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Cloud · head to head

Anyscale vs Portworx

Anyscale logo

Anyscale

Cloud

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Portworx logo

Portworx

Cloud

Kubernetes-native storage and data services, priced by the node hour

From
$0.33/node hour
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Anyscale has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Anyscale pricing for high-end H100/B200-class GPUs is not published and requires contacting sales.; Portworx bare metal nodes are charged at 1.11 USD per node hour against 0.33 for virtual nodes, so a bare metal cluster costs more than three times a virtualised one for identical capability.
  • They diverge on capability: Anyscale covers Distributed model training, Portworx covers Container-native volumes.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Anyscale and Portworx actually diverge.

Attributes where Anyscale and Portworx differ
AttributeAnyscalePortworx
Starting priceFree$0.33/node hour
Pricing modelusage-basedPer node hour
Free tierYesNo
Platformsweb, apiLinux

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cloud).

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 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

Only in Portworx

  • Container-native volumes
  • Failure domain placement
  • Volume encryption
  • Database automation
  • Disaster recovery
  • Autopilot capacity management
  • Hardware independence

What people use each for

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

Anyscale

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

Portworx

  • Running a production PostgreSQL or Cassandra cluster on Kubernetes and needing the data to survive node lossnot Anyscale
  • A platform team offering self-service databases to developers on an internal Kubernetes platformnot Anyscale
  • Failing over stateful applications between clusters in different regions as a disaster recovery positionnot Anyscale
  • An OpenShift estate where the built-in storage option does not meet the availability requirement for stateful setsnot Anyscale

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Portworx

  • Bare metal nodes are charged at 1.11 USD per node hour against 0.33 for virtual nodes, so a bare metal cluster costs more than three times a virtualised one for identical capability.
  • A 1,000 node hour monthly minimum applies, which means small or intermittent clusters pay for capacity they do not consume.
  • Replicating volumes across nodes consumes real capacity and network bandwidth, so the underlying infrastructure cost rises alongside the licence in a way the node hour rate does not show.
  • Pure Storage ownership means roadmap priorities are set by an array vendor, and buyers should confirm that hardware independence remains contractual rather than assumed.
  • Operating it well requires Kubernetes storage expertise, and teams that adopted Kubernetes to simplify operations often find they have added a distributed storage system to run.

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Portworx

$0.33/node hour
  • Portworx Enterprise on virtual machine nodes$0.33/node hour
    • Minimum 1,000 node hours per month
    • Replicated persistent volumes
    • Encryption and disaster recovery
  • Portworx Enterprise on bare metal nodes$1.11/node hour
    • Minimum 1,000 node hours per month
    • Same capabilities on bare metal clusters
    • Higher rate reflects node density

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Portworx if

  • You need container-native volumes.
  • You work on Linux.
  • You also want failure domain placement.
Portworx review

Questions people ask

Is Anyscale or Portworx better?
Neither clearly leads. Anyscale starts at Free and Portworx at $0.33/node hour, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Anyscale or Portworx?
Anyscale has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Anyscale and $0.33/node hour for Portworx.
Does Anyscale or Portworx run on more platforms?
Anyscale runs on web, api. Portworx runs on Linux.
Can I use Anyscale for free?
Yes. Anyscale has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Portworx starts at $0.33/node hour.
What is Anyscale best used for?
Anyscale is most often used for training large models on distributed gpu clusters, running batch inference and embedding jobs, preparing multimodal datasets at scale, post-training llms with reinforcement learning frameworks. Of those, training large models on distributed gpu clusters and running batch inference and embedding jobs are not what Portworx is typically brought in for.
What can Anyscale do that Portworx cannot?
Anyscale covers Distributed model training, Multimodal data curation, Batch embedding generation, Multi-cloud orchestration. Portworx covers Container-native volumes, Failure domain placement, Volume encryption, Database automation.

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
Portworx: Is Portworx tied to Pure Storage hardware?

No. It runs on any Kubernetes distribution over any underlying storage, though Pure has owned it since 2020 and sets the roadmap.

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
Portworx: What does a real cluster cost?

At 0.33 USD per virtual node hour, twenty nodes running continuously is roughly 4,800 USD a month. Bare metal at 1.11 USD per node hour is around 16,000 USD for the same node count.

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
Portworx: Is backup included?

No. Portworx Backup is a separately priced product covering Kubernetes application backup.

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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