Guides, answers & tools

AI & Local LLMs

Local models, AI rigs and the tools that run them · page 3

Flat illustration of a person choosing which GLM model version fits their hardware, on a teal background

how to run GLM locally in 2026: which version, which GPU

GLM ties Kimi K3 at the top of the open-weight rankings, but 'run it locally' depends on which GLM — from the 106B Air that fits one card to the 744B GLM-5 that needs a 256GB Mac or the cloud. The honest map, with real numbers.

Aliteq Team · Sep 24 · 8 min

Flat illustration of a person running a local AI chat assistant on a laptop with a single graphics card, on a teal background

run Mistral Small 24B locally in 2026: VRAM, which GPU, and how fast

Mistral Small 24B fits a single 24GB card at Q4 (~14GB). VRAM by quant, which GPU, realistic speeds by runtime, and the cheapest way to run it — own or rent.

Aliteq Team · Sep 24 · 7 min

Flat illustration of a person considering a large high-memory graphics card and a memory module, on a teal background

H200 rental cost in 2026: what the 141GB card costs, and when it's worth it

The H200 is an H100 with 141GB instead of 80GB. It rents from ~$2.63/hr (Vast spot) to $6.31 (CoreWeave). What it costs and when the memory is worth paying for.

Aliteq Team · Sep 24 · 6 min

Flat illustration of a person with a data-center graphics card and a server rack, on a teal background

the cheapest way to rent an A100 in 2026 (from $0.47/hr)

The A100 80GB is the memory workhorse — from ~$0.47/hr on Vast spot, $1.19/hr on Runpod (24 Sep 2026). Where to rent one cheaply and when its 80GB is worth it.

Aliteq Team · Sep 24 · 6 min

Flat illustration of a person holding a single graphics card with coins, showing a cheap rental, on a teal background

the cheapest way to rent an RTX 4090 in 2026 (from $0.14/hr)

The RTX 4090 is the value rental for AI — 24GB, from ~$0.14/hr on Vast spot, $0.34/hr on Runpod (24 Sep 2026). Where to rent one cheaply and what it gets done.

Aliteq Team · Sep 24 · 6 min

Flat illustration of a person launching a managed cloud GPU from a simple dashboard, on a teal background

Runpod in 2026: pods, serverless, and what it really costs

Runpod is the managed middle of GPU rental — per-second billing, pods and serverless, Community vs Secure cloud. A 4090 is ~$0.34/hr, an H100 from ~$1.99/hr (24 Sep 2026). Here's what it really costs.

Aliteq Team · Sep 24 · 8 min

Flat illustration of a person browsing a marketplace of graphics cards, weighing price against reliability, on a teal background

Vast.ai in 2026: what to know before you rent

Vast.ai is the cheapest way to rent a GPU — a 4090 from ~$0.14/hr, an H100 from ~$1.79/hr (24 Sep 2026). But reliability depends on the host, not the platform. Here's what to know before you rent.

Aliteq Team · Sep 24 · 8 min

Flat illustration of a small-shop owner with a phone, relaxed about using AI without special hardware

do you actually need a GPU to use AI for your business? (almost certainly not)

Heard AI can help your business and wondering if you must buy special hardware? For nearly every small business the answer is no. Here's what you actually need.

Aliteq Team · Sep 23 · 5 min

Flat illustration of a creator at a laptop choosing between two ways to make AI images

want to make AI images but don't have a good GPU? your two options, honestly

No powerful graphics card? You can still make AI images two ways: rent a cloud GPU and run ComfyUI yourself, or use a hosted tool. Here's how they differ and which fits you.

Aliteq Team · Sep 23 · 6 min

Flat illustration of an indie developer at a laptop weighing whether they need a GPU for their AI app

do you need your own GPU to build an AI app, or can you just use an API?

Most AI apps don't need a GPU — they just call an API. Here's when you actually need to rent one, and what 'pod vs serverless' means in plain words.

Aliteq Team · Sep 23 · 6 min

Flat illustration of a person at a desk looking up at a friendly cloud connected to their laptop

what is a cloud GPU? (explained like you're completely new)

A cloud GPU is a powerful graphics chip you rent over the internet by the hour instead of buying one. Here's what that means, why it exists, and what it costs — in plain words.

Aliteq Team · Sep 23 · 6 min

Flat illustration of a relaxed person on a laptop with a small spark of AI, wondering if they can run AI without a graphics card

can you run your own AI without buying a graphics card? (yes — here's how)

You don't need a $1,000 graphics card to start using AI yourself. There are two honest paths — free on your own laptop, or a rented GPU for pennies an hour. Here's which is yours.

Aliteq Team · Sep 23 · 6 min

Flat illustration of a creator generating images on a rented cloud GPU, on a teal background

the cheapest cloud GPU for ComfyUI and Flux costs pennies an hour — stop renting H100s

You don't need an expensive card for image generation. A 24GB GPU runs Flux with ControlNet for $0.12–0.34/hr. Here's the GPU each workflow actually needs, dated.

Aliteq Team · Sep 23 · 7 min

Flat illustration of a person weighing two GPU options on a balance scale, on a teal background

H100 vs B200 rental cost: the Blackwell premium, and the one number that flips it

A B200 rents for 2–3.5× an H100. Per hour the H100 wins almost everything — but per token, a fully-utilised B200 can be cheaper. Here's the real comparison, dated.

Aliteq Team · Sep 23 · 7 min

Flat illustration of a person toggling a serverless GPU on and off — pay only while it runs — on a teal background

RunPod Serverless pricing, explained: why it looks pricier but usually isn't

Serverless per-hour rates look higher than a pod — but they bill per second and scale to zero. The whole decision is one number: how busy your GPU actually is.

Aliteq Team · Sep 23 · 7 min

Flat illustration of a person running a large AI model in the cloud, on a teal background

the cheapest way to run Llama 4 in the cloud: Scout on one H100, Maverick only if you must

Scout fits a single H100 from ~$1.73/hr. Maverick needs 243GB — four H100s or two H200s. Here's the cheapest cloud setup for each, dated to real prices.

Aliteq Team · Sep 23 · 7 min

Flat illustration of a person comparing cloud GPU rental prices on a laptop, on a teal background

the cheapest way to rent an H100 in 2026 is under $2 an hour — here's where

The same H100 costs $1.73/hr on one provider and $6.16 on another. Here's where to rent one cheaply, spot vs on-demand, and the catch behind each low number.

Aliteq Team · Sep 23 · 6 min

Illustration of investing coins into a data-center and chip icon with an AI spark growing above

France's €109B AI Bet: Ambition, Mistral, and the Honest Scorecard

France pledged €109B for AI, hosted a landmark Paris summit, and built a champion in Mistral. The honest look at its 'sovereign AI' strategy — what's genuinely working, and where 'stratospheric growth' is still just a slogan.

Aliteq Team · Sep 22 · 8 min