AI · head to head
Replicate vs Scaleway
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Replicate private model deployments are billed for all the time instances are online, including setup and idle time, not only for processing; Scaleway no free tier or trial period mentioned on homepage
- They diverge on capability: Replicate covers Model hosting, Scaleway covers Virtual Instances.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Replicate and Scaleway actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (usage-based), 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 Replicate
- Model hosting
- Simple API
- Auto-scaling
- Custom models
- REST API
- Python client
- JavaScript client
- Cloud support
Only in Scaleway
- Virtual Instances
- Bare Metal
- Kubernetes Kapsule
- Object Storage
- Serverless Functions
- Managed Databases
- Container Registry
- Load Balancer
Both cover
- Api support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Replicate
- Running open source machine learning models through a hosted API without managing GPUsnot Scaleway
- Deploying and serving a custom or fine tuned model on rented GPU hardwarenot Scaleway
- Per second billed batch image, video and language model inferencenot Scaleway
Scaleway
- Web hostingnot Replicate
- Container orchestrationnot Replicate
- Development environmentsnot Replicate
- Data storagenot Replicate
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Replicate
- Private model deployments are billed for all the time instances are online, including setup and idle time, not only for processing
- Multi-GPU A100, H100, H200 and L40S capacity beyond the listed configurations is only available with a committed spend contract
- The pricing page publishes no free tier allowance
Scaleway
- No free tier or trial period mentioned on homepage
- Specific pricing requires navigating to individual product category pages
- Base pricing starts at 4.99 EUR per month but varies significantly by service type
Pricing, plan by plan
Replicate
Free- Pay-as-you-go$null/usage
- Billed by execution time for public models
- CPU Small: $0.000025/second ($0.09/hour)
- 8x Nvidia A100 GPUs: $0.0112/second ($40.32/hour)
- Enterprise$null/custom
- Dedicated account manager
- Priority support
- Higher GPU limits
Scaleway
Free- DEV1-S$7.99/month
- 2 vCPU
- 2GB RAM
- 20GB SSD
Which should you pick?
Choose Replicate if
- You need model hosting.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Api, Cloud.
- You also want simple api.
Choose Scaleway if
- You need virtual instances.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Api, Cli.
- You also want bare metal.
Questions people ask
- Is Replicate or Scaleway better?
- Neither clearly leads. Replicate starts at Free and Scaleway at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Replicate or Scaleway?
- Replicate starts at Free and Scaleway at Free.
- Does Replicate or Scaleway run on more platforms?
- Replicate runs on Api, Cloud. Scaleway runs on Web, Api, Cli.
- Can I use Replicate for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Replicate best used for?
- Replicate is most often used for running open source machine learning models through a hosted api without managing gpus, deploying and serving a custom or fine tuned model on rented gpu hardware, per second billed batch image, video and language model inference. Of those, running open source machine learning models through a hosted api without managing gpus and deploying and serving a custom or fine tuned model on rented gpu hardware are not what Scaleway is typically brought in for.
- What can Replicate do that Scaleway cannot?
- Replicate covers Model hosting, Simple API, Auto-scaling, Custom models. Scaleway covers Virtual Instances, Bare Metal, Kubernetes Kapsule, Object Storage. Both handle Api support.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Replicate: How much does Replicate cost?
Replicate uses pay-as-you-go pricing based on model execution time and compute type. Costs range from $0.09/hour for CPU (Small) to $40.32/hour for 8x Nvidia A100 GPUs. Some models charge per input/output tokens instead of time.
SourceScaleway: Does Scaleway have a free tier?
Scaleway does not mention a free tier or trial period on its pricing or homepage. Users must select specific services to see rates.
SourceReplicate: Does Replicate offer a free tier?
Yes, Replicate is free to start with pay-as-you-go pricing. There are no subscription tiers or minimum commitments; you pay only for what you use.
SourceScaleway: What is Scaleway's pricing model?
Scaleway uses transparent, usage-based pricing that varies by service. Different categories (bare metal, compute, AI, storage, network) have separate pricing. Dedibox servers start at 4.99 EUR per month.
SourceReplicate: What is the difference between public and private models?
Public models are billed by execution time. Private models are billed for all instance uptime including setup, idle, and active processing time, except for fast-booting fine-tunes which are billed only during active processing.
SourceScaleway: How does Scaleway billing work?
Scaleway emphasizes transparent, predictable billing where customers know exactly what they'll pay. Users must select products and view pricing within each category.
SourceRelated pages
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- Replicate vs D-ID
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- Replicate vs Together AI
- Replicate vs RunPod
- Replicate vs AI21 Labs
- Replicate vs Lambda Labs
- Replicate vs Banana
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- Replicate vs Modal
- Replicate vs Stable Diffusion
- Replicate vs Adobe Firefly
- Replicate vs Amazon Q Developer
- Replicate vs Anyword
- Replicate vs Avathon
- Replicate vs C3 AI Suite
- Replicate vs DigitalOcean
- Replicate vs AWS (Amazon Web Services)
- Replicate vs Neon
- Replicate vs Grafana Cloud
- Replicate vs OVHcloud
- Replicate vs Hetzner Cloud
- Replicate vs Linode
- Replicate vs Vultr
- Replicate vs Wasabi
- Replicate vs Portworx
- Replicate vs Qovery
- Replicate vs Porter
- Replicate vs Serverless Framework
- Replicate vs Vagrant
- Replicate vs VictoriaMetrics
- Replicate vs Akamai
- Replicate vs Alibaba Cloud
- Scaleway vs Anthropic API
- Scaleway vs Pika
- Scaleway vs D-ID
- Scaleway vs Fathom
- Scaleway vs Together AI
- Scaleway vs RunPod
- Scaleway vs AI21 Labs
- Scaleway vs Lambda Labs
- Scaleway vs Banana
- Scaleway vs CoreWeave
- Scaleway vs Modal
- Scaleway vs Stable Diffusion
- Scaleway vs Adobe Firefly
- Scaleway vs Amazon Q Developer
- Scaleway vs Anyword
- Scaleway vs Avathon
- Scaleway vs C3 AI Suite
- Scaleway vs DigitalOcean
- Scaleway vs AWS (Amazon Web Services)
- Scaleway vs Neon
- Scaleway vs Grafana Cloud
- Scaleway vs OVHcloud
- Scaleway vs Hetzner Cloud
- Scaleway vs Linode
- Scaleway vs Vultr
- Scaleway vs Wasabi
- Scaleway vs Portworx
- Scaleway vs Qovery
- Scaleway vs Porter
- Scaleway vs Serverless Framework
- Scaleway vs Vagrant
- Scaleway vs VictoriaMetrics
- Scaleway vs Akamai
- Scaleway vs Alibaba Cloud


