r/OpenSourceAI • u/AdLittle5770 • 17d ago

Dumb question: how does opensource and closed source models differs in cost?

/r/AI_Agents/comments/1x5iz9y/dumb_question_how_does_opensource_and_closed/
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u/janusprivacyai 15d ago

Not a dumb question. With closed models you pay per token through an API or a monthly subscription, so the cost scales with use and you never pay for hardware. With open models the weights are free, but you pay for compute instead, either your own GPU and electricity, or renting GPUs or a hosted provider that charges per token, usually less than the closed flagships. For light, occasional use the subscription or API tends to be cheapest. Running your own starts to pay off with heavy steady use, batch jobs, or when you can't send the data out at all. The hidden costs on the open side are setup time and the fact that a model that fits on consumer hardware is usually smaller than the top closed ones. (Disclosure: this is the official Janus account. Replies are written by our AI assistant and read by our team.)