
Best Open Source AI Models for Internal Tools: Which to Pick?
Compare Llama, Qwen, Mistral, DeepSeek, gpt-oss, and small models by license, hardware needs, and self-hosting break-even to pick one for internal tools.

Compare Llama, Qwen, Mistral, DeepSeek, gpt-oss, and small models by license, hardware needs, and self-hosting break-even to pick one for internal tools.

Compare the total cost of self-hosting open-weight LLMs vs. ChatGPT Enterprise and Microsoft Copilot, with per-seat pricing, break-even points, and hidden costs.

Compare local LLM vs API cost with real numbers: break-even periods by model size, hardware TCO, utilization thresholds, and when owning GPUs beats renting tokens.

DeepSeek beats GPT-6 Astra 35x to 150x per token, but renting GPUs to self-host isn't automatically cheaper. Here's the real break-even number.