How We Built rnsu.net

$2,000 infrastructure. $0/month in cloud AI. Here is exactly how.

The Stack

Every component, what it does, and what it costs

Component What Cost
Hosting Cloudflare Pages (free tier) $0/month
Domain rnsu.net via Cloudflare ~$10/year
SSL / CDN Cloudflare (included) $0/month
Frontend Static HTML/CSS/JS, Materialize CSS $0
Chatbot AI LM Studio + Qwen 3.5 4B model, running on local hardware $0/month
Backend Python FastAPI on local server $0/month
Tunnel Cloudflare Tunnel (free) $0/month
Worker Cloudflare Worker (free tier) $0/month
Server Hardware Workstation with GPU (runs LM Studio + backend) ~$2,000 one-time
Total Monthly $0
Total Infrastructure ~$2,000 one-time

Architecture

How every request flows from your browser to local AI and back

When you visit www.rnsu.net:

  1. Cloudflare Pages serves the static site (HTML, CSS, JS) — globally cached, fast everywhere
  2. When you use the chatbot, your message goes through a Cloudflare Worker (CORS proxy)
  3. The Worker forwards to our local server via Cloudflare Tunnel
  4. Our FastAPI backend sends your message to LM Studio running a Qwen 3.5 model
  5. The AI response comes back the same path — your data never touches a cloud AI service
Every component is either free-tier cloud infrastructure or runs on hardware we own. There are no per-request charges, no API keys burning money, no usage-based billing surprises.

What This Would Cost on Cloud

The same functionality, priced with typical cloud AI services

Equivalent Cloud-Hosted Setup
Equivalent cloud VM (compute + GPU) ~$5,000/month
Cloud AI API costs (OpenAI / Azure OpenAI) Variable — scales with usage
Cloud total over 12 months $60,000+/year
Typical cloud approach $5,000+/month, ongoing forever
MIA approach (this site) ~$2,000 hardware, then $0/month
For larger workloads: hardware that replaces $5,000/month cloud VMs can be built for $20,000 or less, plus install and setup. The breakeven? About 4 months.

We Can Build This For You

Every MIA project follows this same philosophy

verified Build once, own forever

No subscriptions, no vendor lock-in. You own the infrastructure and the code. Walk away anytime with everything you paid for.

dns Local-first

Your data stays on your hardware. We default to local deployment because it saves money and gives you control over your information.

cloud_done Cloud when it makes sense

Azure for global scale, compliance, or disaster recovery. We have 5+ years of cloud experience when the situation calls for it.

device_hub Edge hosting available

We can host and manage your infrastructure at our facility in Miramichi. Cloud-like convenience, local-like economics.

Whether you need a chatbot, a document processing pipeline, or a full automation platform — the economics work the same way.

Let's build something like this for your business

Same philosophy. Same economics. Tailored to your workflow.

Let's Get Started Compare Deployment Costs