Cloud & Infrastructure · head to head
DeepInfra vs Lambda (AWS Serverless)
DeepInfra
Cloud & Infrastructure
Low-cost cloud API for running open-source AI models
- From
- $0.08/month
- Rated
- -
Lambda (AWS Serverless)
Cloud & Infrastructure
Run code without thinking about servers
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Lambda (AWS Serverless) has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: DeepInfra focuses on inference hosting rather than fine-tuning or full training pipelines that competitors like Fireworks AI offer.; Lambda (AWS Serverless) billed on two axes at once, $0.20 per million requests plus $0.0000166667 per GB-second of duration, so memory settings change the bill as much as traffic does
- They diverge on capability: DeepInfra covers Open model hosting, Lambda (AWS Serverless) covers Function-as-a-Service.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which DeepInfra and Lambda (AWS Serverless) actually diverge.
| Attribute | DeepInfra | Lambda (AWS Serverless) |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $0.08/month | Free |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Founded | Unknown | 2014 |
Identical on both: pricing model (usage-based), platforms (web, api), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cloud & Infrastructure).
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 DeepInfra
- Open model hosting
- Pay-per-token pricing
- Long context support
- DeepCluster
- Zero retention policy
- Real-time metrics
Only in Lambda (AWS Serverless)
- Function-as-a-Service
- Event-driven execution
- Auto-scaling
- Pay-per-use
- Multiple languages
- Concurrency limits
- Dead Letter Queues
- Environment variables
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
DeepInfra
- Running open-source LLM inference without managing GPUsnot Lambda (AWS Serverless)
- Serving speech and image generation models via APInot Lambda (AWS Serverless)
- Cost-sensitive production inference at scalenot Lambda (AWS Serverless)
- Reserved GPU capacity via DeepCluster for steady workloadsnot Lambda (AWS Serverless)
Lambda (AWS Serverless)
- Event-driven functions without managing serversnot DeepInfra
- API backends behind API Gatewaynot DeepInfra
- Processing S3, DynamoDB, SQS and Kinesis eventsnot DeepInfra
- Scheduled jobs without a always-on instancenot DeepInfra
- Edge compute through Lambda@Edgenot DeepInfra
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
DeepInfra
- Focuses on inference hosting rather than fine-tuning or full training pipelines that competitors like Fireworks AI offer.
- Model selection is limited to what DeepInfra chooses to host, unlike self-managed platforms.
- No published free tier; usage is billed from the first token.
Lambda (AWS Serverless)
- Billed on two axes at once, $0.20 per million requests plus $0.0000166667 per GB-second of duration, so memory settings change the bill as much as traffic does
- Provisioned concurrency, used to avoid cold starts, is charged separately at $0.0000041667 per GB-second whether or not the function runs
- Ephemeral storage beyond the included 512 MB is metered
- Lambda@Edge costs $0.60 per million requests, three times the standard request rate
- VPC use and cross-region data transfer carry EC2 charges on top
Pricing, plan by plan
DeepInfra
$0.08/month- Pay-as-you-go$undefined/mo
- Per-model token pricing from $0.08 to $2.85 per million input tokens
- No long-term contract
- DeepCluster$1.98/month
- Dedicated NVIDIA B300 GPU clusters at $1.98/GPU-hour
Lambda (AWS Serverless)
Free- Free TierFree
- 1M free requests/month
- 400,000 GB-seconds/month
- Always free
Which should you pick?
Choose DeepInfra if
- You need open model hosting.
- You work on web, api.
- You also want pay-per-token pricing.
Choose Lambda (AWS Serverless) if
- You need function-as-a-service.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Api.
- You also want event-driven execution.
Questions people ask
- Is DeepInfra or Lambda (AWS Serverless) better?
- Neither clearly leads. DeepInfra starts at $0.08/month and Lambda (AWS Serverless) at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, DeepInfra or Lambda (AWS Serverless)?
- Lambda (AWS Serverless) has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $0.08/month for DeepInfra and Free for Lambda (AWS Serverless).
- Does DeepInfra or Lambda (AWS Serverless) run on more platforms?
- DeepInfra runs on web, api. Lambda (AWS Serverless) runs on Web, Api.
- Can I use Lambda (AWS Serverless) for free?
- Yes. Lambda (AWS Serverless) has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. DeepInfra starts at $0.08/month.
- What is DeepInfra best used for?
- DeepInfra is most often used for running open-source llm inference without managing gpus, serving speech and image generation models via api, cost-sensitive production inference at scale, reserved gpu capacity via deepcluster for steady workloads. Of those, running open-source llm inference without managing gpus and serving speech and image generation models via api are not what Lambda (AWS Serverless) is typically brought in for.
- What can DeepInfra do that Lambda (AWS Serverless) cannot?
- DeepInfra covers Open model hosting, Pay-per-token pricing, Long context support, DeepCluster. Lambda (AWS Serverless) covers Function-as-a-Service, Event-driven execution, Auto-scaling, Pay-per-use.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
DeepInfra: Is there a free tier on DeepInfra?
No free tier is published; usage is billed pay-as-you-go from the first token, though a credit card or pre-payment is required before you can send requests.
SourceDeepInfra: How is usage priced?
Language models are billed per million input/output tokens, other models by inference execution time, and audio models per minute of audio processed, with no minimum commitment.
SourceDeepInfra: What are the Standard, Priority, and Flex tiers?
Standard is default best-effort pricing at 1x, Priority costs 1.5x for faster time-to-first-token during peak demand, and Flex costs 0.8x for non-production or asynchronous workloads.
SourceDeepInfra: How does billing scale with spend?
Accounts advance through usage tiers as cumulative payments cross $20, $100, $500, $2,000, and $10,000 thresholds, with invoices generated monthly or at each threshold.
SourceDeepInfra: Is there a limit on concurrent requests?
Yes, accounts are limited to 200 concurrent requests by default, though spending limits can also be configured to prevent unexpected charges.
SourceRelated pages
More on Lambda (AWS Serverless)
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