should you buy a rig instead of paying for an API or subscription?

Today I pay▾and I▾and I can spend▾for a rig

I use the API, not subscriptions

Modelcan it code? · rig	Speedtokens/sec	Rigapprox	Powerwatts	API price$/MTok	Cost to run/mo · rig÷3yr + power	vs APIits own API	vs GPT$20 sub	vs Claude$20 sub	vs GPT$100 sub	vs Claude$100 sub	Verdict

assumptionsmid-2026 estimates; edit your reality

coding API $/MTok $ input:output :1 electricity $/kWh amortization mo

High-memory M3 Ultra rows are used-market estimates: Apple currently sells M3 Ultra Mac Studio at 96GB, while 256GB/512GB configurations are not normal new-buy options. The $5/MTok default is a coding-model blend, not a flagship-only Opus/GPT-5.5 anchor.