Llama Made Crystal Clear · chapter 4: What Llama Actually Costs: Local vs Hosted
Local versus hosted cost against monthly token volume
2026-10-23
The shape of the crossover is real; the exact position depends on your own inputs, not a number this book can print for you.
Below: the paragraph from the book that builds this idea, then the diagram itself (Figure 4.2), and a recap. About a minute of reading.
Put the local side together as hardware cost divided by months of use, plus measured watts converted through your electricity rate, and you have a real monthly local figure. Put the hosted side together as your daily token volume times the partner's own rate, and you have a real monthly hosted figure. Whichever number is smaller for your actual workload is your answer, for now, dated to the day you calculated it.
Recap
- The idea: The shape of the crossover is real; the exact position depends on your own inputs, not a number this book can print for you.
- The picture: Figure 4.2, from chapter 4 ("What Llama Actually Costs: Local vs Hosted") of Llama Made Crystal Clear.
- Go deeper: the chapter builds this step by step, with recipes and sources at the end.
This diagram is one of many in Llama Made Crystal Clear.
Every chapter opens with the gist, draws the hard ideas, and ends with recipes and sources.
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