---
title: "Doing the actual math on a $20k local AI rig breakeven — Stuff That Spins"
description: "Everyone under the sun says \"it's free after you buy the hardware\" and skips the electricity bill. Ran the numbers against a mid tier subscription to see where the crossover actually sits. Every thread about self hosting eventually has someone say some version of \"once you own the hardware it's fre…"
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date: "2026-07-04T11:27:31+00:00"
modified: "2026-07-04T14:02:03.94216+00:00"
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# Doing the actual math on a $20k local AI rig breakeven

**Source:** Unknown  
**Published:** July 4, 2026  
**Original:** https://www.reddit.com/r/LocalLLaMA/comments/1un6njn/doing_the_actual_math_on_a_20k_local_ai_rig/  

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*HTML version: https://stuffthatspins.com/spin/doing-the-actual-math-on-a-20k-local-ai-rig-breakeven*