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Software · head to head

AI21 Labs vs Together AI

AI21 Labs logo

AI21 Labs

Software

Enterprise language AI solutions

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Together AI logo

Together AI

Software

Open-source AI at scale

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: AI21 Labs the free allowance is $10 of credit lasting 7 days rather than an ongoing free tier; Together AI fine tuning carries a minimum charge of $4.00 per job regardless of dataset size
  • They diverge on capability: AI21 Labs covers Jamba models, Together AI covers Open-source models.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which AI21 Labs and Together AI actually diverge.

Attributes where AI21 Labs and Together AI differ
AttributeAI21 LabsTogether AI
Founded20172022

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (usage-based), free tier (Yes), platforms (Api, Cloud), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in AI21 Labs

  • Jamba models
  • Long context
  • RAG engine
  • Writing tools
  • Amazon Bedrock
  • Cloud platforms

Only in Together AI

  • Open-source models
  • Fine-tuning
  • Fast inference
  • Embeddings
  • Python SDK
  • OpenAI compatible

Both cover

  • REST API
  • Api support
  • Cloud support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

AI21 Labs

  • Running long-context tasks on the Jamba model familynot Together AI
  • Building and optimising production AI agents with Maestronot Together AI
  • Routing between models to control cost and accuracynot Together AI
  • Long-horizon agentic tasks needing stateful workspacesnot Together AI

Together AI

  • Serverless inference against open source chat, vision, embedding, image and video modelsnot AI21 Labs
  • Renting dedicated single tenant H100, H200 or B200 GPU clusters by the hournot AI21 Labs
  • Fine tuning open weight models on a per token basisnot AI21 Labs

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

AI21 Labs

  • The free allowance is $10 of credit lasting 7 days rather than an ongoing free tier
  • Jamba Large is $2 per million input tokens and $8 per million output, so output-heavy work costs four times as much as input
  • Volume discounts, private cloud hosting and higher rate limits require a custom plan
  • Standard rate limits are not published

Together AI

  • Fine tuning carries a minimum charge of $4.00 per job regardless of dataset size
  • Reserved GPU commitments beyond 180 days are priced by contacting sales with no published rate
  • Volume and enterprise discounts are quote only with no published threshold
  • Reserved dedicated inference pricing is contact sales while only on demand rates of $5.49 to $8.99 per GPU hour are published

Pricing, plan by plan

AI21 Labs

Free
  • Free TrialFree
    • Limited usage
    • API access
  • Jamba$0.2/per-million-input-tokens
    • 256K context
    • Hybrid architecture

Together AI

Free
  • FreeFree
    • $5 credits
    • API access
  • Pay-per-use$0.2/per-million-tokens
    • All models
    • Fine-tuning

Which should you pick?

Choose AI21 Labs if

  • You need jamba models.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Api, Cloud.
  • You also want long context.
AI21 Labs review

Choose Together AI if

  • You need open-source models.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Api, Cloud.
  • You also want fine-tuning.
Together AI review

Questions people ask

Is AI21 Labs or Together AI better?
Neither clearly leads. AI21 Labs starts at Free and Together AI at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, AI21 Labs or Together AI?
AI21 Labs starts at Free and Together AI at Free.
Does AI21 Labs or Together AI run on more platforms?
Both run on Api, Cloud, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use AI21 Labs for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is AI21 Labs best used for?
AI21 Labs is most often used for running long-context tasks on the jamba model family, building and optimising production ai agents with maestro, routing between models to control cost and accuracy, long-horizon agentic tasks needing stateful workspaces. Of those, running long-context tasks on the jamba model family and building and optimising production ai agents with maestro are not what Together AI is typically brought in for.
What can AI21 Labs do that Together AI cannot?
AI21 Labs covers Jamba models, Long context, RAG engine, Writing tools. Together AI covers Open-source models, Fine-tuning, Fast inference, Embeddings. Both handle REST API, Api support, Cloud support.
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