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Lambda vs Portworx

Lambda logo

Lambda

Cloud

GPU supercomputers for AI training and inference at enterprise scale

From
On request
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: Lambda no free tier or trial, requiring immediate commitment for testing; 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: Lambda covers Superclusters, Portworx covers Container-native volumes.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Lambda and Portworx actually diverge.

Attributes where Lambda and Portworx differ
AttributeLambdaPortworx
Starting priceOn request$0.33/node hour
Pricing modelPay-as-you-go hourly pricing with volume discounts for reserved capacityPer node hour
PlatformsCloudLinux
Founded2012Unknown

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 Lambda

  • Superclusters
  • 1-Click Clusters
  • On-demand instances
  • Liquid cooling
  • InfiniBand networking
  • Managed orchestration
  • Co-engineering support

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.

Lambda

  • Training foundation models at scale with dedicated GPU infrastructurenot Portworx
  • Large-scale inference serving on enterprise-grade hardwarenot Portworx
  • Multi-GPU distributed training with InfiniBand networkingnot Portworx
  • Single-tenant secure compute for regulated industriesnot Portworx
  • AI lab infrastructure for frontier model developmentnot Portworx

Portworx

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

Where each one falls short

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

Lambda

  • No free tier or trial, requiring immediate commitment for testing
  • Single-tenant Superclusters require custom pricing discussions
  • Pricing complexity across multiple GPU types and cluster sizes
  • Less suitable for experimentation or small teams with tight budgets

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

Lambda

On request
  • 1-Click Clusters B200$undefined/hourly
    • 16 GPUs: $9.86/GPU/hour
    • 256+ GPUs: $8.87/GPU/hour
    • 1-year+ reserved discounts available
  • 1-Click Clusters H100$undefined/hourly
    • 16 GPUs: $6.16/GPU/hour
    • 256+ GPUs: $5.54/GPU/hour
  • On-Demand Instances B200$undefined/hourly
    • SXM6: $6.69/GPU/hour
  • On-Demand Instances H100$undefined/hourly
    • SXM: $3.99/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 Lambda if

  • You need superclusters.
  • You work on Cloud.
  • You also want 1-click clusters.
Lambda 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 Lambda or Portworx better?
Neither clearly leads. Lambda starts at On request 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, Lambda or Portworx?
Lambda starts at On request and Portworx at $0.33/node hour.
Does Lambda or Portworx run on more platforms?
Lambda runs on Cloud. Portworx runs on Linux.
What is Lambda best used for?
Lambda is most often used for training foundation models at scale with dedicated gpu infrastructure, large-scale inference serving on enterprise-grade hardware, multi-gpu distributed training with infiniband networking, single-tenant secure compute for regulated industries. Of those, training foundation models at scale with dedicated gpu infrastructure and large-scale inference serving on enterprise-grade hardware are not what Portworx is typically brought in for.
What can Lambda do that Portworx cannot?
Lambda covers Superclusters, 1-Click Clusters, On-demand instances, Liquid cooling. Portworx covers Container-native volumes, Failure domain placement, Volume encryption, Database automation.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Lambda: What makes Lambda's infrastructure different?

Lambda offers single-tenant Superclusters with exclusive GPU access, liquid cooling, and NVIDIA Quantum-2 InfiniBand networking. The company is 100% focused on AI infrastructure with co-engineering support from teams who built infrastructure for major AI labs.

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.

Lambda: How does pricing work for large clusters?

1-Click Clusters pricing ranges from $5.54-$9.86 per GPU/hour depending on GPU type and cluster size, with volume discounts for 256+ GPUs. Reserved capacity is available at custom pricing for 1-year+ commitments.

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.

Lambda: Which GPU types are available?

Lambda offers NVIDIA B200, H100, A100, and Tesla V100 GPUs. Individual instances range from V100 at $0.79/hour to B200 SXM6 at $6.69/hour. Newer models like Vera Rubin are available in Superclusters.

Source
Portworx: Is backup included?

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

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