Token-based pricing is a billing model used by AI and text-processing services that charges according to the number of tokens processed. A token is a small unit of text, often part of a word, so longer prompts, larger outputs, and repeated API calls all increase cost. In practice, this model turns usage into a metered resource, similar to bandwidth or cloud compute.
In cyber security, token-based pricing matters because cost can become an attack surface. An attacker may send oversized prompts, loop requests, or trigger verbose model outputs to drive up spend, exhaust quotas, or degrade service for legitimate users. Defenders respond with rate limits, per-user budgets, output caps, request validation, and anomaly detection for unusual token consumption. Security teams also use token accounting to spot abuse patterns and to test whether prompt-injection or automation workflows can cause uncontrolled processing.