Local models vs cloud models

Local models maximize control and privacy. Cloud models maximize capability and ease of use. Most teams benefit from a hybrid setup.

Choose local first when

• Data sensitivity is high and policy requires strict control.
• Offline operation is a hard requirement.
• You can accept smaller-model quality trade-offs.

Choose cloud first when

• You need state-of-the-art quality quickly.
• Your team is small and wants low infrastructure overhead.
• You need multimodal, tool-calling, and managed reliability now.

Hybrid pattern that works

Use local models for sensitive preprocessing and lightweight tasks, then route complex reasoning to cloud models behind policy controls.

Practical checklist

1. Define privacy classes for your data.
2. Benchmark latency and quality on representative tasks.
3. Route by risk and cost, not by hype.

For model choice at the product layer, see ChatGPT vs Claude for work.