RunPod vs Vast.ai: which GPU cloud should you use?
RunPod and Vast.ai compared on price per GPU-hour, reliability, ease of use, storage and support, with our test results.
Updated
This guide is being written. Below is the outline and our current price data; test results will be added once our testing is complete.
Quick comparison
| Provider | From | Starting plan | Free tier | Our rating | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RunPodChecked | $0.34/hr | RTX 4090 24GB (Community Cloud) | No free credits; small referral bonus after a $10 top-up | Not rated | VisitOfficial site |
| Vast.aiChecked | $0.49/hr | RTX 4090 24GB | No free credits | Not rated | VisitOfficial site |
The verdict in one paragraph
Who should pick RunPod, who should pick Vast.ai, and why. [To be written after testing.]
Price per GPU-hour
Side-by-side for the same GPUs (RTX 4090, A100, H100), on-demand and interruptible.
How each one works
- RunPod: Secure Cloud vs Community Cloud, pods vs serverless, templates.
- Vast.ai: a marketplace of independent hosts; reliability scores; bidding for interruptible instances.
Reliability and speed
Time to a running instance, download speed, and how often instances failed in our tests. [Results to be added.]
Storage, network and hidden costs
Volume storage, idle charges and egress.
Ease of use and support
Dashboard, templates (Ollama, ComfyUI, vLLM), API and docs, and how support responded.
Alternatives
If neither fits, see RunPod alternatives.