Cloud vs On-Site: The Decision Framework
A simple scorecard to pick the right deployment model for your team size and compliance needs.
“Should I go cloud or on-site?”
It’s the most common question we get — and the honest answer is: it depends. Not in a hand-wavy way. It depends on five specific things we can actually score.
Here’s the framework we use internally when advising customers. No sales pitch, just a clear decision path.
The 5-Factor Scorecard
Before looking at plans, rate yourself on each factor. Be honest — the right deployment saves you headaches for years.
1. Security Requirements
Cloud works if: Your data isn’t regulated, you’re comfortable with encrypted cloud storage, and your API keys flow through managed infrastructure.
On-site works if: You handle PII, health records, financial data, or anything with compliance strings attached. Or if your security policy simply requires data to never leave your network.
The key question: If a breach exposed your AI workflow data, would it be embarrassing or catastrophic? Embarrassing → cloud is fine. Catastrophic → on-site.
2. Team Size
1-5 people: Cloud is almost always the right call. You don’t need the overhead of managing hardware for a small team.
5-25 people: Either works. Cloud if you want simplicity, on-site if you need shared local resources or have IT staff.
25+ people: On-site starts to pencil out financially and operationally. Per-seat cloud costs add up, and centralized on-site management becomes more efficient at scale.
3. Compliance Needs
No specific requirements: Cloud. Don’t over-engineer it.
SOC 2, GDPR, standard frameworks: Cloud can work with the right configuration, but document everything.
HIPAA, FedRAMP, air-gapped mandates: On-site. Period. Some compliance frameworks require physical control of infrastructure, and no amount of cloud configuration changes that.
4. Budget Model
Prefer OpEx (monthly spend): Cloud. Predictable monthly costs, no capital expenditure.
Prefer CapEx (one-time investment): On-site. Higher upfront cost, lower ongoing expense. The hardware pays for itself within 12-18 months for most teams.
Tight budget, need to start now: Cloud Starter at $29/mo gets you running today. Scale up when revenue justifies it.
5. Control Preference
“Just make it work”: Cloud. We handle updates, uptime, and maintenance.
“I want to own every layer”: On-site. Your hardware, your network, your rules. Full root access, custom configurations, integrate with whatever internal systems you need.
The Three Options
☁️ Cloud — $29-89/month
Best for: solopreneurs, small teams, anyone who wants to start fast.
Deploy in minutes, not days
Automatic updates and maintenance
Scales with your usage
Three tiers: Starter ($29), Professional ($59), Business ($89)
You trade some control for zero operational overhead. For most users, this is the right starting point.
🏢 On-Site — $1,500 one-time
Best for: enterprises, regulated industries, teams that need full control.
Runs on your hardware, your network
Air-gapped option for maximum security
No ongoing platform fees (just your API provider costs)
Full customization and integration capability
Includes setup support and 90 days of priority assistance
The upfront cost is real, but the math favors on-site quickly at scale. A 10-person team on Business Cloud ($89/mo × 10) spends $10,680/year. On-site pays for itself in under two months.
📦 Ship-In — $1,000 one-time
Best for: teams that want on-site benefits without the setup complexity.
Ship us your hardware (or we recommend specs)
We install, configure, test, and ship it back ready to plug in
Same full-control benefits as on-site
Saves 4-8 hours of technical setup time
Includes the same 90-day priority support
Think of it as on-site with a concierge setup. Popular with teams that have the budget for on-site but not the IT bandwidth for installation.
The Quick Decision Tree
Starting out, testing the waters? → Cloud Starter ($29/mo)
Small team, growing fast? → Cloud Professional ($59/mo), migrate to on-site when it makes sense
Regulated industry or security-first? → On-Site ($1,500)
Want on-site but hate setup? → Ship-In ($1,000)
Enterprise with 25+ seats? → On-Site. The ROI is obvious at scale.
Here’s the thing most vendors won’t tell you: you can switch. Start on cloud, migrate to on-site later. Your workflows, configurations, and data export cleanly. We built it that way on purpose because locking you in doesn’t build trust.
See full pricing and plan details →
Not sure which fits? Reply to this email with your team size and use case — we’ll give you a straight recommendation, no sales call required.
— The OpenClawInstall.AI Team