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Machine Learning & Data Science · head to head

Cohere vs Together AI

Cohere logo

Cohere

Machine Learning & Data Science

Enterprise AI platform for NLP

From
Free
Rated
-
Together AI logo

Together AI

AI Tools

Open-source AI at scale

From
Free
Rated
-

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Cohere aPI-only service with no self-hosted options for most users; Together AI fine tuning carries a minimum charge of $4.00 per job regardless of dataset size
  • They diverge on capability: Cohere covers Generate, Together AI covers Open-source models.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cohere and Together AI actually diverge.

Attributes where Cohere and Together AI differ
AttributeCohereTogether AI
CategoryMachine Learning & Data ScienceAI Tools
Founded20192022

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

  • Generate
  • Embed
  • Rerank
  • Classify
  • SDKs
  • Cloud deployment

Only in Together AI

  • Open-source models
  • Fine-tuning
  • Fast inference
  • Embeddings
  • Python SDK
  • OpenAI compatible

Both cover

  • REST API
  • Api support
  • Cloud support

What people use each for

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

Cohere

  • ai tools managementnot Together AI
  • Workflow automationnot Together AI
  • Reportingnot Together AI

Together AI

  • Serverless inference against open source chat, vision, embedding, image and video modelsnot Cohere
  • Renting dedicated single tenant H100, H200 or B200 GPU clusters by the hournot Cohere
  • Fine tuning open weight models on a per token basisnot Cohere

Where each one falls short

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

Cohere

  • API-only service with no self-hosted options for most users
  • Trial tier severely limited at 1,000 calls per month
  • Smaller context window compared to some competing APIs
  • Less emphasis on safety and alignment compared to competing APIs

Together AI

  • Fine tuning carries a minimum charge of $4.00 per job regardless of dataset size
  • Reserved GPU commitments beyond 180 days are priced by contacting sales with no published rate
  • Volume and enterprise discounts are quote only with no published threshold
  • Reserved dedicated inference pricing is contact sales while only on demand rates of $5.49 to $8.99 per GPU hour are published

Pricing, plan by plan

Cohere

Free
  • Free TrialFree
    • Rate limited
    • Evaluation
  • Production$0.4/per-million-tokens
    • Full access
    • SLA

Together AI

Free
  • FreeFree
    • $5 credits
    • API access
  • Pay-per-use$0.2/per-million-tokens
    • All models
    • Fine-tuning

Which should you pick?

Choose Cohere if

  • You need generate.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Api, Cloud.
  • You also want embed.

Choose Together AI if

  • You need open-source models.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Api, Cloud.
  • You also want fine-tuning.

Questions people ask

Is Cohere or Together AI better?
Neither clearly leads. Cohere starts at Free and Together AI at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cohere or Together AI?
Cohere starts at Free and Together AI at Free.
Does Cohere or Together AI run on more platforms?
Both run on Api, Cloud, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Cohere for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Cohere best used for?
Cohere is most often used for ai tools management, workflow automation, reporting. Of those, ai tools management and workflow automation are not what Together AI is typically brought in for.
What can Cohere do that Together AI cannot?
Cohere covers Generate, Embed, Rerank, Classify. Together AI covers Open-source models, Fine-tuning, Fast inference, Embeddings. Both handle REST API, Api support, Cloud support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Cohere: Does Cohere offer a free tier?

Yes. Cohere provides Trial API keys that allow 1,000 free API calls per month across all models and endpoints. Trial keys are rate-limited to 20 requests per minute for Chat endpoints and 5-10 requests per minute for other endpoints, and cannot be used for production or commercial purposes.

Source
Cohere: What is the cost structure for production use?

Cohere uses pay-as-you-go pricing based on tokens consumed. Costs vary by model: Command costs from 0.15 to 2.50 USD per 1M input tokens, with output tokens priced higher. Embed models cost 0.10 USD per 1M input tokens. Production keys have monthly billing with invoices at month-end or when charges reach 250 USD.

Source
Cohere: Can I self-host Cohere models?

No. Cohere operates as an API-only platform. However, enterprise customers can arrange dedicated or managed deployments through the Model Vault platform starting at 4.00 USD per hour with custom pricing for dedicated instances.

Source
Cohere: What are the main differences between Cohere and Claude API?

Cohere excels in cost-effective NLP applications and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) capabilities. Claude API emphasizes reasoning and safety with Constitutional AI training. Cohere's Command R+ offers similar performance to GPT-4 at 40-50 percent lower cost, while Claude focuses on factual accuracy and transparency.

Source

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