LlamaIndex LLM Cost Tracking

8 min readUpdated June 2026

Separate Retrieval and Generation Costs

RAG systems mix embeddings, retrieval, reranking, and generation. Each step needs metadata so the final cost picture is useful.

Attach index, collection, customer, workspace, route, session, and run metadata to understand which knowledge workflows drive spend.

Use Cloptima to control expensive models and context-heavy requests while still allowing teams to iterate on retrieval quality.

Measure cost per answer, document, workspace, or customer segment to keep AI features aligned with margin.

Cloptima automates the strategies described in this guide.

No credit card required

5-minute setup

30-day trial