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Usage & Costs

Testronaut itself is free to run — but it uses your OpenAI API key behind the scenes.
This means that any tokens consumed during missions are billed to your OpenAI account, not to Testronaut.

TL;DR
  • You bring your own LLM API key
  • Missions consume tokens, just like any other OpenAI app
  • OpenAI bills you directly for those tokens
  • Testronaut does not charge or mark up usage

How costs work​

  1. You generate an API key. For example, from OpenAI.
  2. You add this key to your Testronaut config or your .env file.
  3. Every mission you run consumes tokens (for reasoning + DOM handling).
  4. Your LLM provider bills you directly based on your token usage and their published rates.

Monitoring usage (OpenAI)​

  • Track usage in your OpenAI dashboard.
  • Set up spending limits in your OpenAI account to control costs.
  • CLI runs will also show an estimate of tokens used per step.

Example:

[model] → navigate login page
[tool ] ← ✅ Success
Tokens used this turn: 628 (≈ $0.0025 at GPT-4o-mini rates)

Estimating costs​

Actual cost depends on:

  • Model used (gpt-4o, gpt-4o-mini, etc.)
  • Mission length and retries
  • Size of the DOM and reasoning steps

Typical Cost Ranges​

  • Simple login flow: a few cents
  • Multi-page checkout: tens of cents
  • Large exploratory mission: up to a few dollars

Why “credits” appear in the docs​

You may see references to credits in guides — these simply refer to the tokens consumed from your OpenAI account. There is no separate billing system inside the open source Testronaut CLI.

Controlling spend​

  • Use gpt-4o-mini for lower-cost, faster runs.
  • Keep missions scoped to what you want to test.
  • Monitor your OpenAI usage dashboard regularly.
  • Set daily/monthly spend limits in OpenAI’s billing settings.

FAQ​

Do I pay Testronaut directly?

No. Testronaut doesn't charge you for using the CLI. You pay your LLM provider for the tokens your missions consume.

Do I need my own LLM account?

Yes. You must supply your own API key. For example if you are using OpenAI, you will need your own OpenAI account.

Can I cap usage?

Yes, popular LLM providers provide usage limits to avoid overspending.

Does Testronaut add any markup?

No. You are billed at the normal OpenAI rates.

CLI Authentication Guide

OpenAI Billing Dashboard