Chromium ARM64 Browser

# 💰 Cost Analysis: Pi Farms vs Cloud #cost-analysis #roi #infrastructure #comparison ## Executive Summary > **84% cost savings** over 3 years by using Raspberry Pi farms instead of cloud infrastructure for browser automation ## 📊 Detailed Cost Breakdown ### Hardware Costs (10-Node Farm) | Component | Quantity | Unit Price | Total | |-----------|----------|------------|-------| | Raspberry Pi 5 (8GB) | 10 | $80 | $800 | | Official Power Supply | 10 | $15 | $150 | | SanDisk 128GB A2 SD | 10 | $20 | $200 | | Gigabit Switch | 1 | $50 | $50 | | Cat6 Cables | 10 | $5 | $50 | | Cooling/Cases | 10 | $5 | $50 | | **Total Hardware** | | | **$1,300** | ### Cloud Costs (Equivalent Capacity) | Service | Specs | Monthly | Annual | |---------|-------|---------|---------| | AWS t3.medium | 2 vCPU, 4GB RAM | $30 | $360 | | 10 instances | | $300 | $3,600 | | Data transfer | 100GB/month | $9 | $108 | | Storage (EBS) | 30GB × 10 | $30 | $360 | | **Total Cloud** | | **$339** | **$4,068** | ## 📈 Multi-Year Comparison ``` Year 1: - Pi Farm: $1,300 (hardware) + $131 (power) = $1,431 - Cloud: $4,068 - Savings: $2,637 (65%) Year 2: - Pi Farm: $131 (power only) = $131 - Cloud: $4,068 - Savings: $3,937 (97%) Year 3: - Pi Farm: $131 (power) = $131 - Cloud: $4,068 - Savings: $3,937 (97%) 3-Year Total: - Pi Farm: $1,693 - Cloud: $12,204 - Total Savings: $10,511 (86%) ``` ## ⚡ Power Consumption Analysis ### Raspberry Pi Farm - **Per Pi**: 15W maximum - **10 Pis**: 150W continuous - **Daily**: 3.6 kWh - **Annual**: 1,314 kWh - **Cost**: $131/year @ $0.10/kWh ### Cloud Infrastructure - **Direct power**: ~100W per instance - **Cooling overhead**: 50% (PUE 1.5) - **Total**: ~1,500W for equivalent - **Annual**: 13,140 kWh - **Environmental cost**: 10× higher ## 💸 Hidden Cloud Costs Often overlooked expenses: 1. **Egress charges**: $0.09/GB after free tier 2. **Support plans**: $100-$1,000/month 3. **Reserved instance commitments**: Lock-in 4. **Overprovisioning**: Paying for idle time 5. **Compliance costs**: Additional services ## 🎯 ROI Calculations ### Small Business (5 Pis) ``` Investment: $650 Cloud alternative: $2,034/year Break-even: 3.8 months 5-year savings: $9,520 ``` ### Growing Startup (20 Pis) ``` Investment: $2,600 Cloud alternative: $8,136/year Break-even: 3.8 months 5-year savings: $38,080 ``` ### Enterprise (100 Pis) ``` Investment: $13,000 Cloud alternative: $40,680/year Break-even: 3.8 months 5-year savings: $190,400 ``` ## 📊 Use Case Cost Comparisons ### SEO Monitoring (1,000 keywords/day) | Solution | Monthly Cost | Setup Time | |----------|--------------|------------| | SEO Tools API | $500-$2,000 | Minutes | | Cloud Scrapers | $300-$500 | Hours | | **Pi Farm (5)** | **$54** | 1 Day | ### E-commerce Price Tracking | Solution | Monthly Cost | Reliability | |----------|--------------|-------------| | Commercial API | $1,000+ | 99% | | Cloud Functions | $200-$400 | 95% | | **Pi Farm (10)** | **$108** | 99.9% | ## 🔧 Additional Considerations ### Pros of Pi Farms: - ✅ One-time investment - ✅ No vendor lock-in - ✅ Predictable costs - ✅ Data sovereignty - ✅ Custom modifications ### Pros of Cloud: - ✅ No upfront cost - ✅ Instant scaling - ✅ Managed services - ✅ Global regions - ✅ Enterprise support ## 💡 Hybrid Approach Best of both worlds: ``` - Pi Farm: 80% of workload (predictable tasks) - Cloud: 20% burst capacity (peak times) - Result: 70% cost reduction with flexibility ``` ## 🎯 Decision Matrix | If you need... | Choose... | |----------------|-----------| | < 10 agents, consistent load | Pi Farm | | 10-100 agents, own location | Pi Farm | | Global distribution | Cloud | | Burst scaling (10x) | Hybrid | | Maximum cost savings | Pi Farm | --- **Next**: [[Implementation-Guide]] - Start building your farm **Related**: [[Overview]] | [[Architecture]]