OpenClaw API Costs Explained: How to Run Your AI Assistant for Under $50/Month

The $29/month server fee is straightforward. But the AI provider API costs? That's where people get surprised. Here's an honest breakdown of what each provider costs when powering your OpenClaw assistant, and how to keep the total bill under $50/month.

How API pricing works

AI providers charge per token—roughly per word—for both input (what you send) and output (what the model responds). Prices vary wildly between models. A quick email triage might use 1,000 tokens. A long conversation with context about your projects might use 10,000. Your monthly bill depends on how much you use the assistant and which model you choose.

Google Gemini Flash: the budget champion

If cost is your primary concern, Gemini 2.0 Flash is hard to beat. It's fast, capable enough for email triage and scheduling, and costs a fraction of the premium models. Light usage runs $1-3/month. Even moderate daily use rarely exceeds $10. Combined with the $29 server, you're looking at $30-39/month total.

OpenAI GPT-5.1: the balanced choice

GPT-5.1 offers strong reasoning and broad capabilities at a moderate price. Light usage is $5-10/month, moderate daily use is $15-30/month. For most people who want a capable assistant without breaking the bank, this hits the sweet spot. Total: $34-59/month.

Anthropic Claude: premium reasoning

Claude Sonnet is comparable to GPT-5.1 in price and great for nuanced tasks. Claude Opus is the premium option—exceptional at complex reasoning but expensive. Light Opus usage can hit $10-25/day. Unless you need the absolute best model for complex analysis, Sonnet gives you 90% of the capability at a fraction of the cost. Sonnet total: $39-69/month.

OpenRouter: flexibility and fallbacks

OpenRouter is a proxy that gives you access to models from multiple providers through a single API key. The advantage is flexibility—you can switch models without changing API keys, and set up automatic fallbacks. Pricing passes through from the underlying provider plus a small margin. Great if you want to experiment with different models.

Keeping it under $50/month

The formula is simple: $29 server + a budget-friendly model. Use Gemini Flash for routine tasks ($1-5/month) or GPT-5.1 for a more capable assistant ($10-20/month). Avoid Claude Opus unless you have a specific need for it. You can always start cheap and upgrade the model later from the control panel—no redeployment needed.