Should you buy a GPU and self-host an open LLM, or just keep paying per token for an API? It comes down to volume. Enter your monthly usage and your hardware, and this calculator shows the break-even point — the moment owning the GPU becomes cheaper than the API bill.
Your usage
Your self-host rig
| API cost (your volume) | — |
| Self-host cost (GPU amortized) | — |
| Self-host cost (electricity) | — |
| Self-host total / month | — |
Self-hosting runs open-weight models (free weights), so this compares the per-token API bill against owning hardware. It assumes your GPU can keep up with the volume (a single GPU has a tokens/sec ceiling) and ignores your setup/maintenance time. Check what a GPU can actually run in our VRAM calculator, and current API prices in the cost calculator.
Remember: self-hosting runs open-weight models, so factor in the quality difference versus a frontier API — and use our VRAM calculator to confirm your GPU can actually run the model you want.