Is local worth it?
Compare the real cost of running LLMs on your Mac versus paying for cloud API access. Hardware amortization, electricity, and your actual usage pattern — all factored in.
Your hardware
Your usage
Cloud alternative
Select a Mac and a cloud API model above to see the comparison. This calculator uses real benchmark data where available and clearly marks estimates.
How this works
Local cost = hardware price amortized over your chosen period + electricity for actual compute time. Throughput is derived from our benchmark data for your chip family — we use the median measured generation speed at Q4-class quantization as a conservative representative. Cloud cost uses the provider's published per-token pricing, blended by your input/output ratio. Break-even = months until cumulative savings offset the hardware purchase price.
This model deliberately simplifies: it does not account for opportunity cost of capital, maintenance time, model quality differences, or the value of running offline. Those factors are real but hard to price. Inspect the raw data.