Embeddings
The retrieval layer. Input-only pricing, and the cheapest model is rarely the right one for code RAG.
Embedding models bill per million input tokens only, no output meter. Alibaba's new Qwen3.7 text embedding adds a 128K-token multilingual option at $0.07/M input; Cohere remains the strongest code-retrieval choice, while OpenAI's small model remains the budget pick.
Pricing
per 1M tokens · USD / CHF| Model | Tier / Host | Context | Input | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Qwen3.7 text embedding New multilingual embedding model with configurable 2560/2048/1536/1024/768/512/256 dimensions (1024 default), up to 20 inputs per request and 128K tokens per input line. Input-only billing; no output or cached-input rate is published. | Direct API Model Studio (Intl) | 128K | $0.07CHF 0.056 | official Alibaba Cloud Model Studio's official Synchronous API page, last updated 2026-08-26 and captured 2026-08-28: the Singapore/International table lists qwen3.7-text-embedding at $0.07 per 1M input tokens, with a 128,000-token maximum per line and 20-row batches. The same page documents the model ID, dimensions and OpenAI-compatible Singapore endpoint. No output or cached-input charge is listed, so this row is input-only. |
Cohere embed-v-4-0 Best RAG / code-retrieval pick. Matryoshka dims 256/512/1024/1536 (default 1536); input_type query/document distinction. Cohere publishes this per-token rate under the 'Advanced retrieval models' tab of its pricing page; Microsoft's live Foundry meter independently reads exactly $0.12/M. | Direct API | — | $0.12CHF 0.097 | official Cohere publishes this rate first-party on cohere.com/pricing under the 'Advanced retrieval models' tab, reading verbatim '$0.12 / 1M tokens' for Embed 4 (captured 2026-08-17); the same tab also publishes an image cost of $0.47/1M, a dimension this schema doesn't model. The figure is absent from the page's server-rendered HTML — only the default 'Workplace systems' tab is server-rendered, so this tab must be clicked in a live browser to see it, and Internet Archive snapshots (SSR-only) cannot show it. |
Cohere Embed v4 Same $0.12/M as the direct lane but officially metered — currently the only published source for this rate; image embeddings bill separately at $0.47/M image tokens. | Foundry ·Global | — | $0.12CHF 0.097 | official Azure Retail Prices API 'Embed v4 Txt Glbl Tokens' at $0.00012/1K ($0.12/M) across 39 commercial regions, effective 2026-02-01, captured 2026-07-29. Companion 'Embed v4 Img Glbl Tokens' meter is $0.00047/1K ($0.47/M). US Gov regions price higher ($0.15/M) and are excluded per the commercial-majority convention. |
Cohere Embed v4 Exactly 1.1x the Global rate, the standard Data Zone premium. | Foundry ·Data Zone | — | $0.132CHF 0.106 | official Azure Retail Prices API 'Embed v4 Txt DZ Tokens' at $0.000132/1K ($0.132/M) across 21 commercial regions, effective 2025-11-01, captured 2026-07-29. Companion 'Embed v4 Img DZ Tokens' meter is $0.000517/1K ($0.517/M). US Gov regions ($0.165/M) excluded. |
OpenAI text-embedding-3-large | Foundry ·Global | — | $0.13CHF 0.105 | official Azure Retail Prices API 'text-embedding-3-large-glbl Tokens' meter: $0.00013/1K ($0.13/M) across 17 commercial regions, effective 2024-06-01, captured 2026-08-07. developers.openai.com/api/docs/pricing no longer lists per-token embeddings rates. Corroborated by developers.openai.com/api/docs/guides/embeddings, which quotes 9,615 pages per USD at ~800 tokens/page — inverting to exactly $0.13/M. US Gov Cloud bills this model under a separate 'text-embedding-3-large-regional Tokens' meter at $0.163/M, excluded per the commercial-majority convention. |
OpenAI text-embedding-3-small Cheapest solid option. | Foundry ·Global | — | $0.02CHF 0.016 | official Azure Retail Prices API 'text-embedding-3-small-glbl Tokens' meter: $0.00002/1K ($0.02/M) across 17 commercial regions, effective 2024-06-01, captured 2026-08-07. developers.openai.com/api/docs/pricing no longer lists per-token embeddings rates. Corroborated by developers.openai.com/api/docs/guides/embeddings, which quotes 62,500 pages per USD at ~800 tokens/page — inverting to exactly $0.02/M. US Gov Cloud bills this model under a separate 'text-embedding-3-small-regional Tokens' meter at $0.025/M, excluded per the commercial-majority convention. |
OpenAI text-embedding-ada-002 Legacy: worse than 3-small on cost and quality. Avoid. | Foundry ·Global | — | $0.10CHF 0.081 | official Azure Retail Prices API 'embedding-ada-glbl Tokens' meter: $0.0001/1K ($0.10/M) across 15 commercial regions, effective 2024-06-01, captured 2026-08-07. developers.openai.com/api/docs/pricing no longer lists per-token embeddings rates. Corroborated by developers.openai.com/api/docs/guides/embeddings, which quotes 12,500 pages per USD at ~800 tokens/page — inverting to exactly $0.10/M. US Gov Cloud bills this model under a separate 'embedding-ada-regional Tokens' meter at $0.125/M, excluded per the commercial-majority convention. |
Quirks & gotchas
Cheapest isn't best for code retrieval
text-embedding-3-small is cheapest at $0.02 / CHF 0.016 per M, but for code RAG Cohere embed-v4 ($0.12 / CHF 0.097 per M) wins on retrieval quality (query/document input_type, Matryoshka dims 256/512/1024/1536). ada-002 ($0.10 / CHF 0.081) is legacy: worse than 3-small on price and quality. No reason to pick it for new work.
A reference retrieval stack
For code indexing plus RAG: a dedicated embedding model (Cohere embed-v4), a vector store (LanceDB), then a strong coding LLM (DeepSeek V4 Pro, Kimi K2.7 Code, or GLM-5.2) over the retrieved chunks.
Foundry Data Zone for embeddings is also two prices
The rows above are OpenAI's Global rate. On Microsoft Foundry, text-embedding-3-large and text-embedding-3-small each carry two Data Zone prices, not one: US/EU regions bill 1.10x Global ($0.143/M and $0.022/M), APAC regions (australiaeast, centralindia, eastasia, japaneast, japanwest, jioindiawest, koreacentral, southeastasia, southindia) bill 1.20x Global ($0.156/M and $0.024/M). Same split seen across Microsoft's first-party OpenAI lines; captured from the Azure Retail Prices API on 2026-07-27.