RunPod vs Paperspace
RunPod comes out ahead of Paperspace on 6 of the 7 things that decide this, going by what each company publishes and what independent review sites report. The one that matters for you may be one the leader loses.
The verdict
RunPod takes it, 6–1 on rounds.
On the published figures and the independent review sites, RunPod takes 6 of 7 rounds. Treat that as a starting point and check the current figures on both pages, because prices and plans move.
Choose RunPod if…
- • You want RunPod's edge on the cheapest h100 and the cheapest a100
Choose Paperspace if…
- • You want Paperspace's edge on how cheap you can start
Round by round
- Round 1The cheapest H100RunPod wins
RunPod wins this round on what the company itself publishes.
- Round 2The cheapest A100RunPod winsPaperspace5/10
$1.15 (3-year commitment)
Compute Usage pricing > Dedicated GPUs. Footnote: '$1.15/hour pricing is for a 3-year commitment'.
- $3.09, against $1.19
Source: paperspace.com ↗
RunPod wins this round on what the company itself publishes.
- Round 3How cheap you can startPaperspace winsRunPod5/10
$0.16/hr
Community Cloud pods; cheapest listed GPU
- $0.34, against Free GPU notebooks
Source: runpod.io ↗
Paperspace8/10Free GPU notebooks
a free GPU (M4000) for notebooks in private workspaces only
Source: paperspace.com ↗
Paperspace wins this round on what the company itself publishes.
- Round 4How many places it runsRunPod winsPaperspace5/10
3 data centers
Secaucus, Santa Clara and Amsterdam
- 3 data centers, against 31 regions
Source: paperspace.com ↗
RunPod wins this round on what the company itself publishes.
- Round 5How precisely you are billedRunPod winsPaperspace5/10
Not stated
Paperspace's pricing FAQ says billing runs monthly; no billing increment is stated
- Billed by the hour, against Billed by the second
Source: paperspace.com ↗
RunPod wins this round on what the company itself publishes.
- Round 6What customers say on TrustpilotRunPod winsPaperspace5/10
1.5 out of 5
TrustScore from 97 reviews on Trustpilot
- 1.5 out of 5, against 3.8 out of 5
Source: trustpilot.com ↗
RunPod wins this round on independent review-site data, not on its own claims.
- Round 7What storage costs per monthRunPod winsRunPod8/10
$0.07/GB-mo (network volume)
Pods on-demand (price shown on pricing page)
Source: runpod.io ↗
Paperspace5/10$0.10/GiB-mo (Volumes)
DigitalOcean GPU Droplets on-demand (Paperspace is part of DigitalOcean)
- $0.10/GiB-mo (Volumes), against $0.07/GB-mo (network volume)
Source: digitalocean.com ↗
RunPod wins this round on what the published sources say.
Side by side
- H100 PCIe on Community Cloud ($2.89 on Secure Cloud)
- A100 PCIe on Community Cloud ($1.59 on Secure Cloud)
- single A100 machine, per hour
- $1.99, against $0.90
- $1.19, against $0.35
- $0.34, against $0.13
- 31 regions, against 500+ locations
- $5.95, against $1.99
- $3.09, against $1.19
- 3 data centers, against 31 regions
- Billed by the hour, against Billed by the second