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Alibaba Cloud vs Anyscale

Alibaba Cloud logo

Alibaba Cloud

Software

Asia's leading cloud computing provider

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Anyscale logo

Anyscale

Software

Platform for scaling AI and data workloads on Ray, built by Ray's creators

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Alibaba Cloud technical support is a separate subscription, from $19.99 a month for Developer up to $8,000 a month for Enterprise, with only Basic included; Anyscale pricing for high-end H100/B200-class GPUs is not published and requires contacting sales.
  • They diverge on capability: Alibaba Cloud covers Elastic Compute Service, Anyscale covers Distributed model training.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Alibaba Cloud and Anyscale actually diverge.

Attributes where Alibaba Cloud and Anyscale differ
AttributeAlibaba CloudAnyscale
PlatformsLinux, Windows, Api, Cliweb, api
Founded2009Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (usage-based), free tier (Yes), 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 Alibaba Cloud

  • Elastic Compute Service
  • Object Storage Service
  • RDS Database
  • MaxCompute
  • Function Compute
  • CDN
  • Load Balancer
  • API Gateway

Only in Anyscale

  • Distributed model training
  • Multimodal data curation
  • Batch embedding generation
  • Multi-cloud orchestration
  • Governance and security
  • Observability
  • Bring-your-own-cloud deployment
  • Elastic GPU allocation

What people use each for

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

Alibaba Cloud

  • Cloud compute and storage with a strong footprint in China and Asia Pacificnot Anyscale
  • Pay-as-you-go infrastructure without upfront commitmentnot Anyscale
  • Committed-use discounts through savings plans for steady workloadsnot Anyscale
  • CDN and data transfer packages for content deliverynot Anyscale

Anyscale

  • Training large models on distributed GPU clustersnot Alibaba Cloud
  • Running batch inference and embedding jobsnot Alibaba Cloud
  • Preparing multimodal datasets at scalenot Alibaba Cloud
  • Post-training LLMs with reinforcement learning frameworksnot Alibaba Cloud

Where each one falls short

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

Alibaba Cloud

  • Technical support is a separate subscription, from $19.99 a month for Developer up to $8,000 a month for Enterprise, with only Basic included
  • Service prices are not shown as a rate card and route through a calculator or sales
  • Committed discounts require savings plans, reserved instances or capacity packages rather than being automatic

Anyscale

  • Pricing for high-end H100/B200-class GPUs is not published and requires contacting sales.
  • Built around Ray, so teams not already using Ray face a steeper adoption curve than single-purpose inference APIs.
  • No published fixed-fee subscription tier; all listed pricing is usage-based on-demand compute.

Pricing, plan by plan

Alibaba Cloud

Free
  • Free TrialFree
    • Free tier credits
    • ECS instances
    • Cloud storage
  • Pay-as-You-GoFree
    • Flexible billing
    • No commitments
    • Global reach

Anyscale

Free
  • Pay-as-you-go$undefined/mo
    • CPU only from $0.0135/hr
    • NVIDIA T4 $0.5682/hr
    • NVIDIA L4 $0.9542/hr
  • Committed contract$undefined/mo
    • Volume discounts
    • Use of existing GPU reservations

Which should you pick?

Choose Alibaba Cloud if

  • You need elastic compute service.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, Api, Cli.
  • You also want object storage service.
Alibaba Cloud review

Choose Anyscale if

  • You need distributed model training.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on web, api.
  • You also want multimodal data curation.
Anyscale review

Questions people ask

Is Alibaba Cloud or Anyscale better?
Neither clearly leads. Alibaba Cloud starts at Free and Anyscale at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Alibaba Cloud or Anyscale?
Alibaba Cloud starts at Free and Anyscale at Free.
Does Alibaba Cloud or Anyscale run on more platforms?
Alibaba Cloud runs on Linux, Windows, Api, Cli. Anyscale runs on web, api.
Can I use Alibaba Cloud for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Alibaba Cloud best used for?
Alibaba Cloud is most often used for cloud compute and storage with a strong footprint in china and asia pacific, pay-as-you-go infrastructure without upfront commitment, committed-use discounts through savings plans for steady workloads, cdn and data transfer packages for content delivery. Of those, cloud compute and storage with a strong footprint in china and asia pacific and pay-as-you-go infrastructure without upfront commitment are not what Anyscale is typically brought in for.
What can Alibaba Cloud do that Anyscale cannot?
Alibaba Cloud covers Elastic Compute Service, Object Storage Service, RDS Database, MaxCompute. Anyscale covers Distributed model training, Multimodal data curation, Batch embedding generation, Multi-cloud orchestration.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Anyscale: How much does Anyscale cost?

Anyscale bills on a pay-as-you-go basis: CPU compute starts at $0.0135/hr, NVIDIA T4 at $0.5682/hr, and NVIDIA A100 at $4.9591/hr, with committed contracts offering volume discounts for larger workloads.

Source
Anyscale: Is there a free trial or credit?

New users receive $100 in Anyscale credits to explore the platform, which can be applied toward starter templates and on-demand compute usage.

Source
Anyscale: How is usage billed?

Hosted usage is billed hourly per compute instance type and invoiced monthly by credit card; bring-your-own-cloud usage is invoiced through Anyscale or the customer's cloud marketplace account.

Source
Anyscale: What support is included?

Hosted plans include business-hours support with up to 5 case submissions, while bring-your-own-cloud deployments get 24x7 enterprise SLAs and unlimited case submissions.

Source
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