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IT Security / SecOps

How much does an AI agent cost to run Vulnerability Management?

Token cost benchmark for an autonomous Vulnerability Management agent, across 26 models. Prices as of 26 Jul 2026.

An agent for Vulnerability Management on the clean path costs about $0.0358 to $2.47 per outcome depending on the model, around 32x the cost of a single chat message. At 10,000 outcomes a month that is roughly $358 to $24,730.
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Cost per outcome by model

Model$/1M in$/1M outCost / outcomeCost / month*
GPT-4o mini$0.15$0.60$0.0358$358
Llama 4 Maverick$0.27$0.85$0.0626$626
Gemini 2.5 Flash$0.30$2.50$0.0826$826
GPT-4.1 mini$0.40$1.60$0.0956$956
DeepSeek V4$0.43$0.87$0.0966$966
Mistral Large 3$0.50$1.50$0.115$1,152
Qwen3.5 397B$0.60$3.60$0.153$1,534
Kimi K2.6$0.95$4.00$0.229$2,286
Claude Haiku 4.5$1.00$5.00$0.247$2,473
Grok 4.3$1.25$2.50$0.278$2,776
Qwen3.7 Max$1.25$3.75$0.288$2,881
GLM-5.2$1.40$4.40$0.324$3,244
Gemini 2.5 Pro$1.25$10.00$0.341$3,406
Mistral Medium 3.5$1.50$7.50$0.371$3,710
Gemini 3.5 Flash$1.50$9.00$0.384$3,835
GPT-4.1$2.00$8.00$0.478$4,778
Claude Sonnet 5$2.00$10.00$0.495$4,946
GPT-4o$2.50$10.00$0.597$5,973
GPT-5.4$2.50$15.00$0.639$6,393
GPT-5.6 Terra$2.50$15.00$0.639$6,393
Claude Sonnet 4.6$3.00$15.00$0.742$7,419
Kimi K3$3.00$15.00$0.742$7,419
Claude Opus 4.8$5.00$25.00$1.24$12,365
GPT-5.5$5.00$30.00$1.28$12,785
GPT-5.6 Sol$5.00$30.00$1.28$12,785
Claude Fable 5$10.00$50.00$2.47$24,730

*At 10,000 outcomes per month. Cheapest model highlighted.

What this agent does

The clean-path steps this benchmark prices:

  1. Ingest Findings
  2. Enrich (asset, exploit, EPSS)
  3. Exploitable & in scope?
  4. Prioritize
  5. Critical / exposed?
  6. Auto- patchable?
  7. Confidence high?
  8. Apply Patch / Mitigation
  9. Change window OK?
  10. Verify & Rescan

What drives the cost

This path runs 10 steps: 4 tool calls, 1 reasoning step and 5 decision points. Tool steps make two model calls each, and the agent re-reads its growing context on every call. That compounding is why one Vulnerability Management outcome costs about 32x a single chat message ($0.742 on Claude Sonnet 4.6), not the price of one message.

Why these numbers matter.

How this benchmark is calculated

These figures are modeled estimates, not metered bills. We price a generic, representative Vulnerability Management workflow across 26 models using the same cost engine as the live estimator, at each model’s published list price (checked 26 Jul 2026), under documented default assumptions for planning loops, tool calls, memory retrieval, sub-agents and context size. Your own process will differ, so use these as starting points, tune the assumptions in the estimator, and validate against your real usage. Illustrative estimates, not financial advice.

Frequently asked questions

How much does an AI agent cost to run Vulnerability Management?

On the clean path with default assumptions, an agent for Vulnerability Management costs about $0.0358 to $2.47 per outcome depending on the model, or roughly $358 to $24,730 per month at 10,000 outcomes. The cheapest model here is GPT-4o mini at $0.0358; the most expensive is Claude Fable 5 at $2.47.

Why does an AI agent cost more than a single chatbot message?

An agent does not make one model call. It plans, calls tools, retrieves context and re-reads its growing working context on every step. For Vulnerability Management that adds up to about 32x the cost of a single chat message.

Which model is cheapest for Vulnerability Management?

Across the 26 models benchmarked, GPT-4o mini is cheapest at $0.0358 per outcome and Claude Fable 5 is the most expensive at $2.47. A cheaper model is not always the right choice, but it sets the floor for this workflow.

How can I reduce the cost of an agent for Vulnerability Management?

The biggest levers are prompt caching on the base context, fewer planning loops, smaller tool results, less retrieval, and choosing a cheaper model where quality allows. You can test each lever in the live estimator.

What is this Vulnerability Management benchmark based on?

These are modeled estimates, not metered bills. Each figure prices a generic, representative Vulnerability Management workflow across 26 models with the same cost engine as the live estimator, at each model's published list price (checked 26 Jul 2026), under documented default assumptions for planning loops, tool calls, memory retrieval, sub-agents and context size. Your own process will differ, so treat these as starting points, tune them in the estimator, and validate against your own usage.

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