Pricing & Cost Estimates
MarketCheck Cowork Plugins incur two types of cost every time a skill runs — MarketCheck API calls and Claude LLM inference. Here's what to expect.
Ballpark estimates — actual costs will vary
MarketCheck pricing is usage-based and negotiated per contract. The per-call rates shown are from publicly available listings. predict_price_with_comparables pricing is estimated — contact MarketCheck for exact rates. Claude inference costs vary with the model you use; figures below are based on Claude Sonnet 4.6 ($3.00/M input · $15.00/M output tokens).
Two Cost Components
MarketCheck API
Per MCP tool call
Every MCP tool invoked by a skill (like search_active_cars or decode_vin_neovin) makes a call to the MarketCheck REST API. You are billed per call at the rates on your MarketCheck contract. These are metered automatically — no action required.
Claude LLM Inference
Per token (input + output)
Skills send prompts and API response data to Claude for analysis, reasoning, and report generation. You pay for input tokens (the prompt + data) and output tokens (the generated report). This cost scales with the complexity and length of the skill — compound skills that spawn agents multiply token usage.
API & LLM Rates
MarketCheck API Endpoints
| MCP Tool | $/100 calls | $/call |
|---|---|---|
search_active_cars | $0.20 | $0.0020 |
search_uk_active_cars | $0.20 | $0.0020 |
search_past_90_days | $0.60 | $0.0060 |
search_uk_recent_cars | $0.60 | $0.0060 |
get_sold_summary | $0.80 | $0.0080 |
decode_vin_neovin | $8.00 | $0.0800 |
predict_price_with_comparables | ~$1.00 | ~$0.0100 |
get_car_history | $0.60 | $0.0060 |
Claude LLM (Sonnet 4.6)
Costs scale with the LLM model you use in Claude Code. Opus 4.6 will cost significantly more; Haiku 4.5 less.
Complexity Tiers
2–4 API calls, simple lookup or report
5–10 API calls, structured analytics
10–20 API calls, long-form report
Agent-spawning, multi-location or multi-make
Cost Ranking — Cheapest to Most Expensive
Ranked by average cost per skill invocation (API + Claude combined, mid-case).
| # | Plugin | Avg / run (best) | Avg / run (worst) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manufacturer | $0.06 | $0.14 |
| 2 | Insurer | $0.07 | $0.18 |
| 3 | Lender | $0.07 | $0.14 |
| 4 | Analyst | $0.12 | $0.55 |
| 5 | Lender Sales | $0.15 | $0.32 |
| 6 | Auction House | $0.15 | $0.35 |
| 7 | Dealer | $0.18 | $0.72 |
| 8 | Dealership Group | $0.22 | $1.05 |
| 9 | Appraiser | $0.24 | $0.44 |
Skill-by-Skill Cost Detail
Select a plugin to see API calls, tier, and total cost range per skill and command.
Dealer Plugin
Single-store car dealers · US + UK
| Skill / Command | API Calls | MC API Cost | Claude Cost | Tier | Total (best → worst) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
competitive-pricer (single VIN) | 9 | $0.12 – $0.14 | $0.27 – $0.40 | Heavy | $0.39→$0.54 |
competitive-pricer (batch 10 VINs) | 39 | $0.34 – $0.54 | $0.54 – $1.08 | Compound | $0.88→$1.62 |
vehicle-appraiser | 9 | $0.20 | $0.27 – $0.40 | Heavy | $0.47→$0.60 |
deal-finder | 3 | $0.02 | $0.05 – $0.11 | Lightweight | $0.07→$0.13 |
inventory-intelligence | 6 | $0.038 – $0.06 | $0.14 – $0.27 | Medium | $0.18→$0.33 |
stocking-guide | 3 | $0.018 – $0.02 | $0.05 – $0.11 | Lightweight | $0.07→$0.13 |
market-share-analyzer | 2 | $0.016 | $0.05 – $0.11 | Lightweight | $0.07→$0.13 |
depreciation-tracker | 8 | $0.052 | $0.14 – $0.27 | Medium | $0.19→$0.32 |
daily-dealer-briefing | 3–8 | $0.020 – $0.040 | $0.14 – $0.54 | Medium | $0.16→$0.58 |
weekly-dealer-review | ~30–60 | $0.10 – $0.30 | $0.54 – $1.62 | Compound | $0.64→$1.92 |
monthly-dealer-strategy | ~35–55 | $0.096 – $0.12 | $0.54 – $1.35 | Compound | $0.64→$1.47 |
/vin-lookup | 1 | $0.08 | $0.05 – $0.08 | Lightweight | $0.13→$0.16 |
/price-check | 4 | $0.094 | $0.05 – $0.11 | Lightweight | $0.14→$0.20 |
/market-snapshot | 3 | $0.020 | $0.05 – $0.11 | Lightweight | $0.07→$0.13 |
Example monthly cost: 1 daily briefing/day + 1 weekly review/week + 2 price checks/day + 1 monthly strategy = ~$16.40/month (API + Claude combined)
5 Things to Know About Costs
VIN Decode Dominates Unit Economics
decode_vin_neovin at $0.08/call is 40× more expensive than a basic inventory search. Skills that call it twice (vehicle-appraiser, competitive-pricer) spend ~$0.16 in VIN decode alone before any Claude tokens.
Claude LLM Often Exceeds API Costs
For market analytics skills (manufacturer, lender, insurer), Claude's token cost ($0.05–$0.27) is 2–10× the API cost ($0.008–$0.05). For VIN-heavy skills the ratio flips — API costs dominate.
Compound Skills Scale Aggressively
Weekly and monthly reviews spawn sub-agents, each with their own context window. A 5-store group running monthly-strategy costs ~$3.20–$7.35/run, while a single-store dealer pays $0.64–$1.47.
predict_price is Mid-Tier Cost
Estimated at ~$0.01/call, it's 5× pricier than inventory search but 8× cheaper than VIN decode. Skills like competitive-pricer and run-list-analyzer use it 2–4× per run, adding $0.02–$0.04.
UK Skills Have No Cost Premium
search_uk_active_cars and search_uk_recent_cars are priced identically to their US equivalents ($0.002–$0.006/call). UK-market users face higher costs only when the plugin falls back to per-vehicle inline searches.
Sources
- MarketCheck API Pricing
- MarketCheck API Docs
- MarketCheck Price™
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 · $3.00/M in · $15.00/M out
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