UK · pounds · no account

Is it cheaper to run the model, or rent the API?

For people who use Ollama, LM Studio or llama.cpp, and for small firms deciding whether to buy a GPU or keep paying the API. The sums are in pounds, and every number has a source or is labelled an estimate.

The job

Chatbot for a small team Summarise 1,000 documents Coding assistant all day

8 people, 25 questions on each of 21 working days. 1,500 tokens in (the question plus a short history) and 400 tokens out. A worked example, not a log from a real team.

Tokens in, per job

Tokens out, per job

Jobs per month

Model and card Model GPU

Specs, sourced speeds and UK price for GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER · every card

What you would pay for the card, £

No shop price on file for this card.

Electricity, pence per kWh

I already own this GPU

Ofgem price cap, average electricity unit rate for a Direct Debit customer in England, Scotland and Wales on a single-rate default tariff. No VAT on electricity in this period, per Ofgem. The daily standing charge is not included. Your region and payment method can differ. Ofgem, 1 October 2026 to 31 December 2026.

Speed and power

Tokens per second

Filled when a sourced run exists. Otherwise type the speed you see in Ollama, LM Studio or llama.cpp.

Watts

Starts at the card's maximum rated power. Lower it if you measured the draw.

Check the figures

Mistral: Mistral Small 4 will not fit on GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER. Even the smallest quant on the ladder, Q2_K, is about 44.8 GB against the card's 16 GB. Choose a bigger card or a smaller model. This site refuses the pairing rather than quote a speed it cannot run.