> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.swarmia.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.swarmia.com/features/ai-tools/ai-cost.md). # AI cost (alpha) Available at [AI tools → AI cost](https://app.swarmia.com/ai/cost/overview) {% hint style="info" %} AI cost is in alpha and not enabled by default. If you'd like to try it, reach out to your Swarmia point of contact or . {% endhint %} AI cost shows what your organization spends on AI coding tools and breaks the spend down by team and person. Combined with the [AI cost column in the focus summary](#ai-cost-in-the-focus-summary), it connects AI spend to the work your teams deliver. ## Cost definitions Swarmia distinguishes three types of AI tool cost. All costs are shown in US dollars. ### Fixed subscription cost The estimated cost of seat licenses. Annual plan pricing, negotiated discounts, and regional price differences aren't taken into account. The monthly price is spread evenly across the days of the month, and each seat accrues cost for each day it's active: * **GitHub Copilot:** $19 per month for Business seats and $39 per month for Enterprise seats, based on seat data from your GitHub integration. * **Cursor:** $40 per month per member, based on member data from your Cursor integration. Cursor premium plan seats ($120 per month) aren't detected yet — they show up as standard $40 seats. * **Claude Code:** $25 per month for standard seats and $100 per month for premium seats ($30 and $150 respectively before May 1, 2026), based on your imported seat data. ### Usage-based cost The actual usage-based spend billed by the tool provider. ### Token value The list price of the tokens used, including the harness (overhead the agent adds, like system prompts and tool calls), regardless of what you actually pay. This is useful for understanding the value of tokens consumed, for example, on subscription plans where heavy usage doesn't increase your bill. * **GitHub Copilot:** Based on [GitHub AI credit](https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/concepts/billing/usage-based-billing-for-individuals) usage. Data available from June 19, 2026 onwards. * **Cursor:** Includes the list price of token usage and the Cursor fee. * **Claude Code:** Comes from the [OpenTelemetry metrics](/settings/integrations/ai-coding-tool-integrations/claude-code-integration.md#opentelemetry-monitoring) and includes harness costs, such as prompt caching and tool use. Cost from [Claude Code Analytics API](/settings/integrations/ai-coding-tool-integrations/claude-code-integration.md#analytics-api) are not yet supported. ## What's available today During the alpha, availability varies by tool: | Tool | [Fixed subscription cost](#fixed-subscription-cost) | [Usage-based cost](#usage-based-cost) | [Token value](#token-value) | | -------------- | --------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | GitHub Copilot | ✅ | — | ✅ | | Cursor | ✅ | — | ✅ | | Claude Code | ✅ ([CSV import](#importing-claude-seats)) | — | ✅ ([OpenTelemetry](/settings/integrations/ai-coding-tool-integrations/claude-code-integration.md#opentelemetry-monitoring) only) | ## The AI cost page The page shows costs for the selected team and timeframe: * [**Token value**](#token-value)**:** GitHub Copilot, Claude Code, and Cursor token usage over time. * [**Fixed subscription cost**](#fixed-subscription-cost)**:** Estimated seat license costs over time, broken down by tool. * **Teams and Users tabs:** A breakdown by team or by person, with total cost, fixed cost per tool, and the number of merged pull requests. On the Teams tab, hover over a team's users to see each person's cost. Both tables can be downloaded as a CSV. The breakdowns are based on your current team members. Historical team memberships aren't supported: if people switch teams, their past costs move with them to their current team. Seats that don't belong to anyone on your current teams aren't shown, so you can't yet use the view to spot spend on unassigned seats. ## AI cost in the focus summary When AI cost is enabled for your organization, the [focus summary](/features/focus/focus-summary.md) shows an **AI spend** column next to each issue or initiative. It shows the [token value](#token-value) from GitHub Copilot, Cursor, and Claude Code attributed to that work and its share of the total AI cost in the view.
To attribute cost to work, Swarmia spreads each person's daily AI spend across the issues and pull requests they contributed to that day, in proportion to their [effort](/definitions/developer-effort-ftes.md). If someone accrues AI spend on a day without attributable work, it's left out of the focus summary breakdown. ## Setup AI cost uses data from the [AI coding tool integrations](/settings/integrations/ai-coding-tool-integrations.md): * **GitHub Copilot** fixed costs and token value are based on seat and user metrics data from the [GitHub Copilot integration](/settings/integrations/ai-coding-tool-integrations/github-copilot-integration.md). * **Cursor** fixed costs and token value are based on member and usage data from the [Cursor integration](/settings/integrations/ai-coding-tool-integrations/cursor-integration.md). * **Claude Code** * Token value requires the OpenTelemetry setup described in the [Claude Code integration](/settings/integrations/ai-coding-tool-integrations/claude-code-integration.md). * Fixed costs require importing your seats as a CSV file (see below). ### Importing Claude seats To track Claude Code subscription costs, upload your organization's seat list to Swarmia: 1. In [Claude organization settings](https://claude.ai/admin-settings/members), select **Export CSV**. You need the **Owner** role in your Claude organization to do this. 2. In Swarmia, go to **AI tools → AI cost** and select **Import Claude seats**. You need [admin permissions](/settings/organization/managing-users-and-roles.md) in Swarmia. 3. Upload the CSV file.
Each import is a snapshot of your seat roster at that point in time. Swarmia counts each seat's cost for up to one month before and after the snapshot date (or halfway to the previous or next import, whichever comes first). **Upload a new CSV at least monthly** to avoid gaps in your historical cost data — and whenever your seat count or tiers change. ## Frequently asked questions ### Why don't I see costs for today? Like other AI tool data in Swarmia, cost data is synced periodically, so the numbers can be up to a day behind. ### Why is someone's cost attributed to the wrong person or missing? Check that their AI tool identities are connected to the right contributor in the [Contributor settings](/settings/organization/contributors.md). Swarmia attributes cost to the merged contributor, so unmerged identities can leave cost unattributed. ### Why doesn't the token value match our AI tool invoice? Token value is the list price of the tokens and harness (overhead the agent adds, like system prompts and tool calls) used, not your billed cost. On subscription plans like Claude Team, token usage doesn't map directly to what you pay. ### Why do you report the token value instead of the token count? Adding up tokens into a single number would lead to an apples-to-oranges comparison: 1. Different LLMs price tokens differently. Claude Fable tokens are [over three times as expensive](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/about-claude/pricing) as Claude Sonnet tokens, which arguably also reflects the value you get from them. 2. Each model uses its own tokenizer, so the same work can produce different token counts. For example, [Claude Opus 4.7 produces about 30% more tokens](https://www.anthropic.com/news/claude-opus-4-7) than Claude Opus 4.6 for the same exact text. 3. Different token types (input, output, cache read, and cache write) are priced differently — an output token can be [50 times the cost](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/about-claude/pricing) of a cache-read token. Token value converts usage into one comparable metric: the list price of the tokens used. This allows you to compare and aggregate AI spend across teams, people, issues, pull requests, and AI tools. --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter, and the optional `goal` query parameter: ``` GET https://help.swarmia.com/features/ai-tools/ai-cost.md?ask=&goal= ``` `ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. `goal` is optional and describes the broader end goal you are ultimately trying to accomplish on behalf of the user. GitBook uses it to tailor the answer towards what is most useful for that goal. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.