How much does a local model cost?

We quote once the scope is agreed, with the build, the hardware or hosting and the maintenance priced separately. The same work in an app with a model in the EU cloud costs from €3,000 net, paid once.

Is a local model as good as ChatGPT?

We test it on your own examples before you buy hardware. We compare the quality, the response time and the full cost of the local model with a cloud service.

Will this work in an isolated network?

Yes, if every dependency is available inside that network. We check this in the plan, before you buy hardware.

When does it not pay off?

An app with a model in the EU cloud is usually cheaper when the documents may go there under a data processing agreement. Below 60 questions a month the payback takes more than a year. Then start with ChatGPT or Claude for the team, from €1,150 net.

What do we need to prepare?

The set of instructions with their versions, a description of the plant network and 30 to 50 typical questions.

Manufacturing · Rollout scenario · Updated 22 October 2026

Local AI model in the plant: instructions that never leave it

The model and the search across plant instructions run in your own network. An employee gets an answer with its source for the right product version.

A model on your own hardware or in the EU: Priced after a call

Review and written plan: €0
A trial before you buy hardware

How much does a local AI model for a manufacturing plant cost, and when does it pay back?

Short answer

A local AI model for a manufacturing plant is priced after a call. The EU cloud version costs from €3,000 net. In our scenario it pays back in 0.6 months. Today, the work on 1,000 questions costs €5,817 a month. In that version the same work costs €888. The model does not control machines. The owners of the instructions approve them.

Statistics

GDPR, data and AI statistics 2025

48.8%
According to Eurostat (2025), 48.8% of EU enterprises that considered AI but did not use it named concerns about data protection and privacy as a reason.
Source: Eurostat, Use of AI in enterprises (2025) ↗
52.5%
According to Eurostat (2025), 52.5% of EU enterprises that considered AI but did not use it named unclear legal consequences as a reason.
Source: Eurostat, Use of AI in enterprises (2025) ↗
15.1%
According to Eurostat (2025), 15.1% of people in the EU used generative AI tools for work.
Source: Eurostat, generative AI use 2025 (2025) ↗
70.9%
According to Eurostat (2025), 70.9% of EU enterprises that considered AI but did not use it named a lack of relevant expertise as a reason.
Source: Eurostat, Use of AI in enterprises (2025) ↗
55.0%
According to Eurostat (2025), 55.0% of large EU enterprises used AI. Across all EU enterprises with at least 10 employees the share was 20.0%.
Source: Eurostat, Use of AI in enterprises (2025) ↗

Figures checked: 22 October 2026

Cost today · Scenario

What searching documents costs you today

€5,817

a month for the work on 1,000 questions

EU cloud version payback: 0.6 mo.

In your company

Plant of 100
300 questions · €1,745 a month
2 mo. EU cloud payback
Plant of 300
1,000 questions · €5,817 a month
0.6 mo. EU cloud payback
Plant of 800
3,000 questions · €17,450 a month
0.2 mo. EU cloud payback

We price the model on your server after a call, with the build, the hardware or hosting and the maintenance quoted separately. The same work in an app with a model in the EU cloud costs from €3,000 net, paid once. That version gives the team back about 142 hours of work a month, or 18 working days, and the company €59,148 a year.

Source: Eurostat, hourly labour costs 2025 (2026) ↗

How we calculate it

1,000 × 10 min = 166.7 h × €34.90 = €5,817 a month. In the EU cloud version, a person checks the output in 15% of the old time (€873), and the model costs €15. That leaves €888. The saving is €4,929 a month, so €3,000 pays back in 0.6 months.

Assumptions: Our assumptions are 10 minutes to find the right instruction, and checking in 15% of the old time. €34.90 an hour is the EU average hourly labour cost for 2025 according to Eurostat, for companies with 10 or more employees. Model cost: Claude Sonnet 5.5, about 6,000 + 500 tokens per answer in the EU cloud version, at the ECB rate of 1.1205 USD per euro on 22 October 2026. We count the payback for an app with a model in the EU cloud (from €3,000 net). We price the model on your server after a call, and the cost of people's work stays the same.

Book a free process review (30 min)

We will calculate it on your documents.

How it works

What changes with a local model

Today

An employee looks for the instruction for a product version
Team
Documentation cannot leave the plant
Team
Public chat tools are banned
Team
Searches folder by folder
Team
Picks the wrong version
Team

With the system

The employee asks inside the plant network
Team
Search in approved instructions
System
The local model answers with the source
AI
The employee checks the version
Person
A named person handles updates
System

What stays with people: The model does not control machines. The owners of the instructions approve them.

Client results.

All projects →

customer service

foap.com customer service: 95% of replies are sent automatically.

Users from several countries write to foap.com, in several languages. The system reads the entire conversation and the terms of that person, and then sends a response in that person's language. Questions about money and exceptions go to the team with a ready draft, so they have to check and send them.

the system sends the answers itself, without human typing: 95%; the system sends the answers itself, without human typing
time from the arrival of the e-mail to the ready response (median): 30 s; time from the arrival of the e-mail to the ready response (median)
e-mails that require a response receive a ready-made draft: 100%; e-mails that require a response receive a ready-made draft
less work for every 1000 answers (estimate): 47 h; less work for every 1000 answers (estimate)

Data from foap.com production, October 20-21, 2026. Estimate: 3 minutes for handwritten response.

How foap.com customer service works →

Sample messages. Money matters always come to the person.

Other implementations

jaktako.design

studio projektowe

−87%

Time to look for new customers, every day

4 hours → 30 min

approx. 73 hours less per month (21 days of work)

according to the studio

How the agent loop works →

real estate

approx. −90%

Operator time spent browsing portals, per day

2–3 hours → 20 min

approx. 45 hours less per month (21 days of work)

respect · contact the seller 5 minutes after the announcement

How the agent finds property listings →

HR team

firma technologiczna, NDA

−3–4 h

Recruiter's work for each candidate

the first conversation is conducted by a voicebot

How voicebot conducts recruitment →

Staffing agency

NDA

almost −1 h

Work for each person registered

CRM updates after each conversation

How voicebot calls candidates →

Who already works this way

Our systems already work for clients

What this scope builds on

The in-network document workflow we have already built

Documents, search and the model stay inside the company network, and each answer points to its source. In the recorded run 3 answers were produced locally on a GPU with a median of 430 ms, with no fees for an external API. Demonstrator on synthetic material.

See private models →

Kuba Koziej, CEO and co-founder of MoreGrowth and board member at Natu.Care — Kuba KoziejCEO and co-founder, MoreGrowthView the original training review on LinkedIn ↗

How to start

How to start. The first two steps are free.

1 · 30 min
Free process review
€0
An engineer works out with you the task, the documents and where the model should run.
2 · 2 working days
Written plan and quote
€0
The model, the hardware or hosting, and a trial on your own examples, planned before you buy hardware.
3 · depends on scope
Rollout
Priced after a call
Setup, quality tests on your own examples, a user guide and a maintenance plan.