A flat illustration style image of a vending machine that outputs little robots in exchange for tokens. Style: use black and white and light gray as primary colors, with some gold or maroon as accents. context: a factory that builds robots

Is There a Cost to Using CreateAI?

Understanding Usage, Cost, and What It Means for You.

Faith Abang Timoh

August 22, 2025

One of the most common questions we receive from faculty and staff is:

“When I see the price listed next to a model in CreateAI, does ASU actually pay that? Should I be worried about assigning this to my students or using it with a large class?”

Short answer: At this time, you do not need to worry about being charged or your department receiving a bill for CreateAI usage.

Who Covers the Cost?

Right now, Enterprise Technology (ET) is covering the cost of nearly all projects created on the CreateAI platform including faculty-led bots, classroom use, and even large-enrollment courses (yes, even 500+ students!).

There is no expectation that individual programs or faculty will incur costs for platform use.

Why Do We Still Show Model Pricing?

You may notice that some models in CreateAI show a pricing estimate (e.g., $0.01 per 1,000 tokens). This is included for transparency, to help users:

Understand that there is a real cost to using AI tools
Compare the efficiency of different models
Make responsible, informed choices when building bots for large audiences

While these numbers reflect the underlying cost to ASU, they do not impact you at this time.

Will It Always Be Free?

We can’t guarantee that usage will always be free in the future. As CreateAI scales and usage grows, the university may explore different approaches to sustainability. However:

Any changes would be communicated well in advance
We are committed to keeping access as open and equitable as possible
Our team will provide tools and guidance to help you monitor and manage usage if costs ever become a factor

Our Ask: Use Thoughtfully

We encourage all users to be good stewards of university resources. Some quick tips:

Use the model that’s “good enough” for your needs: You can use this resource to help guide you CreateAI's Available LLM Models (includes CreateAI Builder, CreateAI Chat, CreateAI Compare)
Turn off chat memory when it’s not needed
Test bots with small groups before launching to large audiences

If you ever have questions about model costs, data usage, or how to manage your projects efficiently, feel free to [email protected] or drop into every Wednesday from 12:00PM - 1:00PM

Zoom Link: https://asu.zoom.us/j/89092293944

We’re here to support you!

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