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Northflank vs Together AI

Northflank logo

Northflank

Cloud

The runtime platform for AI-native companies

From
Free
Rated
-
Together AI logo

Together AI

AI

Open-source AI at scale

From
Free
Rated
-

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Northflank pricing complexity with multiple rate dimensions; Together AI free tier limits not clearly specified in pricing documentation
  • They diverge on capability: Northflank covers Application deployments, Together AI covers Open-source models.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Northflank and Together AI differ
AttributeNorthflankTogether AI
Pricing modelUnknownusage-based
PlatformsAWS, GCP, Azure, On-premisesApi, Cloud
CategoryCloudAI
FoundedUnknown2022

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 Northflank

  • Application deployments
  • GPU support
  • Preview environments
  • Database management
  • Multi-cloud support
  • GitOps integration

Only in Together AI

  • Open-source models
  • Fine-tuning
  • Fast inference
  • Embeddings
  • REST API
  • Python SDK
  • OpenAI compatible
  • Api support

What people use each for

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

Northflank

  • Deploying AI inference models with GPU accelerationnot Together AI
  • Running training workloads on distributed GPUsnot Together AI
  • Building microservices with multi-cloud reliabilitynot Together AI

Together AI

  • LLM inference for production AI applicationsnot Northflank
  • Content generation at scalenot Northflank
  • Code execution and embeddingsnot Northflank
  • Model fine-tuning and trainingnot Northflank
  • Startup and enterprise AI deploymentnot Northflank

Where each one falls short

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

Northflank

  • Pricing complexity with multiple rate dimensions
  • GPU costs can be expensive for large-scale deployments
  • Learning curve for Kubernetes concepts

Together AI

  • Free tier limits not clearly specified in pricing documentation
  • Pricing varies significantly by model and use case
  • Requires account setup for production access
  • Batch API discounts apply only to non-urgent workloads

Pricing, plan by plan

Northflank

Free
  • Sandbox (Free)Free
    • Always-on compute with no sleeping
    • 2 free services
    • 1 free database
  • Pay-as-you-go$undefined/usage
    • CPU: $0.01667 per vCPU per hour
    • Memory: $0.00833 per GB per hour
    • Network egress: $0.06 per GB
  • Enterprise$undefined/custom
    • Custom pricing with volume discounts
    • Invoice-based billing
    • Annual commitments

Together AI

Free
  • Serverless Inference$0.03/1M input tokens
    • Chat and Vision models
    • Image generation
    • Video generation
  • Provisioned Throughput$21600/month
    • Up to 83% savings vs commercial alternatives
    • Reserved capacity
    • Guaranteed throughput
  • Dedicated Inference$5.49/hour
    • H100 GPU instance
    • Single-tenant deployment
    • No resource sharing
  • GPU Clusters$3.99/GPU-hour
    • On-demand capacity
    • Volume discounts available
    • Reserved options with up to 35% savings

Which should you pick?

Choose Northflank if

  • You need application deployments.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on AWS, GCP, Azure, On-premises.
  • You also want gpu support.

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 Northflank or Together AI better?
Neither clearly leads. Northflank 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, Northflank or Together AI?
Northflank starts at Free and Together AI at Free.
Does Northflank or Together AI run on more platforms?
Northflank runs on AWS, GCP, Azure, On-premises. Together AI runs on Api, Cloud.
Can I use Northflank for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Northflank best used for?
Northflank is most often used for deploying ai inference models with gpu acceleration, running training workloads on distributed gpus, building microservices with multi-cloud reliability. Of those, deploying ai inference models with gpu acceleration and running training workloads on distributed gpus are not what Together AI is typically brought in for.
What can Northflank do that Together AI cannot?
Northflank covers Application deployments, GPU support, Preview environments, Database management. Together AI covers Open-source models, Fine-tuning, Fast inference, Embeddings.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Northflank: What is included in the free Sandbox tier?

The Sandbox includes always-on compute, 2 free services, 1 free database, 2 free cron jobs, and is perfect for testing applications.

Source
Together AI: Does Together AI offer a free tier?

Yes, Together AI advertises 'Start for free, scale on demand,' but specific free tier usage limits are not detailed on the pricing page.

Source
Northflank: How much does CPU cost on Northflank?

CPU costs $0.01667 per vCPU per hour on pay-as-you-go pricing.

Source
Together AI: What are Together AI's highest model prices?

Serverless inference pricing ranges from free for base models up to $4.40 per 1M input tokens for premium models. Video generation costs $0.14 to $3.20 per video depending on resolution.

Source
Northflank: What GPUs are available?

GPU options include NVIDIA L4 at $0.80/hr through H100 at $2.74/hr.

Source
Together AI: How much can I save with Provisioned Throughput?

Together AI offers up to 83% savings compared to commercial alternatives when using their Provisioned Throughput option with reserved capacity.

Source
Together AI: What is Together AI's fine-tuning pricing?

Standard fine-tuning costs $0.48 to $2.90 per 1M tokens depending on model size, with a minimum charge of $4.00 per job.

Source
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