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Software Development · head to head

Baseten vs Grafana Loki

Baseten logo

Baseten

Software Development

Inference is everything

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Grafana Loki logo

Grafana Loki

Logging

Log Aggregation for Grafana Stack

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Baseten pro and Enterprise pricing not published; requires contacting sales; Grafana Loki grafana Cloud Logs Pro plan includes only 30-day retention; retention beyond 30 days requires Enterprise plan with minimum $25,000 annual commitment

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Baseten and Grafana Loki actually diverge.

Attributes where Baseten and Grafana Loki differ
AttributeBasetenGrafana Loki
Pricing modelusage-basedfreemium
PlatformsWebSelf-hosted (open source), Managed (Grafana Cloud Logs), Enterprise (self-managed with support)
CategorySoftware DevelopmentLogging
FoundedUnknown2014

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 Baseten

Nothing recorded that Grafana Loki does not also cover.

Only in Grafana Loki

  • Log aggregation
  • Label-based indexing
  • LogQL language
  • Cost-effective
  • API
  • Webhooks
  • REST
  • Web support

What people use each for

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

Baseten

  • Custom model deploymentnot Grafana Loki
  • Fine-tuned LLM hostingnot Grafana Loki
  • Inference API scalingnot Grafana Loki

Grafana Loki

  • Cost-sensitive organisations deploying Kubernetes and Prometheus ecosystemsnot Baseten
  • Teams needing index-free log aggregation for high-volume environmentsnot Baseten

Where each one falls short

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

Baseten

  • Pro and Enterprise pricing not published; requires contacting sales
  • Pricing varies significantly by compute type and model

Grafana Loki

  • Grafana Cloud Logs Pro plan includes only 30-day retention; retention beyond 30 days requires Enterprise plan with minimum $25,000 annual commitment
  • Open-source version requires self-hosting all infrastructure including storage and scaling

Pricing, plan by plan

Baseten

Free
  • BasicFree
    • Pay-as-you-go deployments
    • Dedicated model APIs
    • SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA compliance
  • Pro$null/month
    • Priority GPU access
    • Unlimited autoscaling
    • Volume discounts available
  • Enterprise$null/month
    • Self-hosted options
    • Custom SLAs
    • Data residency control

Grafana Loki

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Grafana Loki review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Baseten if

  • You want to start without paying.
Baseten review

Choose Grafana Loki if

  • You need log aggregation.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Self-hosted (open source), Managed (Grafana Cloud Logs), Enterprise (self-managed with support).
  • You also want label-based indexing.
Grafana Loki review

Questions people ask

Is Baseten or Grafana Loki better?
Neither clearly leads. Baseten starts at Free and Grafana Loki at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Baseten or Grafana Loki?
Baseten starts at Free and Grafana Loki at Free.
Does Baseten or Grafana Loki run on more platforms?
Baseten runs on Web. Grafana Loki runs on Self-hosted (open source), Managed (Grafana Cloud Logs), Enterprise (self-managed with support).
Can I use Baseten for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Baseten best used for?
Baseten is most often used for custom model deployment, fine-tuned llm hosting, inference api scaling. Of those, custom model deployment and fine-tuned llm hosting are not what Grafana Loki is typically brought in for.
What can Baseten do that Grafana Loki cannot?
Grafana Loki covers Log aggregation, Label-based indexing, LogQL language, Cost-effective.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Baseten: Does Baseten have a free tier?

Yes, Baseten's Basic plan is free with a pay-as-you-go model for dedicated deployments and model APIs.

Source
Grafana Loki: Is there a free tier for Grafana Cloud?

Yes, Grafana Cloud has a Free Forever plan at no cost with no registration required. The free tier is suitable for personal projects and early-stage startups.

Source
Baseten: How are GPU instances priced on Baseten?

GPU instances are priced per minute: T4 at $0.01052/min, H100 at $0.10833/min, and B200 at $0.16633/min. CPU instances range from $0.00058 to $0.01382 per minute.

Source
Grafana Loki: How long is data retained in Grafana's free plan?

The free tier retains metrics, logs, traces, and profiles for 14 days.

Source
Baseten: What are Model API costs on Baseten?

Model API pricing varies by model: DeepSeek V4 Flash costs $0.13 per million input tokens and $0.028 per million output tokens; GLM-5.3-Flash costs $0.15 and $0.03 respectively.

Source
Grafana Loki: What is the minimum cost for Grafana Enterprise?

Grafana Enterprise has a minimum annual commitment of 25,000 dollars.

Source
Baseten: Does Baseten charge for idle compute time?

No, Baseten does not charge for idle time; billing only covers active compute usage on deployments.

Source
Grafana Loki: Do I need a credit card to use Grafana's free tier?

No, Grafana Cloud's Free Forever plan requires no credit card to get started.

Source
Grafana Loki: How is Grafana Cloud billed?

Grafana Cloud Pro starts at 19 dollars per month with usage-based charges on top. Billing is monthly based on your consumption. Grafana offers automatic volume discounts based on your spending.

Source
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