AI Token Counter Guide
Understand how token counting works for LLMs. Use our free Token Counter to estimate token usage before sending API calls to GPT-4, Claude, Gemini, and more.
Words ≠ Tokens
A common misconception is that one word equals one token. In reality, tokenization is more nuanced. Short common words like "the" or "is" are usually single tokens. Longer words, compound words, punctuation, and special characters may split into multiple tokens. For example, "Hello, world!" is approximately 4 tokens, not 3 words.
Token Limits by Model
Pricing Per Token
AI API costs are typically calculated per 1,000 tokens (or per 1 million tokens for newer models). Input tokens (your prompt) are cheaper than output tokens (the model's response). By counting tokens in advance, you can optimize your prompts to reduce costs — for instance, by trimming unnecessary context, using shorter instructions, or batching multiple requests into one.
How to Count Tokens Before Sending
Paste your prompt text into the token counter input area.
Select the target model (tokenization varies between GPT-4, Claude, Gemini, etc.).
Review the token count, estimated cost, and model limit. Adjust your prompt if needed.