Self-hosted or cloud AI models: how to choose for your business

Once a business decides to use AI, the next question is where the model should run. There is no single right answer, but there is a right answer for each workload.

Cloud models

Hosted models from providers such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google offer strong reasoning, fast setup, and no infrastructure to manage. They suit customer-facing assistants, writing and summarising, and most internal productivity tasks. Use business agreements that exclude your data from training, and send only the fields a task needs.

Self-hosted open models

Open models running in your own cloud account or data centre keep every prompt and document inside your environment. They suit regulated data, strict client contracts, and high-volume tasks where per-request pricing adds up. The trade-off is operational work: GPUs, updates, monitoring, and evaluation.

A practical hybrid

Many teams use both. Sensitive records such as payroll or customer identity data go to a self-hosted model; general drafting and research go to a cloud model. A single gateway routes each request, logs it, and lets you switch models without rewriting the application.

Questions to decide with

• What data will the model see, and who is allowed to see it today?
• How many requests per day, and what is an acceptable cost per answer?
• What response time do your users need?
• Who will maintain the system after launch?

We help teams answer these questions, then build on whichever option fits, with room to change later.