API vs Local
Compare paying per token with running your own models, including hardware write-off, operations and power, and see where self-hosting breaks even.
Today's API spend
Estimate it in the Cost CalculatorSelf-hosting
API per month
$1,500
Self-hosted per month
$1,802
Self-hosting costs more
$302
per month
Where self-hosting breaks even
Self-hosting becomes cheaper once your API bill passes $1,802 a month, about 120% of today's volume.
Before deciding on cost alone
Self-hosted open-weight models may not match the quality, latency or availability of the API model you use today. Run your own evaluation set on both, and check data-residency and compliance needs. Then find models that fit your hardware in the Local Model Advisor.
Self-hosting costs more per month
$302
Assumptions & sources
Self-hosted monthly cost = hardware ÷ write-off months + cloud GPU or hosting + operations + electricity. It is treated as flat until the hardware runs out of capacity; API cost is assumed to scale with usage.
Presets are illustrative setups in USD, not quotes; replace them with your own prices. Operations is usually the cost people forget: someone has to patch, monitor and upgrade the system.
Estimate only. It does not imply equivalent quality, availability, latency or compliance.