Name: Towards AI Legal Name: Towards AI, Inc. Description: Towards AI is the world's leading artificial intelligence (AI) and technology publication. Read by thought-leaders and decision-makers around the world. Phone Number: +1-650-246-9381 Email: pub@towardsai.net
228 Park Avenue South New York, NY 10003 United States
Website: Publisher: https://towardsai.net/#publisher Diversity Policy: https://towardsai.net/about Ethics Policy: https://towardsai.net/about Masthead: https://towardsai.net/about
Name: Towards AI Legal Name: Towards AI, Inc. Description: Towards AI is the world's leading artificial intelligence (AI) and technology publication. Founders: Roberto Iriondo, , Job Title: Co-founder and Advisor Works for: Towards AI, Inc. Follow Roberto: X, LinkedIn, GitHub, Google Scholar, Towards AI Profile, Medium, ML@CMU, FreeCodeCamp, Crunchbase, Bloomberg, Roberto Iriondo, Generative AI Lab, Generative AI Lab VeloxTrend Ultrarix Capital Partners Denis Piffaretti, Job Title: Co-founder Works for: Towards AI, Inc. Louie Peters, Job Title: Co-founder Works for: Towards AI, Inc. Louis-François Bouchard, Job Title: Co-founder Works for: Towards AI, Inc. Cover:
Towards AI Cover
Logo:
Towards AI Logo
Areas Served: Worldwide Alternate Name: Towards AI, Inc. Alternate Name: Towards AI Co. Alternate Name: towards ai Alternate Name: towardsai Alternate Name: towards.ai Alternate Name: tai Alternate Name: toward ai Alternate Name: toward.ai Alternate Name: Towards AI, Inc. Alternate Name: towardsai.net Alternate Name: pub.towardsai.net
5 stars – based on 497 reviews

Frequently Used, Contextual References

TODO: Remember to copy unique IDs whenever it needs used. i.e., URL: 304b2e42315e

Resources

Our 15 AI experts built the most comprehensive, practical, 90+ lesson courses to master AI Engineering - we have pathways for any experience at Towards AI Academy. Cohorts still open - use COHORT10 for 10% off.

Publication

How I Created My Own ChatGPT Alternative Using Open-Source Models
Latest   Machine Learning

How I Created My Own ChatGPT Alternative Using Open-Source Models

Last Updated on August 29, 2025 by Editorial Team

Author(s): Abduldattijo

Originally published on Towards AI.

How I Created My Own ChatGPT Alternative Using Open-Source Models

My OpenAI bill hit $247 last month. For a side project. That wasn’t even making money yet.

How I Created My Own ChatGPT Alternative Using Open-Source Models

image by author

In this article, the author shares their personal journey of building an AI assistant using open-source models after experiencing high costs with OpenAI. They describe the motivation sparked by their significant bill and outline the challenges faced when transitioning to running models like Llama and Mistral on personal hardware. Through trial and error, the author successfully sets up an efficient AI stack that matches the performance of paid services while emphasizing the satisfaction of having total control over their local AI. The piece also highlights practical applications, cost comparisons, and the broader implications for future AI usage.

Read the full blog for free on Medium.

Join thousands of data leaders on the AI newsletter. Join over 80,000 subscribers and keep up to date with the latest developments in AI. From research to projects and ideas. If you are building an AI startup, an AI-related product, or a service, we invite you to consider becoming a sponsor.

Published via Towards AI


Take our 90+ lesson From Beginner to Advanced LLM Developer Certification: From choosing a project to deploying a working product this is the most comprehensive and practical LLM course out there!

Towards AI has published Building LLMs for Production—our 470+ page guide to mastering LLMs with practical projects and expert insights!


Discover Your Dream AI Career at Towards AI Jobs

Towards AI has built a jobs board tailored specifically to Machine Learning and Data Science Jobs and Skills. Our software searches for live AI jobs each hour, labels and categorises them and makes them easily searchable. Explore over 40,000 live jobs today with Towards AI Jobs!

Note: Content contains the views of the contributing authors and not Towards AI.