no fixed fee.
  • Usage-based API: Cheap at low volume, scales linearly forever.
  • Team platform: High floor, low ceiling — wins at large volume.

How to read the three shapes

Per-seat pricing is predictable and punishes growth in headcount rather than usage. It is the right shape when a small team uses a tool heavily every day.

Usage-based pricing has almost no floor, which makes it the correct starting point for anything experimental — but it never stops scaling, so model it at ten times your current volume before signing anything annual.

Platform pricing charges a high fixed fee for a low marginal rate. It only wins past a crossover volume, and vendors quote you the number just above that point on purpose. Move the units slider until the winner changes: that crossover is your real negotiating position.