Token Cost Monitor#

Monitor OpenClaw API costs in real-time, set budget alerts, and optimize model spending.

Why This Matters#

Real user stories:

• One user spent $18.75 overnight on heartbeat checks asking "Is it daytime yet?"
• Federico Viticci spent $3,600 in a single month
• Regular users report $200/day bills from misconfigured automations

Quick Commands#

Check current session costs:

bash

# View token usage and estimated cost
openclaw /status
openclaw /usage

Set up cost alerts:

bash

# Alert when daily spend exceeds $10
echo "Alert if daily_cost > $10"

# Alert when monthly spend exceeds $100
echo "Alert if monthly_cost > $100"

Cost Optimization Strategies#

1. Model Routing#

Use cheaper models for simple tasks:

• Claude Haiku: $0.25/1M input tokens (fast, cheap)
• Claude Sonnet: $3/1M input tokens (balanced)
• Claude Opus: $15/1M input tokens (expensive, powerful)

Routing rules:

text

Simple queries (weather, facts) → Haiku
Complex analysis → Sonnet
Creative writing → Opus (only if needed)

2. Context Management#

Reduce token waste:

• Clear old conversation context regularly
• Don't store tool outputs in context
• Use concise system prompts
• Limit heartbeat frequency

3. Heartbeat Optimization#

Common mistake:

text

❌ Every 30 min: "Is it daytime yet?" → $18.75/night
✅ Every 6 hours: Check emails + calendar → $2/day

Best practices:

• Combine multiple checks into one heartbeat
• Use longer intervals (4-6 hours)
• Skip nighttime heartbeats (23:00-08:00)
• Track heartbeat costs separately

Cost Tracking Dashboard#

Daily Cost Breakdown#

CategoryTokensCostHeartbeat checks50,000$0.50Web searches100,000$1.00Code generation200,000$2.00Document analysis150,000$1.50Total500,000$5.00/day

Monthly Projection#

text

Daily average: $5.00
Monthly projection: $150.00
Budget limit: $100.00
⚠️ Warning: Will exceed budget by $50

Budget Alerts Setup#

Tier 1: Light User ($10-30/month)#

text

Daily limit: $1.00
Alert at: $0.80/day
Actions: Reduce heartbeat frequency, use Haiku more

Tier 2: Regular User ($40-80/month)#

text

Daily limit: $2.50
Alert at: $2.00/day
Actions: Optimize context, review model routing

Tier 3: Power User ($100-500/month)#

text

Daily limit: $10.00
Alert at: $8.00/day
Actions: Audit all automations, implement strict routing

Cost Reduction Checklist#

Immediate Actions (save 30-50%)#

• Reduce heartbeat frequency to 4-6 hours
• Route simple queries to Haiku
• Clear context after completed tasks
• Disable unnecessary automations

Medium-term (save 50-70%)#

• Implement model routing rules
• Optimize system prompts
• Batch similar tasks together
• Use caching for repeated queries

Long-term (save 70-90%)#

• Build cost-aware agent behaviors
• Implement token budgets per task
• Use local models for simple tasks
• Optimize tool output storage

Monitoring Commands#

Real-time Cost Check#

bash

# Get current session stats
openclaw /status

# Get detailed usage breakdown
openclaw /usage --detailed

Historical Analysis#

bash

# Last 7 days cost trend
echo "Analyze spending trend for past 7 days"

# Identify most expensive tasks
echo "What are my top 5 most expensive task types?"

Anomaly Detection#

bash

# Alert if spending is 2x normal
echo "Alert if hourly_cost > 2 * average_hourly_cost"

Integration Examples#

Slack/Discord Alerts#

bash

# Send daily cost summary to Slack
curl -X POST https://hooks.slack.com/services/YOUR/WEBHOOK/URL \
  -d '{"text": "Daily OpenClaw cost: $5.00 (Budget: $10.00)"}'

Email Reports#

bash

# Send weekly cost report via email
echo "Weekly cost report: $35.00 total, $5.00/day average" | mail -s "OpenClaw Cost Report" user@example.com

Cost Optimization Scripts#

Auto-pause Expensive Sessions#

bash

#!/bin/bash
# Pause session if daily cost exceeds limit

DAILY_LIMIT=10
CURRENT_COST=$(get_current_cost)

if (( $(echo "$CURRENT_COST > $DAILY_LIMIT" | bc -l) )); then
    echo "⚠️ Daily cost ($CURRENT_COST) exceeds limit ($DAILY_LIMIT)"
    echo "Pausing non-essential automations..."
    # Add pause logic here
fi

Model Router#

bash

#!/bin/bash
# Route queries to appropriate model based on complexity

QUERY="$1"
WORD_COUNT=$(echo "$QUERY" | wc -w)

if [ $WORD_COUNT -lt 20 ]; then
    echo "Using Haiku (simple query)"
    MODEL="haiku"
elif [ $WORD_COUNT -lt 100 ]; then
    echo "Using Sonnet (medium complexity)"
    MODEL="sonnet"
else
    echo "Using Opus (complex analysis)"
    MODEL="opus"
fi

Common Cost Pitfalls#

❌ Mistake: Infinite Loops#

text

Agent keeps calling itself → 1000s of API calls → $100+ in hours

Fix: Implement loop detection and limits

❌ Mistake: Storing Tool Outputs#

text

Every tool output saved to context → Context grows → Each call costs more

Fix: Only store essential information

❌ Mistake: Wrong Model for Task#

text

Using Opus for weather queries → 60x more expensive than needed

Fix: Implement model routing

❌ Mistake: Heartbeat Misconfiguration#

text

Heartbeat every 5 minutes → 288 calls/day → $50+/day

Fix: Use 4-6 hour intervals

Pricing Reference (2026)#

Anthropic Claude#

ModelInputOutputBest ForHaiku$0.25/1M$1.25/1MSimple queries, factsSonnet$3/1M$15/1MGeneral tasksOpus$15/1M$75/1MComplex analysis

OpenAI GPT#

ModelInputOutputBest ForGPT-4o Mini$0.15/1M$0.60/1MSimple queriesGPT-4o$2.5/1M$10/1MGeneral taskso1$15/1M$60/1MComplex reasoning

Google Gemini#

ModelInputOutputBest ForFlash$0.075/1M$0.30/1MSimple queriesPro$1.25/1M$5/1MGeneral tasksUltra$7.5/1M$30/1MComplex analysis

ROI Calculator#

Calculate if automation is worth it:

text

Manual task time: 30 minutes
Your hourly rate: $50/hour
Manual cost: $25 per task

Automation cost:
- API calls: $0.50
- Setup time (amortized): $5.00
- Total: $5.50 per task

Savings: $25 - $5.50 = $19.50 per task
ROI: 355%

Updates#

• 2026-03-27: Initial release
• Pricing as of March 2026
• Based on real user cost data