# Estimate a job's full cost (/guides/estimate-job-cost)

The cheapest GPU-hour isn't always the cheapest job. `POST /v1/costs/estimate` prices a whole job on every provider
that lists the GPU: compute, egress and storage, with billing increments applied.

```bash
curl -X POST https://data.tryopengrid.com/v1/costs/estimate \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OPENGRID_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"gpu": "nvidia-h100-80gb-sxm5", "count": 8, "hours": 24, "egress_tb": 2, "storage_tb": 5}'
```

## The job [#the-job]

| Field | Type | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `gpu` | string | GPU id or alias. Required unless a `preset` sets it. |
| `count` | integer | GPUs, 1 to 1,024. |
| `hours` | number | Duration, 1 minute to 8,760 hours. |
| `egress_tb` or `egress_gb` | number | Data out. Give one, not both. |
| `storage_tb` or `storage_gb` | number | Data stored for the job. Give one, not both. |
| `storage_class` | string | `auto` (default), `shared_fs`, `block_storage` or `object_storage`. |
| `min_fabric_gbps` | number | Only providers with at least this interconnect. |
| `preset` | string | Start from a reference job (`GET /v1/costs/presets`) and override any field. |

Terabytes are decimal: 1 TB = 1,000 GB. Unknown fields are a `422 unknown_field`.

## Reading the result [#reading-the-result]

`data` is one row per provider, cheapest total first. When OpenGrid can't verify a component (the provider doesn't
publish it), the row lists it in `unknown`, sets `total_is_lower_bound: true`, and sorts after the complete totals. `meta` repeats the parsed `job`,
lists providers it couldn't rank in `unranked`, and counts the lower-bound rows.

<Callout title="List prices">
  Estimates use published list prices. Negotiated discounts aren't included.
</Callout>

## Inputs you can inspect [#inputs-you-can-inspect]

- `GET /v1/costs/components`: egress and storage prices per provider.
- `GET /v1/costs/billing`: billing increments and minimums per provider.
- `GET /v1/costs/sources`: where each number comes from, and when it was last fetched.