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packet.ai vs RunPod

Same NVIDIA A100 80GB.
10% less than RunPod.
No reservation form.

packet.ai is 10% cheaper than RunPod for NVIDIA A100 80GB: $1.43/GPU-hr Dedicated versus RunPod’s $1.59/hr Secure Cloud. packet.ai is fully self-serve with a published rate, a 99.99% uptime SLA, and EU data residency built in.

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No credit card 99.99% uptime SLA No reservation form
10%cheaper
NVIDIA A100 80GB · $/GPU-hr
-10%
lower price than RunPodfor the exact same silicon
packet.aiDedicated
$1.43
RunPodSecure Cloud
$1.59
10%
lower price than RunPod Secure Cloud
<5 min
to your first live GPU
99.99%
uptime SLA on Dedicated
$0
to start · no card, no minimums
Savings calculator

See what you’d save vs RunPod.

8
116324864
packet.aiDedicated · $1.43/hr
$8,352/mo
RunPod$1.59/hr
$9,288/mo
You save
$11K/year
$936 saved per month
10% lower than RunPod
Start saving →

Snapshot at 8 NVIDIA A100 80GB GPUs running 24/7 (730 hrs/mo) at packet.ai Dedicated $1.43/GPU-hr vs RunPod Secure Cloud $1.59/GPU-hr (Aug 2026).

Why it’s possible

Full GPU performance.
Published pricing. No reservation queue.

RunPod prices NVIDIA A100 80GB PCIe at $1.59/hr on Secure Cloud. packet.ai runs the same A100 80GB at $1.43/hr Dedicated with a 99.99% uptime SLA and EU data residency built in — no separate Community/Secure tier decision required.

Published pricing, no form

packet.ai publishes $1.43/hr Dedicated openly for NVIDIA A100 80GB. You can budget from day one without a reservation form, sales call, or approval queue.

One tier, one SLA

RunPod splits capacity into Secure Cloud (higher price, more reliable) and Community Cloud (cheaper, host-dependent, no SLA). packet.ai Dedicated is a single tier at $1.43/hr with a published 99.99% uptime SLA.

99.99% uptime SLA

packet.ai Dedicated includes a contractual 99.99% uptime SLA on every A100 80GB instance, backed by the platform.

Built by hosted.ai

Not a marketplace.
A 25-year infrastructure company.

packet.ai is the neocloud built by hosted.ai, the team that previously built OnApp and shipped infrastructure at VMware, NVIDIA and the Xen project. We’re doing for GPUs what VMware did for CPUs two decades ago: turning idle, single-tenant hardware into elastic, software-defined capacity. Backed by $23.6M led by Creandum.

PedigreeOnAppVMwareNVIDIAXen / CitrixSunlight.io
25+
years building infrastructure software
6,000+
cloud deployments powered by OnApp
40+
engineers building packet.ai
$23.6M
raised, led by Creandum
The verdict

Which should you choose?

Choose packet.ai if…

  • You want A100 80GB access at a published rate with no reservation form
  • You need a 99.99% uptime SLA with no minimum spend
  • You want a single GPU, not an 8-GPU node minimum
  • You need EU data residency with a DPA for regulated workloads

RunPod may fit if…

  • You specifically want RunPod's serverless or per-second billing product
  • You rely on RunPod Community Cloud spot capacity for interruptible workloads
  • You already run a RunPod-native workflow or template ecosystem
Side by side

packet.ai vs RunPod, in detail.

Capabilitypacket.airecommendedRunPod
A100 80GB rate$1.43 / GPU-hr$1.59 / GPU-hr (Secure Cloud)
Savings vs RunPod10% cheaperBaseline
Access modelSelf-serve, published priceSecure Cloud
Time to first GPUUnder 5 minutesMinutes to hours
Uptime SLA99.99% on DedicatedVaries by tier
Contract requiredNoneVaries by tier
RegionsEU · data residency + DPAGlobal (Community Cloud varies by host)
Start freeNo credit cardAccount required

RunPod rate $1.59/GPU-hr (Secure Cloud) as of August 2026.

FAQ

packet.ai vs RunPod, answered.

For anything else, reach help@packet.ai.

Is packet.ai cheaper than RunPod for NVIDIA A100 80GB?
Yes. packet.ai delivers NVIDIA A100 80GB at $1.43/GPU-hr Dedicated, approximately 10% less than RunPod’s $1.59/hr Secure Cloud rate. Both run the same NVIDIA A100 80GB HBM2e silicon.
Does packet.ai require a reservation form for A100 80GB?
No. packet.ai is fully self-serve: sign up, create an SSH key, and launch an A100 80GB in under 5 minutes with no form or approval queue.
Does packet.ai have a 99.99% SLA for A100 80GB?
Yes. packet.ai Dedicated includes a 99.99% uptime SLA on every A100 80GB instance, with no minimum spend required.
What's the difference between RunPod Secure Cloud and Community Cloud for A100?
RunPod Secure Cloud runs on RunPod-owned datacenters at $1.59/hr with more predictable uptime. Community Cloud is cheaper but runs on third-party host hardware with no platform SLA. packet.ai Dedicated is a single tier with a published 99.99% SLA.
What is packet.ai’s pricing model for A100 80GB?
packet.ai charges a flat $1.43/GPU-hr Dedicated rate for NVIDIA A100 80GB, published openly with no hidden fees. A team running inference on a single A100 80GB pays roughly $1,044/month at 24/7 utilisation.
Can I migrate from RunPod to packet.ai without code changes?
Yes. Both platforms use standard CUDA containers and SSH access. Most workloads migrate with no code changes — same NVIDIA A100 80GB hardware, same CUDA stack.
What regions does packet.ai support vs RunPod for A100 80GB?
packet.ai runs A100 80GB in the EU (Frankfurt) with data residency and a DPA for regulated workloads. RunPod operates across Global (Community Cloud varies by host).

Same GPUs.
10% less. No reservation form.

Switch from RunPod and launch an A100 80GB in under 5 minutes. From $1.43/GPU-hour, published pricing, 99.99% uptime SLA.

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No credit card · published pricing · 99.99% SLA · EU