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Software · head to head

Packer vs Together AI

P

Packer

Software

Build automated machine images

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Together AI logo

Together AI

Software

Open-source AI at scale

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Packer packer 1.10.0 and later is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1 with IBM Corporation as licensor, not an OSI open source licence; Together AI fine tuning carries a minimum charge of $4.00 per job regardless of dataset size
  • They diverge on capability: Packer covers Image building, Together AI covers Open-source models.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Packer and Together AI differ
AttributePackerTogether AI
Pricing modelopen-sourceusage-based
PlatformsLinux, Windows, MacApi, Cloud
Founded20132022

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).

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 Packer

  • Image building
  • Multi-platform support
  • Provisioners
  • Builders
  • Post-processors
  • Variables
  • Data sources
  • Validation

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.

Packer

  • Building identical machine images for multiple clouds from one templatenot Together AI
  • Baking golden AMIs and VM images into a CI pipelinenot Together AI
  • Creating immutable infrastructure artifacts consumed by Terraformnot Together AI

Together AI

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

Where each one falls short

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

Packer

  • Packer 1.10.0 and later is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1 with IBM Corporation as licensor, not an OSI open source licence
  • The Additional Use Grant forbids offering Packer to third parties on a hosted or embedded basis in a paid product that competes with IBM's paid versions of Packer
  • Each version converts to the MPL 2.0 Change License only four years after that version is first published, and the Change Date is set separately per version
  • Alternative licensing for uses outside the grant must be arranged with the licensor rather than taken under the public licence

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

Packer

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Multi-platform image building
    • Template-driven
    • Provisioner support

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 Packer if

  • You need image building.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, Mac.
  • You also want multi-platform support.
Packer review

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.
Together AI review

Questions people ask

Is Packer or Together AI better?
Neither clearly leads. Packer 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, Packer or Together AI?
Packer starts at Free and Together AI at Free.
Does Packer or Together AI run on more platforms?
Packer runs on Linux, Windows, Mac. Together AI runs on Api, Cloud.
Can I use Packer for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Packer best used for?
Packer is most often used for building identical machine images for multiple clouds from one template, baking golden amis and vm images into a ci pipeline, creating immutable infrastructure artifacts consumed by terraform. Of those, building identical machine images for multiple clouds from one template and baking golden amis and vm images into a ci pipeline are not what Together AI is typically brought in for.
What can Packer do that Together AI cannot?
Packer covers Image building, Multi-platform support, Provisioners, Builders. Together AI covers Open-source models, Fine-tuning, Fast inference, Embeddings.
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