Cloud · head to head
Cerebrium vs HCP Terraform
Cerebrium
Cloud
Serverless GPU infrastructure for real-time AI inference and applications
- From
- Free
- Free plan
- Yes
HCP Terraform
Developer Tools
Infrastructure as code provisioning and management, formerly Terraform Cloud
- From
- Free
- Free plan
- Yes
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Cerebrium free Hobby tier limited to 3 apps and 5 GPU concurrency; HCP Terraform legacy free version deprecated; no current freemium tier
- Prices and features above were last checked on 29 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Cerebrium and HCP Terraform actually diverge.
| Attribute | Cerebrium | HCP Terraform |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Freemium with monthly plans and per-second compute charges | usage-based |
| Platforms | Cloud, Docker | Web |
| Category | Cloud | Developer Tools |
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 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 HCP Terraform
Nothing recorded that Cerebrium does not also cover.
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Cerebrium
- Deploying voice agents and conversational AI applicationsnot HCP Terraform
- Video and image model serving with low latencynot HCP Terraform
- LLM inference and completion endpointsnot HCP Terraform
- Real-time embeddings and vector database operationsnot HCP Terraform
- Distributed model training with hyperparameter sweepsnot HCP Terraform
HCP Terraform
- Infrastructure as Code managementnot Cerebrium
- Cloud resource provisioningnot 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
HCP Terraform
- Legacy free version deprecated; no current freemium tier
- New users receive $500 credit but still require usage to continue service
- Terraform Enterprise requires custom pricing
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
HCP Terraform
Free- Essentials$0.1/month
- Per resource pricing
- Remote state storage
- VCS connection
- Standard$0.47/month
- Per resource pricing
- Essentials features plus unlimited modules
- Module deprecation
- Premium$0.99/month
- Per resource pricing
- Standard features plus module revocation
- Waypoint actions
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.
Questions people ask
- Is Cerebrium or HCP Terraform better?
- Neither clearly leads. Cerebrium starts at Free and HCP Terraform at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Cerebrium or HCP Terraform?
- Cerebrium starts at Free and HCP Terraform at Free.
- Does Cerebrium or HCP Terraform run on more platforms?
- Cerebrium runs on Cloud, Docker. HCP Terraform runs on Web.
- 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 HCP Terraform is typically brought in for.
- What can Cerebrium do that HCP Terraform cannot?
- Cerebrium covers Ultra-fast cold starts, Elastic scaling, Bring your own code, Multi-region failover.
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.
SourceHCP Terraform: How much does HCP Terraform cost?
HCP Terraform uses per-resource pricing starting at $0.10/month/resource for Essentials, $0.47/month/resource for Standard, and $0.99/month/resource for Premium.
SourceCerebrium: 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.
SourceHCP Terraform: Does HCP Terraform offer a free tier?
No, the legacy free version has been deprecated. However, new users receive $500 credit to try the service.
SourceCerebrium: 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.
SourceHCP Terraform: What does the Standard plan include?
Standard plan at $0.47/month/resource includes unlimited modules, module deprecation, team notifications, no-code provisioning, and Waypoint templates.
SourceRelated pages
More on HCP Terraform
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