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Self-host vs API — at what volume does renting a GPU win?

Open-weight models can run on rented GPUs (~$1–$4/hr for an A100 / H100) or via per-token APIs. Plug in your numbers; we'll show the breakeven curve.

Mistral: Ministral 3 3B 2512
10,000 100,000,000
10,000 100,000,000
Monthly input tokens
30,000,000
@ 1,000,000/day
Monthly output tokens
15,000,000
@ 500,000/day
Self-host GPU
Nvidia NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000 8GB
needs 8 GB VRAM
Self-host monthly
—
24/7 on cheapest provider

API pricing — cheapest first

Monthly bill at 30,000,000 input + 15,000,000 output tokens.

Provider $/M in $/M out Monthly vs self-host
Mistral La Plateforme
$0.1 $0.1 $4.5 — Open →
OpenRouter
$0.1 $0.1 $4.5 — Open →

Self-host on Nvidia NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000 8GB

Cheapest fitting GPU for Mistral: Ministral 3 3B 2512 at FP16.

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