The Practical Case for Self-Hosting Open Models

Why you should use open models for everyday AI work, and when a paid API still makes sense.

By now, you’ve probably heard that open models have caught up with proprietary ones. I think that claim needs a closer look.

Look at Xiaomi’s MiMo-V2.6-Pro. The open-weight model scored 46 on Artificial Analysis’ Intelligence Index, just two points behind OpenAI’s GPT-6 Sol at max effort.

Yet the measured cost per benchmark task was $0.13 through Xiaomi’s…