How much can I save by using TOON format?
Token savings from TOON format typically range from 30-60% compared to equivalent JSON, with the exact reduction depending on your data structure and content.
Factors affecting savings:
- Nesting depth - Deeply nested JSON with many braces and brackets shows higher savings (50-60%) because TOON eliminates all that syntax
- Key length - Short keys like
"id"in JSON have more overhead from quotes; longer keys show less relative savings - String content - Data with many short strings shows higher savings; long text values show less difference
- Arrays - JSON arrays with brackets and commas become simple indented lists in TOON, providing significant savings
- Data density - Sparse objects with few properties show higher percentage savings than dense data
Real-world examples:
- API response with user data: 500 JSON tokens → 250-300 TOON tokens (40-50% reduction)
- E-commerce product catalog: 2000 JSON tokens → 1000-1300 TOON tokens (35-50% reduction)
- Deeply nested configuration: 1000 JSON tokens → 400-550 TOON tokens (45-60% reduction)
Cost calculation:
If you're using GPT-5 at $0.03 per 1K input tokens and processing 10M tokens monthly, TOON could save you $90-180 per month (30-60% of $300).
For Claude or other models with different pricing, apply the same percentage to your token costs. Use our JSON to TOON converter to see exact token counts for your specific data structures and calculate your potential savings.