Quick answer
RunPod vs Vast.ai: which is cheaper and more reliable?
RunPod vs Vast.ai: Vast.ai is cheaper; RunPod sells fixed list prices. As of 29 October 2026, Vast.ai's public price feed showed an H100 SXM from $1.73 per hour, against $3.99 on RunPod's Secure Cloud and $2.69 on its Community Cloud. On reliability the difference is the model: Vast.ai is a marketplace of hosts, RunPod sells two fixed-price tiers. Both take crypto; RunPod asks for KYC first. GPUwithCrypto adds on-demand GPUs for crypto, no KYC.
How do RunPod and Vast.ai differ at a glance?
From each provider's pricing page, billing docs and terms, read on 29 October 2026. GPUwithCrypto publishes this page and is shown as a third column.
| RunPod | Vast.ai | GPUwithCrypto | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Model | Secure Cloud at RunPod list prices; Community Cloud on community-hosted machines | Marketplace: hosts list offers, price and hardware vary by offer | On-demand whole GPUs at one hourly price per model |
| H100 from, per GPU-hour | $2.89 PCIe, $3.99 SXM (Secure); $1.99 PCIe, $2.69 SXM (Community) | $1.73 H100 SXM (lowest offer) | $2.32/hour |
| Billing | Per second | Per second | Per minute |
| Footprint | 30+ regions | 40+ data centers | Host country shown before you start |
| Longer terms | Reserved pricing via sales | 1-, 3- and 6-month reserved terms, 'up to 50% off' | Prepaid blocks of GPU-hours at the same rate |
| Pays in crypto | Yes; Crypto.com named in its terms, coins not listed | Yes, via BitPay and Crypto.com | BTC, USDT, USDC, ETH, SOL, LTC |
| ID / KYC | KYC before the first crypto payment | No ID step in its billing docs, FAQ or terms | None |
| Card | Auto-pay is card-only; prepaid cards need $100 per deposit | Billing FAQ: credit is added after a credit card and an email are verified | No card |
| Minimum to start | $10 | Not stated | $25 |
| Refunds | Credits non-refundable and non-withdrawable | No refund on spent credits; credits bought with crypto are not refunded | Hours of a failed instance go back to your balance; balance never expires |
| Spend limit | $80 per hour by default, raised over time | — | — |
Prices checked on
'No ID step' means none is described in the pages we read, not a promise. Payment processors such as BitPay and Crypto.com can run their own checks.
How do RunPod and Vast.ai prices compare per GPU?
Per GPU-hour, USD, read on 29 October 2026. RunPod prices come from its pricing page (header 'Updated October 8, 2026'). Vast.ai figures come from Vast.ai's public price feed (updated 29 October 2026, 10:30 UTC): the cheapest rentable offer and the median offer, which mix on-demand and interruptible listings.
| GPU | RunPod Secure Cloud | RunPod Community Cloud | Vast.ai lowest offer | Vast.ai median offer | GPUwithCrypto |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| H100 SXM 80GB | $3.99 | $2.69 | $1.73 | $2.40 | $2.32/hour (H100 80GB) |
| H100 PCIe 80GB | $2.89 | $1.99 | $2.27 (1 offer) | — | $2.32/hour (H100 80GB) |
| H200 141GB | $5.29 | $3.59 | $3.00 (NVL); $3.77 | $4.00 (NVL); $5.05 | $3.07/hour |
| B200 | $7.99 | $5.98 | $7.50 | $8.75 | $4.61/hour |
| A100 80GB | $1.79 | $1.19 PCIe, $1.39 SXM | $0.34 PCIe, $0.48 SXM | $0.68 PCIe, $0.80 SXM | $0.92/hour |
| L40S 48GB | $1.09 | $0.79 | $0.33 | $0.73 | $0.82/hour |
| RTX 4090 | $0.89 | $0.34 | $0.13 | $0.49 | $0.28/hour |
| RTX 5090 | $1.19 | $0.69 | $0.39 | $0.73 | $0.42/hour |
Prices checked on
RunPod lists one A100 80GB Secure Cloud price for PCIe and SXM. Vast.ai figures are displayed as published in Vast.ai's public price feed, with attribution. GPUwithCrypto prices are on-demand, each at least 15% under a named on-demand reference read on 29 October 2026; GPUwithCrypto H100 hosts are SXM or PCIe, shown before you start.
Which is cheaper, RunPod or Vast.ai?
Vast.ai, on its lowest offers. Its cheapest rentable offer was below RunPod's Community Cloud price for 6 of the 8 GPUs in the table; the exceptions were the H100 PCIe and the B200. Against RunPod's Secure Cloud, Vast.ai's lowest offer was cheaper for every GPU.
The median offer tells a closer story. Vast.ai's median was still below RunPod's Community Cloud for the H100 SXM, the A100 and the L40S. RunPod's Community Cloud was cheaper than Vast.ai's median for the H200, the B200, the RTX 4090 and the RTX 5090.
According to GPUwithCrypto's price check of 29 October 2026, RunPod's $2.89 Secure Cloud H100 PCIe was the second-lowest self-serve on-demand H100 price among 16 providers. Only Massed Compute ($2.73) was lower. The full ranking is on the RunPod alternatives page.
Which is more reliable, RunPod or Vast.ai?
