Operations Guide
How to Calculate RAG Pipeline Cost
RAG costs combine embedding generation, vector storage, retrieval queries, and generation. This guide breaks down each component with realistic volume assumptions.
Direct answer
RAG costs combine embedding generation, vector storage, retrieval queries, and generation. This guide breaks down each component with realistic volume assumptions.
Fast path
- Calculate embedding cost: documents × tokens per doc × embedding price per token.
- Estimate vector storage: dimensions × vectors × storage cost per GB.
- Project retrieval queries: monthly queries × top-k results × retrieval latency.
Guide toolkit
Copy or download the checklist
Turn this guide into a working brief for RAG Monthly Cost Calculator.
Implementation Steps
- Calculate embedding cost: documents × tokens per doc × embedding price per token.
- Estimate vector storage: dimensions × vectors × storage cost per GB.
- Project retrieval queries: monthly queries × top-k results × retrieval latency.
- Add generation cost: queries × context tokens × generation price per output token.
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