# Build a free, local, and paid model order

Canonical HTML: https://anchorshell.com/guides/free-local-paid-group

Create an explicit model order that uses free or local capacity before a paid fallback.

Last updated: 2026-08-18

## Purpose

Create a Standard Group that prefers selected free or local capacity and uses a paid model only when the wait budget permits fallback.

Relay follows the order that you configure. Relay does not discover the cheapest model or optimize this order automatically.

## Prerequisites

Add and verify these model types:

1. A free or subscription-backed model with known capacity.
2. A local OpenAI-compatible model.
3. A paid API model.

Add configured pricing if you want Relay to estimate cost or enforce spend limits.

## Create the order

1. Open **Groups**.

2. Add a Standard Group named `free-local-paid`.

3. Enable fallback.

4. Set the maximum wait that the caller accepts.

5. Add the free model at rank `1`.

6. Add the local model at rank `2`.

7. Add the paid model at rank `3`.

8. Save the group.

## Add capacity controls

1. Add the known request or token limit to the free model.

2. Enable request pacing for second- or minute-level request limits when smooth spacing is useful.

3. Add a concurrency limit to the local model if local hardware has a fixed parallel capacity.

4. Add a maximum-latency value when a hanging upstream must be cancelled.

## Understand selection

| Condition | Relay action |
| --- | --- |
| Rank 1 is eligible now | Select rank 1 |
| Rank 1 becomes eligible inside the wait budget | Wait for rank 1 |
| Rank 1 exceeds the budget and rank 2 fits | Select rank 2 |
| Ranks 1 and 2 exceed the budget and rank 3 fits | Select rank 3 |
| No candidate fits | Return `429` with `Retry-After` |

An upstream `429` for an active task cools the selected model and requeues that same task. It does not automatically move that task to the next rank.

## Expected result

Relay prefers the configured free or local Models. It selects the paid Model only when the higher-ranked Models cannot serve inside the wait budget.

## Verification

Use **Realtime** to confirm each model's limit, cooldown, and selected state. Use **Logs** to confirm the group, candidate evaluation, selected route, wait time, and cost.

## Recovery

If the paid model receives traffic too early, increase the group wait budget or inspect the higher-ranked models' limits and cooldowns.

## Next

[Tune wait budgets, pacing, and cooldowns](https://anchorshell.com/guides/tune-wait-pacing-cooldowns).