Estimator

Cloud vs local AI cost calculator

Estimate money cost only. This tool does not measure model quality, local speed, privacy guarantees, or setup difficulty.

This calculator is an estimator. It compares cloud/API token costs with local hardware, electricity, storage, and amortization assumptions. It does not measure model quality, local speed, privacy guarantees, or setup difficulty.

Estimated cloud monthly cost

$3.56

Estimated local monthly cost

$1.41

Estimated monthly delta

$2.15

Break-even month

Not applicable

Cloud breakdown

tokenCostUsd: $3.56
searchGroundingUsd: $0.00
subscriptionUsd: $0.00
otherUsd: $0.00

Local breakdown

depreciationUsd: $0.00
electricityUsd: $1.41
storageUsd: $0.00
maintenanceUsd: $0.00
setupTimeUsd: $0.00

Workload preset

Monthly requestsAverage input tokensAverage output tokensCached input percentBatch percentSearch/grounding queriesSubscription costOther cloud cost

openai: GPT-5 miniInput $0.25/1M, cached $0.025/1M, output $2/1M. Retrieved 2026-05-24.Source pricing pageOfficial pricing page lists prices per 1M tokens. Batch, priority, flex, and tool-specific charges may change the result.openai: GPT-4.1 miniInput $0.4/1M, cached $0.1/1M, output $1.6/1M. Retrieved 2026-05-24.Source pricing pageOfficial pricing page lists prices per 1M text tokens; image/tool usage can add separate costs.google: Gemini 2.5 FlashInput $0.3/1M, cached $0.03/1M, output $2.5/1M. Retrieved 2026-05-24.Source pricing pageOfficial Gemini pricing lists token, batch, context caching, and Google Search grounding caveats. Free daily allowances and regional billing may change real cost.together: GPT-OSS 20BInput $0.05/1M, cached $0.05/1M, output $0.2/1M. Retrieved 2026-05-24.Source pricing pageTogether serverless model table lists per-model input and output token pricing; batch discounts are provider/model dependent.

Hardware mode

Hardware costResidual valueAmortization monthsElectricity cost per kWhActive wattsIdle wattsActive hours monthlyIdle hours monthlyStorage cost monthlyMaintenance cost monthlySetup time hoursSetup hourly value

Sensitivity scenarios

Half usageDelta $0.37

Cloud

$1.78

Local

$1.41

Base caseDelta $2.15

Cloud

$3.56

Local

$1.41

Double usageDelta $5.72

Cloud

$7.13

Local

$1.41

Higher hardware costDelta $2.15

Cloud

$3.56

Local

$1.41

Methodology and caveats

This is an estimator; no benchmark claim is made.
It compares money cost only and does not measure model quality, local speed, privacy, reliability, or setup difficulty.
Cloud prices, cache rules, batch discounts, add-ons, free tiers, and model choices can change after the retrieved date.
Local costs depend on user-entered hardware, electricity, storage, maintenance, and amortization assumptions.

Site methodology