LLM Deployment Cost Calculator
Determine when on-premise LLM deployment becomes economically viable compared to commercial API services. Make informed decisions backed by peer-reviewed research.
Key Research Findings
Understand the economics before you deploy
Small Models
Break-even in as little as 0.3-3 months against premium services. Ideal for SMEs with modest token volumes (<10M/month).
Medium Models
Break-even ranges from 3.8-34 months. Sweet spot for medium enterprises processing 10-50M tokens/month.
Large Models
Break-even extends to 3.5-69 months. Viable for large enterprises with extreme workloads (>50M tokens/month).
Choose Your Open-Source Model
Select an open-source LLM based on your scale, budget, and performance requirements
Small ModelsEntry-Level
Perfect for SMEs and small-scale deployments. Consumer-grade GPU (RTX 5090), break-even in 0.3-3 months.
Hardware Cost
$2,000
Throughput
200 tok/s
Monthly Capacity
126.7M
Power
575W
Performance Benchmarks
Hardware Cost
$2,000
Throughput
180 tok/s
Monthly Capacity
114.0M
Power
575W
Performance Benchmarks
Hardware Cost
$2,000
Throughput
150 tok/s
Monthly Capacity
95.0M
Power
575W
Performance Benchmarks
Medium ModelsBalanced
Ideal for medium enterprises. 1-2× datacenter GPUs (A100), break-even in 3.8-34 months.
Hardware Cost
$30,000
Throughput
200 tok/s
Monthly Capacity
126.7M
Power
800W
Performance Benchmarks
Hardware Cost
$30,000
Throughput
220 tok/s
Monthly Capacity
139.4M
Power
800W
Performance Benchmarks
Hardware Cost
$15,000
Throughput
190 tok/s
Monthly Capacity
120.4M
Power
400W
Performance Benchmarks
Large ModelsEnterprise-Scale
For large enterprises with extreme workloads (>50M tokens/month). Multi-node GPU clusters, break-even in 3.5-69 months.
Hardware Cost
$240,000
Throughput
800 tok/s
Monthly Capacity
506.9M
Power
6400W
Performance Benchmarks
Hardware Cost
$90,000
Throughput
400 tok/s
Monthly Capacity
253.4M
Power
2400W
Performance Benchmarks
Hardware Cost
$60,000
Throughput
400 tok/s
Monthly Capacity
253.4M
Power
1600W
Performance Benchmarks
Methodology
Our calculator implements seven core equations from the research paper to model total cost of ownership (TCO):
- Hardware Cost: Chardware = NGPU × CGPU
- Electricity Cost: Celectricity = NGPU × PGPU × Hoperation × Relectricity
- Local Deployment: Clocal(t) = Chardware + Celectricity × t
- API Cost: CAPI(t) = CAPI(Qcapacity) × t
- Break-even: Solve for t* where Clocal(t) = CAPI(t)
Performance benchmarks (GPQA, MATH-500, MMLU-Pro, LiveCodeBench) are sourced from Artificial Analysis and model providers. All pricing reflects commercial rates as of late 2024/early 2025.
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