---
title: "Edge vs. cloud deployment"
description: "Where a model should run: next to the camera or sensor, or in a data centre."
url: https://lidvizion.ai/resources/basics/edge-vs-cloud-deployment/
site: Lid Vizion
index: https://lidvizion.ai/llms.txt
---

[Basics](https://lidvizion.ai/resources/) Architecture

# Edge vs. cloud deployment

Where a model should run: next to the camera or sensor, or in a data centre.

## Two places to run a model

Cloud deployment sends data to servers you rent, where models can be large and easy to update. Edge deployment runs the model on or near the device that captures the data — a phone, a camera, a small computer on site.

## What pushes toward the edge

Run at the edge when:

- Decisions need to happen in milliseconds.
- Connectivity is poor or expensive.
- Raw video or images should not leave the site.
- Bandwidth to stream everything would cost too much.

|  | Edge | Cloud |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Latency | Lowest | Network-dependent |
| Model size | Constrained by the device | Large models available |
| Updates | Fleet rollout | Deploy once |
| Data movement | Stays local | Sent to the provider |

## What pushes toward the cloud

Run in the cloud when the model is large, when you need to update it often, when many sources feed one system, or when a person reviews results centrally. Many systems do both: a small model filters at the edge and sends only the interesting moments to the cloud.

Put it to work

## Build the missing piece

Custom tools and applications for the gaps that matter.

[How we do it](https://lidvizion.ai/services/custom-software/)

Keep reading

## More basics.

[All basics](https://lidvizion.ai/resources/)

- [Multi-tenant architecture](https://lidvizion.ai/resources/basics/multi-tenant-architecture/): Serving many customers from one system without letting their data meet.
- [Client vs. server: where code runs](https://lidvizion.ai/resources/basics/backend-client-vs-server/): What belongs in the browser or app, and what must stay on a server you control.
- [What is computer vision?](https://lidvizion.ai/resources/basics/what-is-computer-vision/): Software that turns images and video into structured information a system can act on.

Bring the messy version

## One workflow. A better way to run it.

Show us the tools, the handoffs, and the part that keeps slowing your team down.

[Let’s map your workflow](https://lidvizion.ai/contact/) · [Read our approach](https://lidvizion.ai/approach/)