The break-even index
Every build preset against every cloud baseline, at a representative U.S. electricity rate (Michigan, $0.19/kWh — the closest state to the $0.1883/kWh national average) and moderate coding use. Click any cell for the full state-by-state breakdown. Same rig, different cloud baseline — completely different verdict. That's the whole point.
| Rig ↓ / Cloud → | Claude Opus 4.8 | GPT-5.5 | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | GPT-5.4 | Claude Haiku 4.5 | DeepSeek V4 Flash |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RTX 3090 (used) | OWN · 6 mo | OWN · 5 mo | OWN · 10 mo | OWN · 10 mo | HYBRID · 33 mo | RENT · never |
| 2× RTX 3090 | OWN · 11 mo | OWN · 9 mo | HYBRID · 19 mo | HYBRID · 19 mo | RENT · >3 yr | RENT · never |
| RTX 4090 | OWN · 11 mo | OWN · 9 mo | HYBRID · 18 mo | HYBRID · 19 mo | RENT · >3 yr | RENT · never |
| RTX 5090 | OWN · 17 mo | OWN · 14 mo | HYBRID · 29 mo | HYBRID · 30 mo | RENT · >3 yr | RENT · never |
| Mac M-series | OWN · 13 mo | OWN · 12 mo | HYBRID · 23 mo | HYBRID · 23 mo | RENT · >3 yr | RENT · >3 yr |
| Mini-PC | OWN · 3 mo | OWN · 3 mo | OWN · 6 mo | OWN · 6 mo | OWN · 17 mo | RENT · >3 yr |
By state
Alabama · Alaska · Arizona · Arkansas · California · Colorado · Connecticut · Delaware · District of Columbia · Florida · Georgia · Hawaii · Idaho · Illinois · Indiana · Iowa · Kansas · Kentucky · Louisiana · Maine · Maryland · Massachusetts · Michigan · Minnesota · Mississippi · Missouri · Montana · Nebraska · Nevada · New Hampshire · New Jersey · New Mexico · New York · North Carolina · North Dakota · Ohio · Oklahoma · Oregon · Pennsylvania · Rhode Island · South Carolina · South Dakota · Tennessee · Texas · Utah · Vermont · Virginia · Washington · West Virginia · Wisconsin · Wyoming