From how many people does an AI server pay off compared with the cloud?
A server pays off once the cloud licences for all people cost more per year than purchase, licence, maintenance and operation of the server, spread over its service life. In the cloud you pay per person; a server is mostly fixed costs, and each additional person makes it cheaper. With basebox, over five years including electricity, the threshold is around 240 people, 269 with a five-year term, and 312 to 356 people with operation by basebox.
How do the costs of cloud and server differ?
The two options are calculated in fundamentally different ways:
- Cloud: You pay per person per year. Operation, updates, backup and computing power are included in the price. Costs grow with every person, usually at a falling price per person.
- Server: You mainly pay fixed amounts: purchase of the hardware, licence, maintenance of the hardware and operation, by your IT or a service provider. On top come electricity and rack space. How many people use the server changes little, as long as its performance is sufficient.
This gives the calculation for any offer:
- Spread the server over one year: Purchase price divided by the service life, plus licence, maintenance, operation, electricity and rack space per year.
- Cloud for the same number of people: Price per person times people, using the provider’s price tiers.
- Find the break-even point: From the number of people at which the cloud becomes more expensive, the server pays off.
The threshold shifts with the service life (the longer, the sooner the server pays off), with discounts for long terms, with the cost of operation and with whether you already have hardware or a data centre. Which option fits your organisation regardless of price, by requirements, data and IT, is covered in the guide Cloud or server on your premises: which fits which organisation?
How does this work with basebox?
The following figures are basebox list prices. They show the calculation using an example.
How are cloud and server billed at basebox?
Cloud: one licence per person per year. It starts at €490 (5 people) and falls with the number of people: €270 for 100, €240 for 200, €214 for 500, €195 for 2,000 people. Operation, updates and backup are included; you need no hardware.
Server: You buy the server once and pay one licence per server, plus the service contract for the hardware (9% of the purchase price per year, mandatory, five years). Anyone may sign in, so the amount per person falls with every additional person. Converted over five years (purchase, licence and service contract, divided by five and by the number of people), that is around €267 per person per year for 200 people, around €107 for 500 people, around €96 for 1,000 and around €73 for 2,000. Class 1 is enough for about 200 to 500 people, Class 2 for 500 to 1,000, Class 3 for 1,000 to 2,000.
On top comes electricity, estimated at around €2,100 per year (Class 2 around €1,600), at €0.25 per kWh including cooling: the GPUs work mainly on weekdays during the day and otherwise run almost idle. At full load around the clock it would be at most around €7,100 (Class 1 and 3) and €5,100 (Class 2). Net list prices, licence term one year, as of October 2026. You can calculate your price in two minutes in the calculator.
From how many people is the server cheaper at basebox?
The calculation over five years with Class 1 and electricity:
- Server: purchase, licence and service contract spread over five years, plus electricity. The amount stays the same, however many people sign in.
- Cloud: between 200 and 500 people, the annual price rises by around €198 for each additional person.
- From 239 people, the server is cheaper over five years.
Above that the gap widens, in each case per person per year including electricity: for 500 people, €214 in the cloud compares with around €111 for the server; for 1,000 people, €199 with around €98 (Class 2); for 2,000 people, €195 with around €74 (Class 3).
How do contract term, perpetual licence and operation shift the threshold?
| Assumption | Server cheaper from |
|---|---|
| List prices, annual licence | 239 people |
| Both with a five-year term (15% off the licence) | 269 people |
| Server with perpetual licence | 202 people |
| Server on your premises, operated by basebox (€1,200 per month) | 312 people |
| Server in the data centre, operated by basebox (€2,100 per month) | 356 people |
Each row is calculated over five years; for the server on your premises with around €2,100 of electricity per year, while in the data centre electricity is included in operation. Five-year term: 15% off the licence, so the cloud then costs 85% of the list price. Perpetual licence: a one-off 2.5 times the annual licence, and from the second year 20% of that for updates and support. Operation: €14,400 or €25,200 per year are added to the server; in the cloud, operation is included in the price.
Not included in these figures: rack space for the server on your premises (included in the data centre) and the working time of your IT if it operates the server itself. Both push the threshold upwards.
What applies if you already have hardware?
Then you only pay the licence, based on the GPUs; for hardware up to 32× H200 it is shown in the calculator. We check beforehand, free of charge, whether your hardware is sufficient. For other manufacturers, you will find the price in your personal quote.
What speaks for one option or the other regardless of price?
Start, health data under § 393 SGB V (German Social Code, Book V), operation without internet, quota and operation are compared in the guide Cloud or server on your premises. The same on both options: AI, features, apps, connectors and security.
Frequently asked questions
Can we start with the cloud and switch to the server later?
Yes, at any time, for a flat fee of €4,200. Apps, permissions and connections stay the same.
Is there a quota for AI use?
In the cloud, 20 million tokens per person per year are included, around 12 million words, shared across the whole organisation. With the server there is no quota; the only limit is its performance.
What does it cost above 2,000 people?
Then basebox runs on larger hardware that you procure yourself, for example from HPE or Dell; the licence is based on the GPUs and is shown in the calculator. In the cloud there are list prices up to 20,000 people.
Is a mix possible?
Yes, as hybrid operation: basebox runs on hardware in your network, the AI models come from elsewhere.
Sources
This article was created with the help of AI, based on the sources listed. Responsible for the content: basebox GmbH. Not legal advice, no liability. Research as of 30 October 2026.