LegalFab Operating Costs
Version: 1.0 Last Updated: February 2026
Overview
This document provides estimated ongoing operating costs for LegalFab platform deployments within customer-managed infrastructure (self-hosted). These estimates cover infrastructure, consumption, and third-party service costs required to run the platform. License fees are not included and are covered under separate commercial terms.
1. LLM & AI Processing
Option A: Cloud LLM Providers (per-token)
Cost drivers: Token consumption, model selection
| Workload | Monthly Estimate |
|---|---|
| Light (10K queries/month) | $500 - $1,500 |
| Medium (50K queries/month) | $2,000 - $6,000 |
| Heavy (200K+ queries/month) | $8,000 - $25,000 |
- Average query: ~2K input tokens, ~500 output tokens
- Embedding generation: ~$0.10 per 1M tokens
- Intelligent caching layer: -30% to -50%
Option B: Self-Hosted LLM (GPU infrastructure)
Cost drivers: Model size, concurrency requirements, GPU selection
| Model Size | GPU Requirement | Monthly Estimate |
|---|---|---|
| 7-13B parameters | 1× A10/L4 (24GB) | $1,500 - $3,000 |
| 30-70B parameters | 2-4× A100 (80GB) | $8,000 - $20,000 |
| 70B+ parameters | 4-8× A100/H100 | $20,000 - $50,000 |
- Includes GPU instance + supporting infrastructure
- Scales with concurrent user load
- Embedding model: additional 1× A10/L4 recommended
- Intelligent caching layer: reduces GPU load by 30-50%
2. Compute Infrastructure
Cost drivers: Concurrent users, query complexity, agent workloads
| Deployment Size | Monthly Estimate |
|---|---|
| Small (≤50 users) | $2,000 - $4,000 |
| Medium (50-200 users) | $5,000 - $10,000 |
| Large (200+ users) | $12,000 - $30,000 |
- Base cluster: 3-5 nodes minimum
- Auto-scaling buffer: +20-30% for peak loads
- Graph compute scales with relationship density
3. Storage & Retention
Cost drivers: Document volume, retention period, backup policy
| Data Volume | Monthly Estimate |
|---|---|
| Small (<1TB) | $200 - $500 |
| Medium (1-10TB) | $500 - $2,000 |
| Large (10TB+) | $2,000 - $8,000 |
- Metadata DB: ~$0.10/GB/month
- Object storage: ~$0.02/GB/month
- Vector store: ~$0.15/GB/month
- AML log retention (5-7 years): plan for 10-20% annual growth
4. External Data Subscriptions
Cost drivers: Lookup volume, selected data providers
| Service Type | Typical Cost | | :—————— | :————– |
- Volume discounts apply
- Customer provides existing subscriptions where available
5. Monitoring & Observability
Cost drivers: Log volume, retention requirements
| Component | Monthly Estimate |
|---|---|
| Metrics & APM | $300 - $1,500 |
| Log aggregation | $200 - $1,000 |
| Security monitoring | $200 - $500 |
Summary
Monthly Operating Cost Ranges
| Deployment Size | Monthly Total* |
|---|---|
| Small org | $3,000 - $6,500 |
| Mid-size org | $8,000 - $20,000 |
| Enterprise | $22,000 - $65,000 |
Excludes external data subscriptions (Section 4); customers often leverage existing enterprise agreements.
Cost Optimization Levers
| Lever | Impact |
|---|---|
| Intelligent caching | -30% to -50% on LLM costs |
| Reserved instances | -20% to -40% on compute |
| Tiered storage | -30% to -50% on storage |
| Self-hosted LLM | Variable; cost-effective at high volume |
Notes
- All estimates based on major cloud providers (AWS, Azure, GCP)
- Actual costs vary by region, negotiated rates, and usage patterns
- External data provider costs depend on existing customer agreements
- Estimates assume standard high-availability configuration