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How much did AI cost per 1,000 words, and did prices drop later?

Research question: What did a developer pay per thousand words of AI output in the first paid plans, and how did those prices change over the next two years?

The records do not give a price per thousand words of AI output for any first paid plan, and they do not describe price changes over two years 1. The closest figures are per million output tokens through the API: GPT-4 launched in March 2023 at $60 3, and GPT-4 Turbo was cut to $30 in November 2023 4. GPT-4o-mini reached $0.60 per million output tokens in July 2024 5, while Claude 1's API beta charged $32.68 per million output tokens in March 2023 6. By February 2025, GPT-4.5 cost $150 per million output tokens, compared with $10 for GPT-4o 7. The newest fact is from March 2025, about 19 months before October 2026, so the records do not show prices for the most recent period 2.

Checked 2026-10-23. Only documented and supported facts are used.
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[1] supported
The document does not give a price per thousand words of AI output for any first paid plan, and does not describe price changes over two years. It does say that o1-preview's API was several times more expensive than GPT-4o's.
"o1-preview's API is several times more expensive than GPT-4o"
OpenAI o1
[2] supported
In March 2025, OpenAI released the o1-pro API, which it described as its most expensive AI model to date.
"In March 2025, OpenAI released the o1-pro API, its most expensive AI model to date."
OpenAI o1
[3] supported
GPT-4 launched in March 2023 with an output price of $60 per million tokens.
"GPT-4 launched March 2023 at $30/$60 per M token"
AI API Pricing History: GPT-4 $60 to GPT-5.4 $15 (50x Drop)
[4] supported
The output price for GPT-4 Turbo in November 2023 was $30 per million tokens, representing a 3x price cut from the original GPT-4.
"GPT-4 Turbo Nov 2023 $10.00 $30.00 3x price cut"
AI API Pricing History: GPT-4 $60 to GPT-5.4 $15 (50x Drop)
[5] supported
GPT-4o-mini, launched in July 2024, had an output price of $0.60 per million tokens, which was 100x cheaper than the original GPT-4.
"GPT-4o-mini Jul 2024 $0.15 $0.60 100x cheaper than GPT-4"
AI API Pricing History: GPT-4 $60 to GPT-5.4 $15 (50x Drop)
[6] supported
In March 2023, the initial Claude 1 API beta charged $32.68 per 1 million output tokens.
"Claude 1 $11.02 $32.68 9K"
Anthropic Claude API Pricing History: Every Change Since Launch
[7] supported
As of February 2025, GPT-4.5 cost $150 per million output tokens through OpenAI's API, compared with $10 per million output tokens for GPT-4o. The document gives prices per million tokens, not per thousand words, and does not describe how prices changed over the following two years.
"As of February 2025, through OpenAI's API it costs $75 per million input tokens and $150 per million output tokens, whereas GPT-4o only costs $2.50 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens."
GPT-4.5