[ GLOSSARY ]
What is a token?
Definition
AI conceptsToken
A token is the unit AI models read and write, roughly a word or part of a word. Usage and prices are counted in tokens.
Why it matters for schools
Providers price models per million tokens, with separate prices for input and output. Claude Sonnet 5, for example, lists at $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens. Output and reasoning usually drive the bill, which is why long answers, reasoning and comparing several models cost more. For scale, 27K tokens hold about a dozen pages of text.
[ FAQ ]
Questions and answers
What is a token in AI?
The unit a model reads and writes, roughly a word or part of a word.
How are AI models priced?
Per million tokens, with separate prices for input and output tokens.
What makes a student's AI use expensive?
Long answers, reasoning, long readings and asking several models the same question.
[ SOURCES ]
Sources
Facts checked Oct 18, 2026.
- 1Anthropic, Claude API pricingRead Oct 18, 2026 · platform.claude.com
- 2Anthropic, prompt cachingRead Oct 18, 2026 · platform.claude.com
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