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Subscription vs pay-as-you-go: how to find your break-even

A subscription only pays off above a usage threshold. Find your break-even with the interactive calculator, and see where a flat plan beats metered tokens.

11 min read DeepFrugal
Subscription vs pay-as-you-go: how to find your break-even

A flat monthly plan feels cheap next to a pay-as-you-go API. It is not always cheaper. The plan wins only above a usage threshold. Below that threshold you pay for capacity you never use.

This guide shows how to find the usage where a plan beats paying per token. The cost per token guide explains how a listed price becomes an effective rate; this one turns that rate into a decision.

Effective rates, in one line

The calculator works in effective rates: a plan's listed price scaled by its fee and quota. LLM cost per token: listed vs effective defines the three billing shapes, the formula and the token types behind every number here.

The effective rate is a best case. It assumes you consume every included token on the selected model. DeepFrugal states this in every price tooltip.

Find your break-even

Pick a plan, then add the models you actually use. Each row has its own monthly input, cached read, cached write and output (cached tokens explained); use Add model to build a mix. The default is the Medium preset. Pick Light, Medium or Heavy · agentic to load a representative mix, then edit it; each chip names the models it will load for the selected plan.

Plan break-even — OpenCode Go · Experimental
Cheaper
Subscriptionsave $14.54/month
You pay $10.00/month instead of $24.54 of usage.
Usage: 663M tokens · $50.35 at list rates · $24.54 cheapest pay-as-you-go.
Subscriptioncheaper$10.00/month
Quota used70%
Covered by the quota$50.35
Above the quota$0.00
Monthly cost$10.00
Cheapest pay-as-you-go route

Real rates include the service fee; sales tax is not included.

GLM 5.3 Flash via OpenRouter API

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash via OpenRouter API

Monthly cost$24.54
Break-even: $10.00 of usage (≈ 132M tokens at this mix)
At your mix: subscription $10.00/mo · cheapest metered $24.54/mo · at list rates $50.35/mo — subscription is cheapest by $14.54/mo.
Plan break-even details
$0.011$0.015$0.037$0.076100M200M500M2B663M132M270M1.15B951MTotal tokens per month (M tokens/mo, log scale)Average cost per 1M tokens usage above the plan paid at the OpenCode Zen rate your mix
  • Average cost per token
  • Listed rate
  • Cheapest pay-as-you-go route
  • Quota limit
  • Cheaper than the cheapest
  • Quota usage break-even
  • Plan break-even / loses
  • Average at your mix
Hover the curve to read the values.
▾ How the graph is calculated

Inside the quota the average is the monthly subscription fee divided by the tokens used, so it falls as the mix scales up and reaches the mix's effective rate at the quota limit. Above the limit the pool is spent and the extra tokens are paid outside the plan at the overflow base chosen in Options — the plan's own fallback route, the pay-as-you-go market its gateway publishes (the listed rate where there is none), the cheapest pay-as-you-go rate found for it, or the cheaper of the offered bases — so the average climbs towards that blended rate.

The pool is one shared budget: each model's allowance is that same pool restated at its rates — dollars for a dollar-credit plan, credits for a token-credit plan — and it is allocated in the model order shown, so a different order or blend moves the curve. A token type a model does not price still counts in the volume but adds no cost. The token axis is logarithmic, so a wide range of usage fits on one chart.

The pay-as-you-go line is the cheapest real rate per model (fee included; sales tax excluded) — an exact variant match when a pay-as-you-go gateway publishes that variant, otherwise the model's nearest published row — so it can combine more than one gateway. When that rate equals the plan's own listed rate the chart shows the listed line only.

The markers: the quota usage break-even is where the average meets the plan's list rate, so below it you pay more per token than list; the plan break-even is where the average starts to beat the cheaper of the two references; loses to the cheapest is where it stops doing so (it exists only when the overflow base is dearer than that reference); the your mix point is your stated usage, labelled with its monthly token volume, where the horizontal guide marks the mix's average cost per 1M, and the shaded band is where the subscription wins.

▾ How the plan quota is consumed

A subscription grants one monthly pool. The pool is allocated to the models in the order listed here: each model spends its usage divided by its quota, capped by what is left, so the total never exceeds 100%. Reorder the models to approximate your own pattern. Usage above a model's allowance, or beyond the pool, is paid outside the plan at the OpenCode Zen rate.

