AI cost management is the practice of measuring what your company actually spends on AI - seats, subscriptions, tokens - and removing the spend that produces no work. Research puts 30-40% of typical token spend down as waste, and 79% of companies overshot their AI budget in the past year. The waste hides in three places: seats nobody uses, premium models doing routine jobs, and the same answers paid for again and again.
The problem is not that teams use AI too much. It is that nobody can see how it is used. ChatGPT invoices sit in one inbox, Claude in another, and Copilot inside the Microsoft bill. No finance tool connects them, so the first time anyone looks is when the total jumps.
What AI cost management software does
Optimize connects read-only to the AI accounts your team already uses and turns them into one picture:
- Every provider in one dashboard. ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, Perplexity and Grok - team plans and enterprise plans, side by side.
- Real efficiency, not just volume. Output per token, per team and per person - who saves hours with AI and who burns tokens on trial and error.
- The waste, named. Idle seats with no activity in 30+ days, oversized models on routine tasks, duplicate spend on repeated questions.
- Real-time alerts. Budget thresholds and spend spikes surface before they become a surprise invoice, not after.
Why AI bills balloon
Four drivers show up in almost every company:
- Seats renew silently. Trial seats from last quarter, leavers, tools a team abandoned - usually 10-20% of paid seats sit untouched.
- Premium models are the default. The price gap between model sizes is 10-30x per token, and most everyday work comes out just as well on the lighter model.
- Autonomous agents multiply usage. One prompt can fan out into thousands of model calls with nobody watching the meter.
- Nobody owns the number. AI spend sits between IT, finance and every team lead - which means it sits with no one.
How it works
- Connect - 15 minutes. A guided setup links the accounts your team already uses. No code, and access is strictly read-only: Optimize can never send, change or delete anything.
- See - 48 hours. Your first usage report shows spend per tool, per team and per person, with the waste already flagged.
- Cut - about two weeks. Clear actions ranked by savings: which seats to retire, which work to route to lighter models, where reuse replaces repeat spend. Most companies make their first cut inside two weeks.
Frequently asked questions
Is Optimize software or consultants?
Software. The platform measures continuously; you act on what it finds. No workshops, no billable hours.
Which tools are covered?
ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Perplexity and Grok. See features & integrations.
What does setup involve?
Guided setup, about 15 minutes, no code.
Can Optimize read our chats?
Access is read-only usage and cost data. You choose the visibility level; individual chat content stays private.
Want the numbers for your own stack? Try the savings calculator, or start with the guides on cutting an AI bill 40% and the hidden cost of idle seats. Tracking one provider specifically? See ChatGPT Enterprise costs, Claude Enterprise costs or Copilot license utilization.