Why AI Agent Bills Keep Rising Despite Falling Per-Token Costs

While AI models become cheaper per token, total costs for AI agents are paradoxically rising as usage scales. Inefficient practices like over-routing (using premium models for simple tasks), context bloat, and redundant iterations compound the costs despite improved pricing. The key to controlling expenses lies in intelligent model routing that matches task complexity to model capability, as demonstrated by achieving 62% cost savings while maintaining quality.