Why does input cost grow so fast in an agent loop?

In a ReAct loop, every step resends the full conversation history — the system prompt plus all prior thoughts and tool observations. As the loop runs, that history grows, so input tokens accumulate roughly quadratically with step count, which usually dominates the cost.

What is a reasoning step here?

One iteration of the think-act-observe loop — the model produces a thought and an action (tool call), the tool returns an observation, and the cycle repeats. More steps mean more LLM calls and a longer history carried forward.

How should I set the retry budget?

Agents backtrack when a tool fails, an answer is rejected, or a plan dead-ends. A 10–20% retry budget is common for moderately complex tasks; raise it for brittle tools or ambiguous goals.

How do I make agents cheaper per task?

Cap the maximum steps, summarise or trim old history instead of resending it verbatim, keep tool observations concise, and use a cheaper model for routine steps while reserving a premium model for the final answer.

It is a well-structured estimate, not a guarantee. Real agents vary step count per task, so use realistic averages and treat the result as a planning figure rather than a precise invoice.

ReAct Agent Cost-per-Task Calculator

What does one agent task actually cost?

A single ReAct agent run is not one API call — it is a loop of think, act and observe steps, each one a fresh LLM call that resends the growing conversation history. That is why agentic workloads can cost 10–50× a simple completion. This calculator models the loop honestly so you can budget per task and spot where the cost is hiding.

How it works

The tool simulates the loop step by step. At each step the agent’s prompt includes the system/task prompt plus all prior thoughts and observations, so the input grows every iteration. The model emits a thought/action (your output tokens per step), the tool returns an observation that is appended to the next prompt, and the cycle repeats for the number of steps you specify. Because history accumulates, total input tokens scale roughly quadratically with step count — the single biggest driver of agent cost. A retry budget then inflates the total to reflect backtracking and failed attempts.

Tips to control agent cost

Cap the steps. A hard maximum on loop iterations prevents a runaway task from quietly burning your budget.
Compress history. Summarise old thoughts and observations instead of resending them verbatim — this directly attacks the quadratic growth.
Keep observations lean. Truncate or post-process tool outputs before feeding them back; raw API dumps are expensive to carry forward.
Mix models. Use a cheap model for routine reasoning steps and a stronger one only for planning or the final answer.