This page does not rank them on reliability: our research covers prices, billing, crypto and ID rules, not measured uptime. What differs is the model:
- RunPod Secure Cloud is RunPod's on-demand tier at a fixed list price. Community Cloud runs on community-hosted machines at a lower price.
- Vast.ai is a marketplace. Hosts list offers, and price and hardware vary by offer. Its price feed does not separate on-demand from interruptible offers, so check the offer type before a long job.
- Both bill GPU time per second. RunPod still charges for volume storage while a pod is stopped ($0.20 per GB per month idle, $0.10 while running).
If you search for Vast.ai reviews, note that news about VAST Data concerns a different company. Interruptible capacity is explained in what is a spot GPU.
Do RunPod and Vast.ai accept crypto without KYC?
Both accept crypto, and only RunPod documents a KYC step for it. RunPod's billing docs say to complete any required KYC verification before your first crypto payment, and its auto-pay works with cards only. Its terms name Crypto.com as a payment provider; the coins are not listed.
Vast.ai takes crypto through BitPay and Crypto.com, with Coinbase Commerce referenced as a legacy option. It does not refund credits bought with crypto. Its billing FAQ says credit is added after a credit card and an email are verified; the docs do not say whether crypto-only top-ups skip the card.
Full answers: Does RunPod accept crypto? and Does Vast.ai accept crypto?.
What is each one good for?
RunPod suits teams that want a fixed list price, a choice between Secure and Community Cloud, and per-second billing across 30+ regions. Card payers get auto-pay. It sells B200s on-demand at $7.99 (Secure) and $5.98 (Community).
Vast.ai suits price hunters who can pick and vet an offer. It had the lowest offers for most GPUs and the widest consumer-card choice: 970 rentable RTX 5090 offers and 562 RTX 4090 offers in its feed on 29 October 2026. Reserved terms of 1 to 6 months go up to 50% off.
Both suit card payers best: RunPod's auto-pay is card-only, and Vast.ai's billing FAQ asks for a verified card.
Where does GPUwithCrypto fit between RunPod and Vast.ai?
GPUwithCrypto is a third option for one profile: on-demand GPUs, paid in crypto, with no KYC and no card. Each GPU is priced at least 15% under a named reference: the on-demand price of the same GPU at a self-serve provider, read on 29 October 2026 (H100: Massed Compute at $2.73 per GPU-hour; each GPU's reference is named on its price page). Spot, interruptible, marketplace and contact-sales prices are not used as references, and some of them are lower. We do not claim to be the cheapest for every GPU.
- Against RunPod: our price is below RunPod's Secure Cloud for every GPU in the table. RunPod's Community Cloud is lower than ours for the H100 PCIe and the L40S.
- Against Vast.ai: Vast.ai's lowest offer is lower than ours for every GPU in the table except the B200. We sell one fixed on-demand price, not a marketplace offer.
- Payment: BTC, USDT, USDC, ETH, SOL, LTC, from $25, with no ID, no selfie and no card. Instances are billed per minute at the hourly rate while they run, from the GPU-hours you bought for that GPU. Stopping an instance stops the charge at once.
See every price on the pricing page, or compare the GPU clouds that accept crypto.
Questions about RunPod and Vast.ai
Is Vast.ai cheaper than RunPod?
On its lowest offers, yes: on 29 October 2026 Vast.ai's public price feed showed an H100 SXM from $1.73, against $3.99 on RunPod Secure Cloud and $2.69 on Community Cloud. At the median offer, RunPod's Community Cloud was cheaper for the H200, B200, RTX 4090 and RTX 5090.
What is the difference between RunPod Secure Cloud and Community Cloud?
Secure Cloud is RunPod's on-demand tier at its list price; Community Cloud runs on community-hosted machines at a lower price. For an H100 SXM on 29 October 2026 that was $3.99 against $2.69 per hour.
Does RunPod require KYC to pay with crypto?
Yes, according to its billing docs read on 29 October 2026: complete any required KYC verification before your first crypto payment. Its auto-pay works with cards only. GPUwithCrypto takes crypto with no KYC.
Does Vast.ai refund crypto payments?
No. Vast.ai's billing reference says it does not refund credits bought with crypto, and spent credits are never refunded. Unspent credits bought another way can be refunded at Vast.ai's discretion, per its terms.
Do RunPod and Vast.ai bill per second?
Yes, both bill GPU time per second. RunPod also charges for volume storage while a pod is stopped. GPUwithCrypto bills per minute while an instance runs.
Sources (9)
- RunPod pricing runpod.io/pricing — RunPod (read 2026-10-29)
- RunPod billing information docs.runpod.io/references/billing-information — RunPod (read 2026-10-29)
- RunPod terms of service runpod.io/legal/terms-of-service — RunPod (read 2026-10-29)
- Vast.ai public GPU pricing feed — Vast.ai (read 2026-10-29)
- Vast.ai pricing vast.ai/pricing — Vast.ai (read 2026-10-29)
- Vast.ai billing reference docs.vast.ai/documentation/reference/billing — Vast.ai (read 2026-10-29)
- Vast.ai billing FAQ docs.vast.ai/guides/reference/faq/billing.md — Vast.ai (read 2026-10-29)
- Vast.ai terms of service vast.ai/terms — Vast.ai (read 2026-10-29)
- Massed Compute pricing vm.massedcompute.com/pricing — Massed Compute (read 2026-10-29)