Understanding Costs
WP-AutoInsight is built on a “Pay-as-you-go” model. There are no monthly subscriptions to the plugin; you only pay the AI providers for the tokens you use.
The “No Markup” Philosophy
Section titled “The “No Markup” Philosophy”Most AI SaaS tools charge $50-$100 per month and act as a middleman. WP-AutoInsight connects you directly to the providers (OpenAI, Google, Anthropic). This means:
- No Subscriptions: You only pay when you generate content.
- Raw Prices: You pay the exact same price as a developer would.
- Complete Control: You can stop, switch, or pause your spending at any time through the provider’s dashboard.
Understanding Cost Tiers
Section titled “Understanding Cost Tiers”In the Connections > API Keys tab, you will see models organized into three tiers:
🟢 Economy (Tier 1)
Section titled “🟢 Economy (Tier 1)”Cost: Fractions of a cent per post (e.g., $0.0002). Best for: Bulk generation, high-volume updates, and simple summaries.
🔵 Standard (Tier 2)
Section titled “🔵 Standard (Tier 2)”Cost: Roughly $0.01 - $0.05 per post. Best for: Professional blog posts, SEO-focused content, and complex reasoning.
🟣 Premium (Tier 3)
Section titled “🟣 Premium (Tier 3)”Cost: $0.10 - $0.50 per post. Best for: High-intelligence tasks, deep research, and maximum creative quality.
Monitoring Your Spending
Section titled “Monitoring Your Spending”WP-AutoInsight shows an Estimated Cost per Post for every model in the model selection interface, but to see your actual total spending, you should visit your provider’s usage dashboard:
- OpenAI Usage Dashboard
- Anthropic Usage Dashboard
- Google AI Studio (Gemini) Usage
- Perplexity API Usage
Image Generation Costs
Section titled “Image Generation Costs”Featured images and infographics are billed separately from text generation. Image costs are charged per image, not per token:
- DALL-E 3 (OpenAI): ~$0.04–$0.08 per image depending on size and quality settings.
- Gemini Image: Included in standard Gemini API pricing; very low cost per image.
- Stability AI: Charged per image step; costs vary by resolution.
For exact and up-to-date image pricing, check the OpenAI pricing page directly.
Controlling Your Budget
Section titled “Controlling Your Budget”To prevent unexpected costs, we recommend:
- Set Hard Limits: Most providers allow you to set a monthly “Hard Limit” (e.g., $10) after which the API will stop working.
- Use Mini Models: Models like GPT-4.1 Mini or Gemini Flash are incredibly capable but cost significantly less than their “Pro” counterparts.
- Content Length: Lower the “Content Length” setting in the Settings > General tab to use fewer tokens per post.