How to Run AI Agents 24/7 for Under $15/Month

One of the biggest misconceptions about AI agents is that they're expensive to run. People hear "AI infrastructure" and think of $10,000/month cloud GPU bills. The reality? You can run multiple AI agents around the clock for roughly the cost of a Netflix subscription.

Here's exactly how.

The Cost Breakdown

The key insight is that AI agents don't need GPUs. They need a reliable computer that stays on, runs the orchestration gateway, and calls LLM APIs when needed. The actual AI inference happens either in the cloud (via API calls) or on local models.

Hardware: Mac Mini ($599-$799 one-time)

A Mac Mini with Apple Silicon is our recommended platform:

Mac Mini M2 — $599, 8GB RAM, more than enough for 3-5 concurrent agents
Mac Mini M4 — $799, 16GB RAM, handles 10+ agents and local LLM inference

This is a one-time purchase. Amortized over 3 years, that's $17-22/month. Over 5 years, it's $10-13/month.

Electricity: ~$5-10/month

The Mac Mini sips power:

Idle: ~5 watts
Normal agent workload: ~15-25 watts
Peak (local LLM inference): ~40-65 watts

At the US average of $0.16/kWh, running a Mac Mini 24/7 at typical agent workloads costs roughly $3-5/month. Even at peak load, you're looking at $7-10/month.

Internet: $0 (you already have it)

Your home or office internet connection works fine. Agents don't use much bandwidth — they're making API calls and sending messages, not streaming video.

LLM API Costs: $0-50/month (depends on usage)

This is the variable cost, and it depends on your approach:

Free option: Local models only

Run Ollama with models like Llama 3, Mistral, or Phi on your Mac Mini
Zero API costs
Works well for many agent tasks (summarization, classification, simple reasoning)

Hybrid option: Local + cloud APIs

Use local models for high-volume, simple tasks
Use Claude or GPT for complex reasoning tasks
Typical cost: $5-30/month for a small business

Cloud-only option

All inference via API calls
Most capable but most expensive
Typical cost: $20-50/month for moderate usage

Total Monthly Cost

| Setup | Monthly Cost | |-------|-------------| | Mac Mini + local models only | ~$5-10 (electricity only) | | Mac Mini + hybrid (local + cloud) | ~$10-40 | | Mac Mini + cloud APIs only | ~$25-60 |

Even the most expensive option is a fraction of what you'd pay for a cloud-hosted solution.

The Software Stack (All Free)

Everything you need is open-source or free:

OpenClaw — the agent orchestration gateway (open-source)
Ollama — local LLM hosting (open-source)
Node.js — runtime for the gateway and skills (free)
Docker — containerized agent environments (free)
Let's Encrypt — SSL certificates if you expose anything publicly (free)

Setting Up the Infrastructure

Here's a high-level overview of what the setup looks like:

Step 1: Hardware Setup

Plug in the Mac Mini, connect to your network
Enable automatic login and disable sleep
Set up SSH access for remote management

Step 2: Install the Stack

Install Homebrew, Node.js, Docker, and Ollama
Pull your preferred local models (we recommend starting with Llama 3 8B)
Install and configure the OpenClaw Gateway

Step 3: Configure Your First Agent

Define the agent's system prompt and personality
Attach skills (tools the agent can use)
Connect messaging channels (Slack, Telegram, etc.)
Set up scheduling if needed

Step 4: Monitor and Maintain

Set up health check scripts
Configure automatic restart on crash
Monitor API usage and costs

Real-World Examples

Here are agents we run for clients on this exact setup:

Customer Support Triage Agent — monitors a shared inbox, categorizes tickets by urgency and topic, drafts initial responses, and routes to the right team member. Runs 24/7, handles 50-100 tickets/day. Cost: ~$8/month (local model for classification, Claude for response drafting).

Competitive Intelligence Agent — checks 15 competitor websites daily, identifies new content or product changes, and posts a summary to a Slack channel every morning. Cost: ~$5/month (mostly local model, minimal API calls).

Meeting Notes Agent — joins calendar events, processes transcripts after meetings, extracts action items, and creates tasks in the project management tool. Cost: ~$12/month (uses Claude for accurate summarization).

Cloud vs. Self-Hosted: The Math

Let's compare running 3 agents for a year:

| | Self-Hosted (Mac Mini) | Cloud (AWS + managed AI) | |---|---|---| | Infrastructure | $599 one-time | ~$140/month ($1,680/year) | | Electricity | ~$60/year | Included | | API costs | ~$240/year | ~$240/year | | Year 1 total | ~$899 | ~$1,920 | | Year 2 total | ~$300 | ~$1,920 | | Year 3 total | ~$300 | ~$1,920 |

By year 2, the self-hosted option costs 6x less. By year 3, you've saved over $4,000.

When This Approach Doesn't Work

Self-hosted isn't for everyone:

Geographic distribution — if you need agents in multiple regions, cloud makes more sense
Massive scale — if you need 100+ concurrent agents, you'll outgrow a single Mac Mini
Zero maintenance — if you want someone else to handle uptime, cloud managed services are simpler
Regulatory requirements — some industries require specific hosting certifications

For most small-to-medium businesses running 1-10 agents, self-hosted Mac Mini infrastructure is the most cost-effective approach by a wide margin.

Get Started

The hardest part is the initial setup. Once the Gateway is running and your first agent is deployed, adding new agents is straightforward. If you want help getting set up, contact us — we handle everything from hardware configuration to agent development.

Learn more: Why Mac Mini Is Perfect for AI Infrastructure | Building AI Agents for Business