Why buying a box for local LLMs rarely beats renting, with real math
Warm-Reaction-456 · reddit · 2026-09-02
A consultant who runs local-vs-API math for clients argues 'buy a machine, stop paying rent' is a trap: every open-model improvement shows up on competing hosts weeks later, driving token prices down, while your box depreciates $390/month regardless. A real client case: renting cost $170/month with the model busy just 17 of 720 hours. Smarter models also need less compute per job, further idling owned hardware. Buy only when data can't leave the building or the card would be truly saturated — and call it 'control,' not 'savings.'
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