ModelUsageMonthly quota% of QuotaPay as you go
GLM 5.3 Flash$29.10$60.0048.5%—
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Off-Peak)$15.71$100.0015.7%—
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Peak)$5.54$100.005.5%—
Total$50.35—70%$0.00

Budget used = 0.698 (70%) · Covered = $50.35 · Pay as you go = $0.00

▾ Effective rates (listed vs effective)
ModelInput /1MOutput /1MCached read /1M
GLM 5.3 Flash$0.03$0.15$0.099$0.5$0.006$0.03
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Off-Peak)$0.03$0.15$0.119$0.6$0.001$0.003
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Peak)$0.06$0.3$0.238$1.2$0.001$0.006

Effective = listed × 0.199 at this usage · 70% of the plan budget used

Experimental. Confirm every figure against the provider's own pricing before you rely on it. DeepFrugal is not responsible for calculation errors.

The same calculator is available as a standalone page at /tools/plan-break-even/. It keeps your usage in the URL, so you can bookmark a calculation or share it.

The calculator values your usage at the listed rates and compares it with the plan. Below the subscription price, pay-as-you-go is cheaper. Between the subscription price and the quota, you pay the flat subscription and the rest is saving.

The plan grants one monthly budget for the whole mix. We cannot know the order in which you draw from each model, so the calculator assumes the list order; use the arrows to approximate your own pattern. Usage above a model's own quota, or beyond the pool, is not covered: choose what the usage above the plan is paid at: the plan's own fallback route (the pay-as-you-go market its gateway publishes, where there is one; otherwise the listed rate), the cheapest pay-as-you-go rate found for it, or the cheaper of the two.

The calculator reads the same data as the main table. It recomputes on every change.

Open How the plan quota is consumed to see each model's share of the plan quota and its pay-as-you-go excess, and Effective rates (listed vs effective) for the listed-versus-effective table. Both panels start collapsed to keep the calculator compact.

Compare providers for one model

Model prices differ by provider. The same model can cost several times more on one endpoint than another. Peak, off-peak and flex tiers are separate rows.

Cheapest providers
VariantPlanPricing /1MMonthly quota
InputOutputCached read
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash FreeOpenCode ZenOpenCode$0$0$0—
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017OpenRouter APIOpenRouter$0.006$0.5$0.005—
DeepSeek V4.1 FlashOpenRouter APIOpenRouter$0.006$0.5$0.005—
DeepSeek V4.1 FlashPortal PlusNous Portal$0.006$0.5$0.005$22 of usage credits · $10 rollover cap
DeepSeek V4.1 FlashPortal SuperNous Portal$0.006$0.5$0.005$110 of usage credits · $50 rollover cap
DeepSeek V4.1 FlashPortal UltraNous Portal$0.006$0.5$0.005$220 of usage credits · $100 rollover cap
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017OpenRouter APIOpenRouter$0.022$0.4$0.004—
DeepSeek V4.1 FlashOpenRouter APIOpenRouter$0.022$0.4$0.004—
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017OpenRouter APIOpenRouter$0.024$0.7$0.005—
DeepSeek V4.1 FlashOpenRouter APIOpenRouter$0.024$0.7$0.005—

The table ranks providers by their listed rate (the price you pay per token on pay-as-you-go, before any subscription scaling or fee). Each row links to the gateway. Turn on Effective prices to see the rate with the fee applied, or scaled down by a plan's quota; the ranking updates with it. Sales tax is never included.

Browse a plan

Subscription plans bundle many models. This table lists a plan's models with their effective prices, cached reads and writes, and the monthly quota each model draws from. Use the selector to switch plan, and click a column header to sort.

