The first thing I check every day is my AI bill

I built TokenBar because I was tired of guessing.

Every AI app I use tells me the prompt was sent and the response came back, but the bill only shows up later. That gap is annoying when you're solo and every dollar matters.

TokenBar lives in the menu bar and shows me what my LLM usage is doing in real time. Not a dashboard I remember to open. Just a tiny counter that makes the cost visible while I work.

That visibility changes behavior fast. You notice when a workflow is looping. You notice when a model choice is way too expensive for a mechanical task. You notice the difference between "helpful" and "burning money quietly."

The funny part is that I did not build it because I love metrics. I built it because surprise bills are a terrible feeling.

If you are shipping AI features, I think the real product lesson is simple: make cost visible earlier than the invoice.