Updated September 2026 · Indicative prices that change often: always check the services' official pages and your electricity rate. It's part of our AI and ComfyUI tutorials.
"Should I buy a graphics card and run AI on my PC, or pay for a subscription?" It's the question you ask us most often, and it's also the one we asked ourselves before choosing to work almost always locally, on a 12 GB RTX 3060.
Answering "it depends" would be honest but useless, so we ran the numbers with real figures: how much online services for images and video cost, how much generating locally really costs between hardware and the electricity bill, and how long it takes for the PC to pay for itself. We'll also tell you when the subscription is the better deal, because sometimes it really is.
In short
- Occasional use: online is the better deal, and the free version is often enough.
- Regular image use: a subscription costs roughly as much as a graphics card every 2–3 years; local pays off if you generate a lot or need control and privacy.
- Video: online costs climb fast, because you pay by the second and need many attempts. If you produce video regularly, local pays for itself much sooner.
- If you already have a gaming or 3D PC with a good graphics card, local costs you practically just the electricity.
How much online services cost
| Service | Pricing model (indicative) |
|---|---|
| ChatGPT (images) | Free with limits; Plus subscription from about €20 a month |
| Gemini (images and Veo video) | Free with limits; Google AI Pro plan from about €22 a month, higher plans for more video |
| Midjourney | No free plan; from $10 to $120 a month |
| Runway | Plans from about $12 a month, with credits |
| Kling | Free daily credits; credit packs and subscriptions |
| Video APIs (Veo, Kling and others) | Per second of generated video: from a few cents to over $0.50 per second depending on model and quality |
The hidden cost of online is the attempts. Getting the right image or clip often takes 5–10 tries: with video paid by the second, a 10-second clip that needs 10 attempts costs 100 seconds of generation. Those who use two or three tools together (very common among professionals) easily reach €40–80 a month.
How much generating locally costs
The hardware
- You already have a PC with a 12 GB or bigger NVIDIA card: zero cost, you can start right away.
- Upgrading just the graphics card: a 12 GB card costs a few hundred euros; a 16 GB one, the ideal choice for AI, roughly €600–800; 32 GB cards cost several thousand euros. In 2026 prices are also high because of the memory shortage.
- A complete PC suited to AI (16 GB card and 32 GB of RAM): starts at roughly €1,200–1,500.
Remember that the hardware isn't just for AI: the same PC works with Blender, DaVinci Resolve, Premiere and After Effects, and it keeps a resale value. You'll find configurations in our guides to the PC for 3D and rendering and to graphics cards for AI.
The electricity
A PC with a card like the RTX 5060 Ti draws roughly 250–350 watts under load. With a rate of about €0.30 per kWh (check your bill), an hour of generation costs about 10 cents.
An example from our tests: with a 12 GB RTX 3060, ComfyUI and a fast SDXL model, an image takes a few seconds. In an hour you generate hundreds of images, so the cost per image is a fraction of a cent. For video, times are longer (from a few minutes up per clip, depending on model and resolution), but the electricity cost per clip stays at a few cents.
How long until the PC pays for itself?
Three typical profiles, with indicative figures:
| Profile | Monthly online spend | Local investment | Pays for itself in about |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hobbyist, images now and then | €0–20 | 16 GB card (€600–800) | Not worth it, unless the PC is also used for other things |
| Creative, images every day + some video | €40–60 | 16 GB card (€600–800) | 12–18 months |
| Regular video producer (Shorts, ads, music videos) | €100 and up | Complete AI PC (from €1,500) | Less than 12–15 months |
The calculation doesn't account for other advantages of local that have no price tag, such as privacy, no limits, custom styles with LoRAs and no risk of the service shutting down. It doesn't account for the learning time either: with ComfyUI it takes a few weeks to become productive.
Pros and cons, from a cost perspective
| Online | Local | |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront cost | ✅ None | ❌ Hardware, if you don't have it |
| Monthly cost | ❌ Subscriptions and credits | ✅ Electricity only |
| Cost of attempts | ❌ You pay for every try | ✅ Unlimited tries |
| Predictability | ❌ Prices and plans can change | ✅ Fixed, known costs |
| Top quality | ✅ The flagship models | ⚠️ Very close, depends on the graphics card |
| Residual value | ❌ None | ✅ The PC stays yours and is useful for other things too |
Our advice
- Start free online (ChatGPT, Gemini, Kling's daily credits) to figure out what you really need.
- If you already have a 12 GB or bigger NVIDIA card, install ComfyUI right away: it costs you nothing.
- If you use AI every day and spend more than €30–40 a month on services, seriously consider a 16 GB card.
- For video the case for local is even stronger: check out the comparison AI video locally or online and the video models handbook.
The graphics cards and PC we recommend
| Prodotto | Scheda video | Memoria video | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| ASUS Dual GeForce RTX 3060 V2 12 GB | NVIDIA RTX 3060 | 12 GB | Vedi su Amazon |
| ASUS Dual GeForce RTX 5060 Ti OC 16 GB | NVIDIA RTX 5060 Ti | 16 GB | Vedi su Amazon |
| ASUS Prime GeForce RTX 5070 Ti OC | NVIDIA RTX 5070 Ti | 16 GB | Vedi su Amazon |
| MSI GeForce RTX 5090 32G Gaming Trio OC | NVIDIA RTX 5090 | 32 GB | Vedi su Amazon |
| PC Ryzen 7 5700X + RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB | NVIDIA RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB | 16 GB | Vedi su Amazon |
Frequently asked questions
How much power does generating AI images on a PC use?
Not much: a PC with a mid-range graphics card draws 250–350 watts under load, about 10 cents an hour at a rate of €0.30 per kWh. For a single image we're talking fractions of a cent.
Is a subscription or a graphics card better?
If you use AI a few times a month, the subscription or even the free version. If you use it every day, and especially for video, a 16 GB card pays for itself in about a year and gives you privacy and control on top.
Can I run AI locally on a Mac?
Yes, with Apple Silicon Macs and the ComfyUI Desktop app, but times are longer than with a good NVIDIA card, especially for video.
