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GPU Clouds for LLM Inference: How to Compare Five Providers in 2026

A practical 2026 comparison of five GPU clouds for LLM inference, with deployment trade-offs, dated price evidence, and a method for comparing total cost fairly.
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There is no defensible single “best” GPU cloud for LLM inference without knowing your traffic pattern, hardware needs, region, and tolerance for operational work. A useful 2026 comparison starts by matching deployment types and GPU configurations—not by sorting headline hourly prices. The available public details distinguish Runpod, Vast.ai, and CoreWeave in useful ways; stable, directly comparable price figures for Lambda and Modal are not established here, and none of the five has a shared performance benchmark in this comparison.

What this five-provider comparison can—and cannot—tell you

This is a comparison of published service models and pricing evidence, not a hands-on test. It does not establish a measured winner for throughput, latency, cold starts, or uptime. The clearest published rate in the available information is CoreWeave’s price for an eight-GPU cluster; that is not a single-GPU rate. Runpod and Vast.ai describe several deployment models, while exact live prices for Lambda and Modal need to be checked against their current configurations and billing terms.

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Pricing and inventory can change quickly. The CoreWeave figures below were on its pricing page on October 8, 2026. Runpod’s pricing page says it was updated September 27, 2026. Treat both as dated snapshots, not guaranteed quotes.

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How the five providers compare

Provider Deployment details established Price evidence
Runpod Pods are dedicated GPU instances; Serverless offers API inference; Clusters support multi-node jobs. Reserved clusters are described as dedicated capacity with guaranteed availability and SLA-backed uptime for enterprise-scale needs. The cited pricing information gives no stable exact rate for a like-for-like inference configuration. Runpod says pricing depends on workload; its page was updated September 27, 2026.
Vast.ai Its marketplace lists GPUs with filters for model, VRAM, price, and availability. GPU Cloud offers full control; Serverless provides inference endpoints that autoscale to zero and charge for compute time; Clusters support multi-node training. The cited information gives no fixed rate. Vast.ai says marketplace prices respond to supply and demand, so a listing must be checked for the required GPU and configuration when you plan to deploy.
CoreWeave The North America HGX H100 listing is an eight-GPU configuration with 80 GB of VRAM per GPU. The page also separates North America and Europe and lists newer GPU entries, some marked contact sales. CoreWeave listed the North America eight-GPU HGX H100 at $49.24 per hour on demand and $19.71 per hour spot on October 8, 2026. These are cluster rates, not per-GPU rates.
Lambda The available provider-page information does not establish a comparable inference deployment configuration here. Not stated as a stable current price in the available Lambda page information. A secondary comparison checked August 31, 2026, reported a historical H100 SXM figure of $3.99 per hour plus tax; it is not a current quote or a like-for-like comparison by itself.
Modal The available provider-page information does not establish a comparable inference deployment configuration here. Not stated as a stable current price in the available Modal page information. A secondary comparison checked August 31, 2026, reported a historical H100 serverless equivalent of $3.95 per hour; it is not a current quote or necessarily comparable to provisioned GPU pricing.

The historical Lambda and Modal figures are secondary-source claims, not live rates. Before comparing either with a cluster, marketplace listing, or serverless endpoint, verify the GPU count, hardware type, billing basis, and what time is billable.

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Choose a deployment model before choosing a price

Serverless inference for uneven traffic

An endpoint that can scale to zero may suit workloads with long idle periods and bursts of requests. You trade some control over the underlying lifecycle for a service that manages endpoint capacity. Check how the provider counts compute time, handles startup, and bills minimums; “scale to zero” does not by itself establish a particular cold-start time or total cost.

A dedicated instance for sustained or controlled workloads

A provisioned GPU gives you more direct control over the runtime and serving setup. It can be a better fit when traffic is sustained, you need a predictable environment, or you want to manage the model server yourself. Account for time the instance remains allocated but idle, along with storage and data transfer.

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A cluster for multi-GPU or multi-node serving

Clusters are relevant when the model or serving workload needs multiple GPUs or nodes. Compare the total node or cluster rate and configuration, not just an implied per-GPU price. CoreWeave’s listed HGX H100 rate is one such cluster price: eight GPUs, each listed with 80 GB of VRAM.

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How to make an apples-to-apples cost comparison

  1. Fix the workload. Record the model, precision or quantization, context length, expected concurrency, and whether traffic is continuous or bursty. These determine whether a single GPU, multi-GPU instance, or serverless endpoint is a sensible comparison.
  2. Match the hardware configuration. Compare the same GPU model and count, VRAM per GPU, CPU and memory allocation, and region. Keep a single-GPU hourly rate separate from a multi-GPU node or cluster rate.
  3. Separate pricing types. Label on-demand, spot, reserved, and marketplace offers independently. A lower spot or marketplace listing is not equivalent to guaranteed, continuously available capacity.
  4. Read the billing rules. Check the billing increment, minimum charge, and whether billing continues while an instance is idle. For serverless, identify exactly which compute time is billed.
  5. Add non-compute charges. Include storage and data egress, checking units and minimums rather than assuming the GPU-hour price is the whole bill.
  6. Record the quote context. For a changing marketplace offer, save the date, region, GPU, VRAM, host or instance configuration, and listed price. Recheck availability before deployment.

A practical estimate is the sum of billed compute, storage, data transfer, and any minimum charges, with idle provisioned time included where applicable. Billing granularity, storage units, egress, and minimums can materially change the total, so the GPU-hour headline alone is not enough.

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What to measure before committing

Published specifications and rates cannot answer whether a provider will meet your service target. Run the same model and serving stack on the configurations you are considering, in the relevant region. Record:

  • Time to first usable response on both warm and cold starts.
  • Tokens per second and request latency at your expected concurrency and context length.
  • Failure rate, queueing behavior, and availability during the test window.
  • Actual billed compute time, storage, and data transfer for a representative workload.
  • Deployment effort, access controls, and whether the required region and capacity are available.

Do not interpret a provider’s marketing description of guaranteed capacity or SLA-backed uptime as an independently measured uptime result. Check the contract and service-level terms that apply to your account and region.

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A practical shortlist by use case

  • Intermittent API traffic: Start by comparing serverless options, including Runpod Serverless and Vast.ai Serverless, against a provisioned instance at your real request volume. Include idle periods, compute billing rules, and startup measurements in the comparison.
  • Marketplace price flexibility: Vast.ai exposes changing offers and filters for GPU, VRAM, price, and availability. Compare the exact listing and host configuration you would use rather than relying on a general marketplace price.
  • Multi-GPU serving: Compare complete cluster configurations. CoreWeave’s published North America HGX H100 entry provides a concrete eight-GPU reference, but its spot and on-demand figures are cluster rates and should not be read as a single-GPU cost.
  • Lambda or Modal: Check each provider’s current product configuration, region, and billing details directly before using a rate from an older comparison. The available information does not support a stable current price match against the other rows.

Before you deploy

  • Confirm that the exact GPU, region, and capacity are available when needed.
  • Compare equivalent GPU counts and VRAM, not only the hourly number.
  • Calculate the full bill, including idle time, storage, egress, and billing minimums.
  • Benchmark latency and throughput using your model, serving stack, and expected traffic.
  • For spot capacity or marketplace listings, understand interruption risk and have a recovery plan.

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

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