[ MODEL COMPARISON ]
A practical comparison of large language models against your actual use case, on accuracy, cost per call, latency and how well each handles your kind of data, not a general leaderboard.
< VENDOR + MODEL SELECTION / NEW ZEALAND >UNIT / CON-05NZ-AKLA LUCID MEDIA COMPANY
THE RIGHT TOOL.NOT THE ONE WITH THE BEST DEMO.
The AI vendor market is loud, and every platform's sales deck claims to be the answer. Vendor and model selection is where we cut through it: independent advice on which large language model, platform or tool actually fits the job you are trying to do, priced and scoped against your real workflow rather than a generic feature list.
We run these systems daily inside our own agency and inside client builds, across multiple model providers and platforms, and we carry no reseller margins or referral fees on any of them. The recommendation is whatever wins on cost, capability and fit for your specific use case, not whichever platform pays us the most to say yes.
CAPABILITIES.
[ WHAT WE DELIVER ]
[ PLATFORM + TOOLING REVIEW ]
Assessment of the surrounding platform, agent frameworks, automation tools, integration layers, against what your build genuinely needs, so you are not paying for capability you will never use.
[ COST MODELLING ]
Real running costs projected at your expected volume, including the token or usage costs vendors tend to leave out of the pricing page headline.
[ BUILD VS BUY ANALYSIS ]
An honest view on whether an off-the-shelf tool solves the problem outright, or whether a custom build is genuinely warranted, since not every use case needs bespoke software.
[ LOCK-IN + PORTABILITY CHECK ]
How hard it would be to switch providers later if pricing changes or a better model arrives, so a decision made today does not trap you in twelve months.
[ PROCUREMENT SUPPORT ]
Help reading vendor contracts, data processing terms and pricing tiers in plain English, so you know what you are actually signing before you sign it.
USE CASES.
[ WHERE IT PAYS FOR ITSELF ]
- USE/01
TOO MANY TOOLS TO EVALUATE
A dozen platforms all claim to solve your problem. We shortlist the two or three genuinely worth a proof of concept, and say why the rest are not.
- USE/02
A VENDOR HAS ALREADY PITCHED YOU
You have a proposal in hand and want an independent read on whether the platform and price actually fit the job before you sign.
- USE/03
SWITCHING FROM AN EXISTING TOOL
A current AI tool is underperforming or has become expensive at scale. We assess whether to renegotiate, replace it, or migrate to a custom build.
- USE/04
CHOOSING A MODEL FOR A NEW BUILD
You are building something new and need to know which model provider to build against, and how to design the system so switching later is not a rebuild.
CASE STUDIES.
[ LIVE SYSTEMS / REAL-WORLD APPLICATION ]
AUTOAPPRAISE
CONSUMER AI PLATFORM
Model selection weighed accuracy on structured vehicle data against per-report cost at consumer volume, since the platform serves free reports at scale before a paid unlock. A live valuation platform for the New Zealand vehicle market where a driver enters their car's details and receives a structured AI-generated report on market position, price range and selling guidance.
TRIAGE AGENT
INBOX OPERATIONS
Selected on latency and reliability for same-day inbox turnaround rather than raw benchmark performance, since a fast, dependable read of the morning inbox mattered more than marginal accuracy gains. Separates signal from noise and delivers a prioritised daily task list.
[ FREQUENTLY ASKED ]
Q/01DO YOU GET COMMISSION OR REFERRAL FEES FROM ANY AI VENDOR?+
No. We take no reseller margins, referral fees or partner kickbacks from model providers or platform vendors. The recommendation is whichever option genuinely fits your use case and budget, which is the only way independent advice means anything.
Q/02SHOULD WE JUST USE THE MOST WELL-KNOWN AI MODEL?+
Not necessarily. The best-known model is not always the best fit for a specific use case, and it is rarely the cheapest at volume. We test against your actual data and workflow rather than defaulting to whichever name is most familiar.
Q/03HOW OFTEN SHOULD WE REVISIT OUR VENDOR OR MODEL CHOICE?+
Roughly annually for most businesses, or sooner if pricing changes significantly or a genuinely better model becomes available. We design builds so switching later is a configuration change, not a rebuild, wherever that is practical.
Q/04CAN YOU REVIEW A PROPOSAL WE HAVE ALREADY RECEIVED FROM ANOTHER AI VENDOR?+
Yes. This is one of the most common reasons clients come to us for vendor selection. We give a plain assessment of whether the scope, platform and price match what the work actually requires.
[ START HERE ]
STOP CHOOSING TOOLS ON FAITH.
GET AN INDEPENDENT READ.
30 minutes, no pitch deck, no obligation. Tell us what's eating your team's time and we'll tell you straight whether AI is the answer, and roughly what it would take.
WHAT YOU GET
A straight answer on whether AI pays off in your business, and what it would take.
RESPONSE TIME
Within one working day