How tokens are counted

Tokens are the units you use to write, edit designs and make images. Each request uses tokens based on what it really costs to run.

What uses tokens

Bigger jobs use more tokens. Rough sizes:

• A short caption: about 500 tokens.
• A Canva design edit: about 3,000 tokens.
• A blog post draft: about 8,000 tokens.
• One AI image: about 20,000 tokens.

These are rough figures. The count for your own work depends on the length of your text and your chat.

Long chats

Each time you send a message, the AI rereads the chat so far. So a message late in a long chat costs more than the same message at the start.

Tip: same task, keep the chat. New task, new chat.

The chat memory (cache)

The AI remembers the parts of a chat it has already read. Those parts can count for less, so a follow-up edit in the same chat often costs less than the first one. When you start a new task, start a new chat so old messages do not carry over.

Models

Smarter models cost more to run, so they use tokens faster:

• Some models can count less than the usual rate.
• The base model is the usual rate.
• Some models use about twice the usual rate.
• The most capable models use several times the usual rate.

The current rate for each model is shown in Settings. Check there before a big job.

Where to see your usage

Open your account and go to the Tokens tab. It shows what you have used and what is left this month.