Document Summarization — 100,000 Docs/Month
Batch LLM cost for summarizing 100,000 documents monthly (legal, financial, or research).
Assumptions
- 100,000 documents/month via batch API
- Avg document: 5,000 tokens
- Avg summary output: 400 tokens
- System prompt: 500 tokens
- Batch API discount: 50%
Base model: GPT-5 mini — $0.25/M input · $2/M output · 2026-08-19
Cost breakdown by component
How to cut this cost by 50%+
These are estimates based on typical patterns. Enter your specific token counts and volume for a precise calculation.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does batch document summarization cost?
With GPT-5 mini batch API ($0.125/M input), 100,000 documents averaging 5,000 tokens costs roughly $100-200/month. This is one of the most cost-effective LLM use cases — batch processing with a small model is extremely economical.
When should I use batch API for summarization?
Whenever documents don't need real-time processing — overnight pipelines, end-of-day reports, content categorization, research synthesis. Batch API is 50% off with results within 24 hours. For 100k documents, the savings are $100-150/month.
Pricing verified 2026-08-20. All figures are estimates with stated assumptions. See methodology.