The verdict
Vast.ai takes it, 4–2 on rounds.
On the published figures and the independent review sites, Vast.ai takes 4 of 6 rounds. Treat that as a starting point and check the current figures on both pages, because prices and plans move.
Choose Vast.ai if…
- • You want Vast.ai's edge on the cheapest h100 and the cheapest a100
Choose Azure if…
- • You want Azure's edge on what it costs to get your data out and how much you save by committing
Round by round
- Round 1The cheapest H100Vast.ai winsVast.ai8/10
$1.48
H100 SXM
- the lowest H100 offer on the marketplace (offers seen ran from about $2 to $19)
Source: vast.ai ↗
Azure5/10$12.29
worked out from $98.32 an hour for a Standard_ND96isr_H100_v5 with eight H100s, East US
- $12.29, against $0.90
Source: cloudprice.net ↗
Vast.ai wins this round on independent review-site data, not on its own claims.
- Round 2The cheapest A100Vast.ai winsVast.ai8/10
$0.27/hr
A100 PCIe lowest offer (grid card: from $0.27/hr, median $0.71/hr)
- the lowest A100 PCIe offer on the marketplace
Source: vast.ai ↗
Azure5/10$4.10
worked out from $32.77 an hour for a Standard_ND96amsr_A100_v4 with eight A100 80GB, East US
- $4.10, against $0.35
Source: cloudprice.net ↗
Vast.ai wins this round on independent review-site data, not on its own claims.
- Round 3What it costs to get your data outAzure winsVast.ai5/10
Bandwidth charged both ways
billed per byte sent or received, at rates that vary by host
- Bandwidth charged both ways, against First 100 GB a month free
Source: docs.vast.ai ↗
Azure8/10First 100 GB a month free
outbound data transfer in every region, then charged
Source: azure.microsoft.com ↗
Azure wins this round on what the company itself publishes.
- Round 4How many places it runsVast.ai winsVast.ai8/10
40+ data centers
Marketplace coverage wording: 'Prices set by supply and demand across 40+ data centers.' Homepage also says 'On-demand instances across 40+ data centers and 20,000+ GPUs.'
- host locations on a marketplace, not data-center regions
Source: vast.ai ↗
Vast.ai wins this round on what the company itself publishes.
- Round 5What customers say on TrustpilotVast.ai winsAzure5/10
1.4 out of 5
TrustScore from 58 reviews on Trustpilot
- 1.4 out of 5, against 4.1 out of 5
Source: trustpilot.com ↗
Vast.ai wins this round on independent review-site data, not on its own claims.
- Round 6How much you save by committingAzure winsVast.ai5/10
Up to 50% off
marketplace GPU cloud (on-demand / interruptible / reserved)
- Up to 50% off, against Up to 72% off
Source: vast.ai ↗
Azure wins this round on what the published sources say.
Side by side
- the lowest H100 offer on the marketplace (offers seen ran from about $2 to $19)
- the lowest A100 PCIe offer on the marketplace
- the lowest rate on the marketplace, for consumer GPUs
- host locations on a marketplace, not data-center regions
- Azure regions
- Bandwidth charged both ways, against No egress fees
- Bandwidth charged both ways, against Free
- Up to 50% off, against Up to 60% off
- $0.13, against Free GPU notebooks
- $12.29, against $1.99
- $4.10, against $1.19
- First 100 GB a month free, against No egress fees
- 1.4 out of 5, against 3.8 out of 5