Effective prices — OpenCode Go
ModelVariantInput /1MOutput /1MCached read /1MCached write /1MMonthly quota
Crouton AlphaCrouton Alpha Free$0$0$0——
BeamBeam Free$0$0$0——
Iceman ContributorIceman Contributor Free$0$0$0——
LongCat 2.5LongCat 2.5 Free$0$0$0——
DeepSeek V4.1 FlashDeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Off-Peak)$0.015$0.06$0—$100
Muse Spark 1.3 ContributorMuse Spark 1.3 Contributor$0.017$0.033$0—$60
Muse Spark 1.2 ContributorMuse Spark 1.2 Contributor$0.017$0.033$0—$60
MiMo-V2.6-FlashMiMo-V2.6-Flash$0.023$0.047$0—$60
MiMo-V2.5MiMo-V2.5$0.023$0.047$0—$60
Hy3Hy3$0.023$0.097$0.006—$60
GLM 5.3 FlashGLM 5.3 Flash$0.025$0.083$0.005—$60
DeepSeek V4.1 FlashDeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Peak)$0.03$0.12$0.001—$100
LongCat-2.0LongCat-2.0$0.05$0.2$0.001—$60
MiniMax M3MiniMax M3 (≤ 512K tokens)$0.05$0.2$0.01—$60
Qwen3.8 FlashQwen3.8 Flash$0.05$0.157$0.005$0.067$30
Qwen3.7 PlusQwen3.7 Plus (≤ 256K tokens)$0.067$0.267$0.007$0.083$60
GPT-6 LunaGPT-6 Luna (≤ 272K tokens)$0.067$0.333$0.007$0.083$15
Claude Haiku 5.5Claude Haiku 5.5 (≤ 100K tokens)$0.067$0.333$0.007$0.083$15
MiniMax M3.1 FlashMiniMax M3.1 Flash$0.075$0.3$0.007—$20
MiniMax M3MiniMax M3 (> 512K tokens)$0.1$0.4$0.02—$60
GPT-6 LunaGPT-6 Luna (> 272K tokens)$0.133$0.5$0.013$0.167$15
GPT-5.6 LunaGPT-5.6 Luna (≤ 272K tokens)$0.133$0.8$0.013$0.167$15
Hy4Hy4$0.139$0.417$0.007—$60
Kimi K2.7 CodeKimi K2.7 Code$0.158$0.667$0.032—$60
Qwen3.7 PlusQwen3.7 Plus (> 256K tokens)$0.2$0.8$0.02$0.25$60
GLM 5.2GLM 5.2$0.233$0.733$0.043—$60
GPT-5.6 LunaGPT-5.6 Luna (> 272K tokens)$0.267$1.2$0.027$0.333$15
Hy4Hy4 Preview$0.278$0.834$0.014—$30
MiMo-V2.6-ProMiMo-V2.6-Pro$0.29$0.58$0.002—$15
MiMo-V2.5-ProMiMo-V2.5-Pro$0.29$0.58$0.002—$15
Claude Haiku 5.5Claude Haiku 5.5 (> 100K tokens)$0.333$1.667$0.033$0.417$15
DeepSeek V4 ProDeepSeek V4 Pro (Off-Peak)$0.44$1.32$0.015—$15
Step 5Step 5 Preview$0.667$1.8$0.067—$15
Gemini 4 ArgonGemini 4 Argon (50% off)$0.667$3.333$0.033—$30
DeepSeek V4 ProDeepSeek V4 Pro (Peak)$0.88$2.64$0.029—$15
GLM 5.3GLM 5.3$0.933$2.933$0.173—$15
Kimi K3.1 ProKimi K3.1 Pro$1.333$6.667$0.133$1.333$15
Qwen3.8 MaxQwen3.8 Max$1.333$4$0.167$1.667$15
Grok 4.7Grok 4.7 (≤ 200K tokens)$1.333$4$0.333—$15
Kimi K3Kimi K3$2$10$0.2$2$15
Grok 4.7Grok 4.7 (> 200K tokens)$2.667$8$0.667—$15

Read the live table

Every widget links back to the live comparison table. There you can filter by provider, context, latency, prompt logging and more.

A few rules of thumb:

  • Low usage: pay as you go. You pay only for what you send.
  • High, steady usage: a subscription. The effective rate falls as you use the quota.
  • Cache-heavy usage: check the cached read rate. It can change the ranking.
  • Bursty usage: check the daily and weekly quotas. Many plans throttle bursts well below the monthly quota.
  • Resellers: add the service fee before you compare. Sales tax is not included. Confirm it with the provider.

Summary

The cheapest plan is the one that matches your usage. DeepFrugal shows both numbers side by side, so you can decide with data instead of marketing copy.

Frequently asked questions

When does a subscription beat pay-as-you-go?

Above a usage threshold, once the flat subscription fee is spread over enough tokens. Below it, metered billing is cheaper.

What if I use more than the quota?

The usage above the plan is paid separately, at the overflow base: the plan's own fallback route where its gateway publishes a pay-as-you-go market, otherwise the listed rate. The plan covers the pool; you pay for the rest.

Do weekly and daily limits matter?

Yes for bursty usage. They cap how fast you can spend the budget and can throttle you before the month ends.