Local LLM vs Cloud API at 12 Months: The 3 Line Items Every Per-Token Comparison Omits
A Mac mini running local inference sat busy 1.7% of the time over three weeks. That number kills the usual local-vs-cloud spreadsheet math.
Posts tagged “cost-optimization”
Your Local LLM Bill Is Per Token. Your Real Cost Is Per Accepted Answer.
Per-token pricing hides the real cost of local LLMs: retries, escalations, and the human review minutes that dwarf the token bill.
Where Your $20K in Tokens Actually Goes
A $20K monthly token bill isn't one cost — it's a pipeline with four measurable leaks: retries, prompt bloat, MCP schema overhead, and redundant judge passes. Treat the invoice as telemetry, and half of it turns out to be waste.