Command R (08-2024) API pricing
Cohere · Budget price tier · Proprietary · released 2024-08. Prices in USD per 1 million tokens. Data snapshot: 2026-11-12.
A support ticket workload of 100K requests a month costs $52.50 on Command R (08-2024); the next cheaper model in the Budget price tier for this workload, Gemma 4 31B, does it for $50.00. Command R (08-2024) has held the same list price since 2026-08-15 and is the 83rd cheapest of 160 models in the Budget price tier. Only one host, Cohere, sells it, so there is no second price to shop. It is rated a stable release but does not meet all four criteria of the FinOps Friendly badge.
- Input: $0.15 per 1M tokens
- Output: $0.60 per 1M tokens
- Batch API (in/out): Not published
- Prompt-cache read: Not published
- Context window: 128K tokens
- Arena ELO: 1187 as of 2026-11-08
Market position
On blended price ($0.465 per 1M tokens at 30% input, 70% output) it is cheaper than 43% of models in the Budget price tier: 83rd cheapest of 160, tied with 8 others. Across every price tier it is cheaper than 70% of priced text models in the catalogue: 83rd cheapest of 303, tied with 8 others. Its Arena ELO of 1187 ranks 156th of the 160 models that carry one, tied with one other, above 2% of them. With an Arena score of 1187, Command R (08-2024) sits below OptimNow's lowest working quality threshold, Standard (Arena 1420+), so the quality-bar method would not shortlist it for any of the 8 use cases the table prices. Each threshold is a distance below the best ranked model, which scores 1530 on Arena scores as of 8 Nov 2026.
Licence, size and capabilities
Command R (08-2024) is recorded here as proprietary: access is through an API, priced by the token. Its parameter count is not published. Listed capabilities: Text, Agents. Filling its 128K context window once costs $0.0192 in input tokens at list price.
Pricing by host
A host is a company that runs the model and sells it by the token: the model maker, a cloud platform like Amazon Bedrock, Azure or Vertex, or an independent host. One model, several hosts, and often several prices. This model is sold by 1 host. The price we quote elsewhere on this page is marked. We quote one host's rate so that models stay comparable; it is not a recommendation to buy there.
Cohere is the only host with a published rate, $0.15 input / $0.60 output per 1M tokens, which is the price we quote.
| Host | Input $/1M | Output $/1M |
|---|---|---|
| Cohere (model maker, price we quote) | $0.15 | $0.60 |
List prices as published on 2026-11-12, via OpenRouter. Negotiated rates, committed-use discounts and provisioned capacity are not shown.
Monthly cost at 100K requests, by business use case
From the after-discounts figure (prompt caching on the cached input share, batch API for async workloads, only where Cohere publishes those rates), which assumes you implement both, to the list price. One figure means no discount is published.
| Use case | Tokens (in/out) | Monthly (after discounts – list) |
|---|---|---|
| Support Ticket | 1,500 / 500 | $53 |
| Knowledge Q&A | 2,000 / 800 | $78 |
| Meeting Summary | 10,000 / 1,200 | $222 |
| Marketing Content | 2,500 / 1,800 | $146 |
| Coding Task | 3,000 / 2,000 | $165 |
| Invoice Processing | 1,500 / 600 | $59 |
| Call Summary | 2,000 / 700 | $72 |
| Agent Workflow | 6,000 / 3,000 | $270 |
Price history
Command R (08-2024) has been in our daily price archive since tracking began on 2026-08-15, when it listed at $0.15 input / $0.60 output per 1M tokens. No list price change since tracking began on 2026-08-15. Last checked against the 2026-11-12 snapshot.
Alternatives to Command R (08-2024)
4 of the 4 comparable models below cost less than Command R (08-2024): Llama 3.1 8B Instruct undercuts it by 93%, at the same Arena score.
- Next cheaper model in the Budget price tier: LFM2.5-2.6B (liquid) at $0.455 blended, 2% less.
- Next more expensive: Saba (Mistral) at $0.48 blended, 3% more.
The nearest models in the Budget price tier on Arena ELO, each with its blended price and score difference against Command R (08-2024).
- Llama 3.1 8B Instruct (Meta): $0.02 in / $0.04 out per 1M, Arena ELO 1187 (93% cheaper, same Arena ELO)
- Nova Micro 1.0 (Amazon): $0.035 in / $0.14 out per 1M, Arena ELO 1208 (77% cheaper, 21 ELO points higher)
- Phi 4 (Microsoft): $0.07 in / $0.14 out per 1M, Arena ELO 1217 (74% cheaper, 30 ELO points higher)
- Nova Lite 1.0 (Amazon): $0.06 in / $0.24 out per 1M, Arena ELO 1229 (60% cheaper, 42 ELO points higher)
- Cheapest within 15 Arena points: Llama 3.1 8B Instruct (Meta), 93% cheaper, same Arena ELO, out of 2 models in that band.
- Highest Arena ELO within 20% of this price: Hy3 (Tencent), 12% cheaper, 252 ELO points higher, out of 11 models in that price band.
Other models from Cohere
Cohere has 4 other models in the catalogue. Prices per 1M tokens, input then output.
- Command R7B (12-2024): $0.0375 / $0.15
- Command A+: $0.30 / $1.50
- Command A: $2.50 / $10.00
- Command R+ (08-2024): $2.50 / $10.00
All 5 Cohere models and prices
Common questions about Command R (08-2024) pricing
- How much does Command R (08-2024) cost?
- Command R (08-2024) costs $0.15 per 1M input tokens and $0.60 per 1M output tokens. That is the model maker's own rate (Cohere). Prices as listed on 2026-11-12.
- Which host is cheapest for Command R (08-2024)?
- Cohere is the only host with a published rate, $0.15 input / $0.60 output per 1M tokens, which is the price we quote. Host rates as listed on 2026-11-12.
- Does Command R (08-2024) offer batch or cached pricing?
- No. Neither a batch rate nor a prompt-cache rate is published for Command R (08-2024) as of 2026-11-12.
- What would Command R (08-2024) cost per month?
- With the Support Ticket profile (1,500 input and 500 output tokens per request), 100,000 requests a month cost about $53 on Command R (08-2024) at the list price quoted on 2026-11-12.
- Can Command R (08-2024) be self-hosted?
- No, as far as this site records. Command R (08-2024) is recorded here as proprietary: access is through an API, priced by the token.
- Has the price of Command R (08-2024) changed?
- Command R (08-2024) has been in our daily price archive since tracking began on 2026-08-15, when it listed at $0.15 input / $0.60 output per 1M tokens. No list price change since tracking began on 2026-08-15. Last checked against the 2026-11-12 snapshot.
It carries an Arena score, so it can be read against its price: the models that beat their price class.
These are list prices. Your real cost also depends on caching and batching, negotiated discounts, marketplace agreements, and the contracts you already have. OptimNow audits exactly that.
Build the business case · Get a FinOps review
LLM pricing · Models by maker · Cloud compute pricing · Compare models · Price barometer · FinOps guides · API and MCP server