Models split content into small units called tokens. A text token might represent a character, part of a word or another fragment.
An everyday example
Both your question and the generated reply use tokens. Different models may count the same text differently.
When you’ll encounter it
Token counts matter for usage charges, input limits and output limits.
What to watch for
There is no fixed conversion to words or characters. Images and audio have their own accounting. An access token used for authentication is a different meaning of the word.
Related terms & sources
Prepared from the public sources below. Examples illustrate the concept. Reviewed on 2026-10-15.
