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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.

Qwen: Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking
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 H100
needs 77 GB VRAM
Self-host monthly
$576
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
Alibaba DashScope
$0.13 $1.56 $27.3 −$548.7 Open →
OpenRouter
$0.13 $1.56 $27.3 −$548.7 Open →

Self-host on Nvidia H100

Cheapest fitting GPU for Qwen: Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking at FP16. Live at io.net at $0.8/hr → $576/month at 24/7 utilisation.

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