Provider comparison & setup guides — self-hosted AI
Your AI.
Your server.
Your rules.
Compare 5 VPS providers and Mac Mini for running Ollama. Real benchmarks, current prices, honest verdicts.
5 providers tested 20+ plans compared Updated April 2026
What are you building?
Replace ChatGPT with a private model on your own hardware — no data leaves your server.
Self-hosted Copilot replacement — private, no rate limits, low-latency autocomplete.
Query your own PDFs and documents without sending data to any cloud API.
Full-quality inference on 70B+ models — requires GPU or Apple Silicon.
Try self-hosted AI for the first time — easiest path in, lowest risk, no commitment.
Top pick #1
Mac Mini M4
$599 one-time
Pays for itself in 8 months vs a VPS. Runs 70B comfortably, always on, zero cloud access.
Best value VPS #2
Contabo VPS L
$7.99/mo
Most RAM per dollar of any VPS. 14B models with zero memory pressure at the lowest monthly cost.
EU pick #3
Hetzner CX32
€12.49/mo
EU-based, fast NVMe, rock-solid uptime. Best choice if your data must stay in Europe.
Setup guides
Learn how to run your own AI
Comparison 8 min read
Cheapest VPS for Ollama in 2026
We tested 5 providers. Hetzner CX22 at €5.89/mo wins on pure value.
Read guide → Setup guide 10 min read
I Replaced GitHub Copilot with a $8/mo VPS
Qwen 2.5 Coder 7B on Hetzner + Continue.dev. Private code completion, no rate limits.
Read guide → Reference 6 min read
Which Models Can Your Hardware Actually Run?
The practical RAM requirements for every popular model size — 3B through 70B.
Read guide →