OpenAI Agents SDK pricing plans
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OpenAI Agents SDK Pricing: Plans & Cost Guide 2026

Free and open source, with no subscription and no per-seat fee. The whole cost is the OpenAI model tokens and tool calls your agents consume.

OpenAI Agents SDK plans and pricing

High· Verified July 8, 2026
Free

Open-Source SDK

Building agents on OpenAI

Open Source
Free Python/JS library (Apache-2.0)
Cost = underlying OpenAI API token usage
Get started
Custom

API Usage

Runtime (metered)

Custom
Per-token metered at OpenAI model rates
Web search $10/1k calls
File search $2.50/1k calls
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OpenAI Agents SDK pricing: the quick answer

Quick answerHigh· Verified July 8, 2026

The OpenAI Agents SDK is free and open source; you pay only for the API calls your agents make, priced per token as of July 14, 2026. Running GPT-5.4 costs $2.50 per 1M input tokens and $15 per 1M output, GPT-5.5 is $5 in and $30 out, and the cheaper GPT-5.4-mini is $0.75 in and $4.50 out. Built-in tools bill on top: web search at $10 per 1,000 calls and file search at $2.50 per 1,000. There is no subscription and no per-seat fee, so your entire cost is whatever your agents consume in tokens and tool calls.

  • Open-Source SDKFree
  • API UsageCustom
Sketch your costs in the cost calculator before you commit to a plan.
Free tier
Yes
Billing model
Usage-Based
Annual discount
Not offered

OpenAI Agents SDK is free to start, against a $29/mo median across 11 ai agents tools we track.


OpenAI Agents SDK Hidden Costs & Pitfalls

What sits on top of the plan fee

The SDK is free, so every line on your bill is usage. Tokens are the bulk of it, but the hosted tools and containers are where an agent quietly runs up extra.

Model tokens
The dominant cost. GPT-5.4 runs $2.50 per 1M input and $15 per 1M output; GPT-5.5 doubles that to $5 and $30. A multi-agent flow that passes long context between handoffs can spend millions of tokens per run, so a chatty pipeline on GPT-5.5 costs far more than the same logic on GPT-5.4-mini at $0.75 in and $4.50 out. Match the model to the task, not the demo.
$0.75 to $30/1M tokens
Web and file search tools
Hosted tools bill separately from tokens. Web search is $10 per 1,000 calls plus the search content tokens at model rates, and file search is $2.50 per 1,000 calls. An agent that searches on every turn adds real money: 10,000 web searches in a month is $100 before you count the tokens each search feeds back into the model.
$10/1k web, $2.50/1k file
File storage and containers
File search storage is $0.10 per GB per day after the first free gigabyte, and hosted code containers bill per 20-minute session from $0.03 for 1GB up to $1.92 for 64GB. A code-interpreter agent left running large sessions all day is where the container line stops being rounding error.
$0.10/GB/day, $0.03 to $1.92/session
OpenAI Agents SDK Cost Analysis

OpenAI Agents SDK pricing, read against its live plans and category

Positioning

The OpenAI Agents SDK is free and open source, which is the whole appeal: the framework itself costs nothing. The catch is that it is a gateway to pay-as-you-go API usage. GPT-5.4 runs $2.50 in and $15 out per 1M tokens, GPT-5.5 $5 and $30, and the built-in tools bill on top. Production cost is entirely a function of tokens and tool calls.

Cost drivers

  • 1Model tokens: $0.75 to $30 per 1M depending on model and direction.
  • 2Tools: web search $10/1k calls, file search $2.50/1k calls.
  • 3Storage and containers: $0.10/GB/day after 1GB free; containers $0.03 to $1.92 per 20-minute session.
  • 4Data residency: regional endpoints add a 10% uplift on eligible newer models.

Watch-outs

Developers worry about runaway loops driving API cost with no warning, since the SDK ships no native per-agent budget cap.

Editor’s take

The free SDK suits developers building multi-agent workflows in code who want to skip a platform subscription and pay only for usage. For teams that want visual, low-code orchestration with a more predictable monthly bill, n8n is a steadier alternative.

Oleh KemOleh KemFounder & Lead Analyst
ComparEdge EditorialUpdated: July 8, 2026

OpenAI Agents SDK price history


Price & Data Intelligence SyncLast verified: July 8, 2026 · CE-PRICING-20260706-OPENAI-A · ✓ Pricing updated July 6, 2026
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Frequently asked questions


Sources & verification

Verified by ComparEdgeMethod: Vendor docs, official pages, and selected independent sources
SourceWhat was checkedLast checked
Official Pricing PageSource of verified tiersJuly 8, 2026
Official WebsiteOfficial vendor website
PeerSpotPeerSpot enterprise peer reviews

Every fact on this OpenAI Agents SDK pricing page is tied to a named source and a verification date. Freshness-sensitive figures trace to the sources above; verify against the vendor before relying on them.

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