Cost of self hosting versus pay per token.
This calculator shows the monthly request volume above which running your own AI infrastructure pays off compared with ongoing pay-per-token billing. It is based on your inputs for request volume, request length, model size, location and term. The result appears immediately, with no form - our own model calculation with disclosed assumptions, not a market study.
Reference price: 1.50 € / Mio. Token
At current volume, API usage is still €3,325 / month cheaper.
Disclosed Assumptions & Hardware Costs
Transparent cost matrix per model class and month (Price status: September 2026):
| Model Class | API Price / 1M Tokens | Hardware / Month (DC / Cloud) | Ops & Support / Month | Total Self-Hosted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small (e.g. 8B models) | 0.30 € | 1200 € / 1600 € | 1200 € | ~2400 € / ~2800 € |
| Medium (e.g. 70B models)Active | 1.50 € | 2200 € / 2900 € | 1800 € | ~4000 € / ~4700 € |
| Large (e.g. 405B / Frontier) | 4.50 € | 4500 € / 5800 € | 2500 € | ~7000 € / ~8300 € |
01 What this calculator answers
Many organizations face the same decision: does it make sense to invest in dedicated, permanent AI infrastructure, or is pay-per-token API billing more cost-effective over time? The answer depends on volume and chosen model size. At low volume, fixed infrastructure costs dominate. At high volume, self-hosting becomes dramatically more cost effective. This calculator shows the exact point where that economic balance tips.
02 What inputs you need
Four inputs give you an initial assessment:
| Input | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Monthly request volume | Number of model requests your use case generates per month |
| Average request length | Combined prompt input and output length in tokens |
| Model size | Model class (Small 8B, Medium 70B, or Large 405B / Frontier) |
| Operating environment | Own data center (On-Premises) or dedicated EU cloud (Frankfurt am Main) |
The result appears immediately in the browser, with no forms and no contact details required.
03 How the calculation works
The calculator uses disclosed assumptions (Price status: September 2026) that you can inspect item by item, rather than a black-box formula.
| Assumption | Basis |
|---|---|
| Hardware | Market-standard purchase and depreciation costs for comparable server configurations, our own model calculation |
| Power and location | Average commercial electricity price at the selected location, our own model calculation |
| Staff | Proportional effort for operating and maintaining your own infrastructure, our own model calculation |
| Comparison price per token | Publicly listed prices from common providers, retrieval date shown with each result |
Next Steps & Chained Calculators
After clarifying infrastructure costs, calculate process-level financial returns in the ROI calculator or evaluate organisational prerequisites in the AI maturity check.