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Cloud · head to head

Cerebrium vs Anyscale

Cerebrium logo

Cerebrium

Cloud

Serverless GPU infrastructure for real-time AI inference and applications

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Anyscale logo

Anyscale

Cloud

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: Cerebrium free Hobby tier limited to 3 apps and 5 GPU concurrency; Anyscale pricing for high-end H100/B200-class GPUs is not published and requires contacting sales.
  • They diverge on capability: Cerebrium covers Ultra-fast cold starts, Anyscale covers Distributed model training.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cerebrium and Anyscale actually diverge.

Attributes where Cerebrium and Anyscale differ
AttributeCerebriumAnyscale
Pricing modelFreemium with monthly plans and per-second compute chargesusage-based
PlatformsCloud, Dockerweb, api

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Cerebrium

  • Ultra-fast cold starts
  • Elastic scaling
  • Bring your own code
  • Multi-region failover
  • WebSocket and streaming
  • Asynchronous jobs
  • CI/CD with gradual rollouts
  • OpenTelemetry integration

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.

Cerebrium

  • Deploying voice agents and conversational AI applicationsnot Anyscale
  • Video and image model serving with low latencynot Anyscale
  • LLM inference and completion endpointsnot Anyscale
  • Real-time embeddings and vector database operationsnot Anyscale
  • Distributed model training with hyperparameter sweepsnot Anyscale

Anyscale

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

Where each one falls short

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

Cerebrium

  • Free Hobby tier limited to 3 apps and 5 GPU concurrency
  • Standard plan at $100/month required for production deployments
  • Per-second compute pricing requires continuous cost monitoring
  • Storage costs add up for large model files

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

Cerebrium

Free
  • HobbyFree
    • 3 user seats
    • Up to 3 deployed apps
    • 5 GPU concurrency
  • Standard$100/month
    • Unlimited seats and apps
    • 30 GPU concurrency
    • Custom domains
  • Enterprise$undefined/custom
    • Unlimited resources
    • Volume discounts
    • Dedicated support
  • GPU Compute$undefined/per-second
    • T4: $0.000164/s
    • H100: $0.00167/s

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 Cerebrium if

  • You need ultra-fast cold starts.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Cloud, Docker.
  • You also want elastic scaling.
Cerebrium 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 Cerebrium or Anyscale better?
Neither clearly leads. Cerebrium 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, Cerebrium or Anyscale?
Cerebrium starts at Free and Anyscale at Free.
Does Cerebrium or Anyscale run on more platforms?
Cerebrium runs on Cloud, Docker. Anyscale runs on web, api.
Can I use Cerebrium for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Cerebrium best used for?
Cerebrium is most often used for deploying voice agents and conversational ai applications, video and image model serving with low latency, llm inference and completion endpoints, real-time embeddings and vector database operations. Of those, deploying voice agents and conversational ai applications and video and image model serving with low latency are not what Anyscale is typically brought in for.
What can Cerebrium do that Anyscale cannot?
Cerebrium covers Ultra-fast cold starts, Elastic scaling, Bring your own code, Multi-region failover. Anyscale covers Distributed model training, Multimodal data curation, Batch embedding generation, Multi-cloud orchestration.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Cerebrium: Is Cerebrium only for inference or can it train models?

Cerebrium supports both inference serving and model training with hyperparameter sweeps. It enables deployment of voice agents, LLMs, video models, and other AI applications.

Source
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
Cerebrium: How do the cold starts compare to other platforms?

Cerebrium achieves 2-4 second cold starts through memory and GPU snapshotting, significantly faster than traditional 30+ second cold boots. This is competitive with platforms like Beam Cloud.

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
Cerebrium: What compliance certifications does Cerebrium have?

Cerebrium maintains SOC 2 Type II compliance, HIPAA certification, GDPR compliance, and ISO certification. It provides gVisor container isolation and configurable data residency for regulated workloads.

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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