Free Resource
Get the LLM Model Picker Checklist
Stop guessing. Start choosing the right LLM models and providers with confidence. This practical checklist distills years of production experience into a simple decision framework.
The Hidden Cost of Wrong LLM Decisions
Every day, teams waste thousands of dollars making these mistakes:
😰 The Pain You're Facing
- • Analysis Paralysis: 20+ providers, 200+ models, infinite combinations
- • Cost Explosion: Starting at $100/month, suddenly paying $10,000/month
- • Self-Host Trap: Bought GPUs, now they sit idle burning money
- • Performance Disasters: Users complaining about 10-second response times
💸 Real Numbers That Hurt
- • Tier 1: $10-15 per million tokens (paid users only)
- • Tier 2: $0.4-1 per million tokens (sweet spot)
- • Tier 3: $0.03-0.1 per million tokens (almost free)
- • One wrong choice = 10x higher costs
Common Expensive Mistakes:
- ❌ Self-hosting when you shouldn't (idle GPU costs)
- ❌ Using GPT-5 for free users (burning VC money)
- ❌ Single provider dependency (one outage = product down)
- ❌ Choosing providers that log sensitive data
- ❌ Not knowing about the 10x price jumps between tiers
- ❌ Choosing without a benchmark (no judge, no cost tracking)
What's Inside Your Free Checklist
Get the complete 1-page checklist that gives you a 5-minute decision framework for choosing the right LLM:
✅ Decision Flowchart (30 seconds)
- • 3 simple questions determine self-host vs API
- • Avoid the #1 mistake: self-hosting when you shouldn't
- • Clear criteria for each path
🚀 Provider Speed Run (1 minute)
- • OpenAI: Best quality, enterprise-safe
- • DeepInfra: Cheapest (with tradeoffs)
- • Groq/Cerebras: 1000+ tokens/second
- • OpenRouter: Perfect for prototyping
💰 Model Tier Selector (1 minute)
- • Simple tasks → Tier 3 (Qwen, Gemma small)
- • Complex reasoning → Tier 2 (Gemini Flash, gpt-oss)
- • Maximum quality → Tier 1 (GPT-5, Claude)
- • Match revenue to model costs
📊 Evaluation Framework (1 minute)
- • Classify task: input vs output heavy
- • Try ~10 models; use a frontier judge
- • Track tokens and cost; expand to ~20 samples
- • Pick a primary + backup; keep your benchmark
🎯 Production Blueprint (30 seconds)
- • Multi-provider setup for 99.9% uptime
- • Fallback routing strategy
- • Cost optimization tactics
- • Compliance checkpoints
The Bottom Line:
Stop reading 50 blog posts. Stop comparing 200 models.
Get the checklist, make your decision in 5 minutes, and ship your product.
Ready to Choose the Right LLM?
Get the complete checklist and make confident decisions in minutes.