Llm Usage & Cost Tracker

What is Llm Usage & Cost Tracker?

Llm Usage & Cost Tracker is a local-first MCP server and CLI that captures LLM API calls across multiple providers (Anthropic, OpenAI, DeepSeek, Qwen), calculates costs, and answers spend queries through an agent or terminal. It is a cost meter, not a router.

How to use Llm Usage & Cost Tracker?

Install via uv tool install llm-usage-mcp (or clone from source). Set at least one provider API key as an environment variable. Run the capture proxy (llm-usage-proxy), which listens on 127.0.0.1:5525. Point your LLM client’s base URL to the proxy. Use the MCP server (e.g., claude mcp add llm-usage -- uv run llm-usage-mcp) to ask agent questions, or run CLI commands like llm-usage spend, llm-usage compare, and llm-usage recommend.

Key features of Llm Usage & Cost Tracker

• Local-first SQLite storage, no telemetry.
• Supports Anthropic, OpenAI, DeepSeek, and Qwen.
• MCP server with seven query tools.
• CLI with subcommands for spend, compare, recommend.
• Capture proxy logs all API calls idempotently.
• Cross-provider cost comparison and recommendation.
• Works with streaming and non-streaming calls.
• No SaaS signup or account needed.

Use cases of Llm Usage & Cost Tracker

• Monitor daily, weekly, or monthly spend per provider or model.
• Compare hypothetical workload costs across all priced models.
• Get the cheapest model recommendation for a budget and workload.
• Integrate with Claude Code, Cursor, or any MCP client.
• Manually log usage when the capture proxy is not in use.

FAQ from Llm Usage & Cost Tracker

What does it do vs a router?

It is a cost meter, not a router. It tells you what you spent and which provider fits a workload, but never changes your calls. It pairs happily alongside a router or a model-leaderboard tool.

What are the runtime requirements?

Python 3.13+, uv or pipx for installation. SQLite is built into Python, no extra database setup.

Where does my usage data live?

All data is stored locally in a SQLite file at ~/.llm-usage/usage.db.

Which providers are supported?

Anthropic, OpenAI, DeepSeek, and Qwen are supported for both streaming and non-streaming. More providers (Gemini, Bedrock, Moonshot) are planned.

How do I authenticate and connect?

API keys are set as environment variables (e.g., ANTHROPIC_API_KEY). The proxy holds keys server-side; clients point their base URL at http://127.0.0.1:5525 and never need keys directly.