jackson.jenny•20d agoTop Commenter

Chose local AI over cloud API for my chatbot and saved $200 a month

I was building a customer support bot for my small shop and had to decide between running a model locally or paying for OpenAI's API. After testing both, I went with a local llama model on a used $300 gaming PC I grabbed off Facebook Marketplace. The cloud option would have cost me about $220 per month for the volume I need, and I didn't like the idea of customer chat logs going to some server. Setup took me three days to get right, but now it runs 24/7 with no per-token bills. Anyone else ditch the cloud for local AI and find it worth the hassle?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_miles20d ago

bro i feel you on this so hard. that feeling of knowing your customer conversations arent going to some random data center is honestly priceless. plus that $220 a month is real money you can reinvest back into your actual business, like tools or inventory. and yeah the setup was a pain but once you get past that initial hump it's just smooth sailing. i respect anyone who takes the time to learn the local stuff instead of just swiping a credit card for the easy button. you made the right call for sure.

smith.jordan20d ago

@the_miles nailed it with that local setup, saved yourself a headache and some cash.