The early decade was the cloud era: the model was too big and the device too small. In 2026 the situation has flipped: the M4 Max Mac Studio has 128 GB of memory, the DGX Spark 128 GB + 1 PFLOP, and open models have closed the gap to the top.
Summary of differences
Cloud: latest top-end performance, pay-as-you-go, but data crosses borders and costs scale up. Local: your own weights, E2EE sync, offline, one-off + maintenance, slightly older top-end but usually more than enough.
Hybrid is often the answer
For many businesses the best answer is a local default + deliberate cloud use for specific tasks. Sinun AI implements exactly this: mostly local, but you can choose which queries to forward to a public model.
Frequently asked
- What about GDPR DPIA requirements?
- A Data Protection Impact Assessment is often mandatory for third-country transfers. Local processing makes that assessment much lighter.
Updated 2026-04-21