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DeepInfra vs Portworx

DeepInfra logo

DeepInfra

Cloud

Low-cost cloud API for running open-source AI models

From
$0.08/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Portworx logo

Portworx

Cloud

Kubernetes-native storage and data services, priced by the node hour

From
$0.33/node hour
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: DeepInfra focuses on inference hosting rather than fine-tuning or full training pipelines that competitors like Fireworks AI offer.; Portworx bare metal nodes are charged at 1.11 USD per node hour against 0.33 for virtual nodes, so a bare metal cluster costs more than three times a virtualised one for identical capability.
  • They diverge on capability: DeepInfra covers Open model hosting, Portworx covers Container-native volumes.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which DeepInfra and Portworx actually diverge.

Attributes where DeepInfra and Portworx differ
AttributeDeepInfraPortworx
Starting price$0.08/month$0.33/node hour
Pricing modelusage-basedPer node hour
Platformsweb, apiLinux

Identical on both: free tier (No), 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 DeepInfra

  • Open model hosting
  • Pay-per-token pricing
  • Long context support
  • DeepCluster
  • Zero retention policy
  • Real-time metrics

Only in Portworx

  • Container-native volumes
  • Failure domain placement
  • Volume encryption
  • Database automation
  • Disaster recovery
  • Autopilot capacity management
  • Hardware independence

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 Portworx
  • Serving speech and image generation models via APInot Portworx
  • Cost-sensitive production inference at scalenot Portworx
  • Reserved GPU capacity via DeepCluster for steady workloadsnot Portworx

Portworx

  • Running a production PostgreSQL or Cassandra cluster on Kubernetes and needing the data to survive node lossnot DeepInfra
  • A platform team offering self-service databases to developers on an internal Kubernetes platformnot DeepInfra
  • Failing over stateful applications between clusters in different regions as a disaster recovery positionnot DeepInfra
  • An OpenShift estate where the built-in storage option does not meet the availability requirement for stateful setsnot 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.

Portworx

  • Bare metal nodes are charged at 1.11 USD per node hour against 0.33 for virtual nodes, so a bare metal cluster costs more than three times a virtualised one for identical capability.
  • A 1,000 node hour monthly minimum applies, which means small or intermittent clusters pay for capacity they do not consume.
  • Replicating volumes across nodes consumes real capacity and network bandwidth, so the underlying infrastructure cost rises alongside the licence in a way the node hour rate does not show.
  • Pure Storage ownership means roadmap priorities are set by an array vendor, and buyers should confirm that hardware independence remains contractual rather than assumed.
  • Operating it well requires Kubernetes storage expertise, and teams that adopted Kubernetes to simplify operations often find they have added a distributed storage system to run.

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

Portworx

$0.33/node hour
  • Portworx Enterprise on virtual machine nodes$0.33/node hour
    • Minimum 1,000 node hours per month
    • Replicated persistent volumes
    • Encryption and disaster recovery
  • Portworx Enterprise on bare metal nodes$1.11/node hour
    • Minimum 1,000 node hours per month
    • Same capabilities on bare metal clusters
    • Higher rate reflects node density

Which should you pick?

Choose DeepInfra if

  • You need open model hosting.
  • You work on web, api.
  • You also want pay-per-token pricing.
DeepInfra review

Choose Portworx if

  • You need container-native volumes.
  • You work on Linux.
  • You also want failure domain placement.
Portworx review

Questions people ask

Is DeepInfra or Portworx better?
Neither clearly leads. DeepInfra starts at $0.08/month and Portworx at $0.33/node hour, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, DeepInfra or Portworx?
DeepInfra starts at $0.08/month and Portworx at $0.33/node hour.
Does DeepInfra or Portworx run on more platforms?
DeepInfra runs on web, api. Portworx runs on Linux.
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 Portworx is typically brought in for.
What can DeepInfra do that Portworx cannot?
DeepInfra covers Open model hosting, Pay-per-token pricing, Long context support, DeepCluster. Portworx covers Container-native volumes, Failure domain placement, Volume encryption, Database automation.

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.

Source
Portworx: Is Portworx tied to Pure Storage hardware?

No. It runs on any Kubernetes distribution over any underlying storage, though Pure has owned it since 2020 and sets the roadmap.

DeepInfra: 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.

Source
Portworx: What does a real cluster cost?

At 0.33 USD per virtual node hour, twenty nodes running continuously is roughly 4,800 USD a month. Bare metal at 1.11 USD per node hour is around 16,000 USD for the same node count.

DeepInfra: 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.

Source
Portworx: Is backup included?

No. Portworx Backup is a separately priced product covering Kubernetes application backup.

DeepInfra: 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.

Source
DeepInfra: 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.

Source
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