Model a local GPU workstation or cluster against rented capacity — hardware, TDP load, persistent storage, depreciation, and the utilization floor at which owning stops paying.
Graph of cumulative expenditures over time (0 to 36 months). Intersecting lines graphically highlight the exact Break-Even point.
Local Owning Net TCO
Cloud Renting (1x)
Hover over any month on the graph to inspect exact TCO numbers & savings breakdown.
Cloud GPU Directory & Price Explorer
Filter and search through detailed specifications, egress policies, storage costs, and hourly rates of 12 major cloud GPU services. Click "Compare" on any GPU configuration to load it into the TCO calculator above.
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RunPod
Standard
Targets developers needing fast, flexible deployments with Secure Cloud (enterprise data centers) and Community Cloud (peer-to-peer distributed networks). Supports containerized pods, serverless endpoints, and dedicated multi-GPU clusters.
Focuses on simplicity, research teams, and enterprise model pre-training. Features the "Lambda Stack"—a pre-configured Ubuntu environment loaded with PyTorch, CUDA, and NCCL.
Specializes in standalone applications and highly scalable Kubernetes clusters mapped across European compliance standards. High-end configurations utilize Intel Sapphire Rapids and NVLink interconnect networks.
Operates as a decentralized bare-metal aggregator, securing enterprise SLA guarantees from data center partners while passing on significant cost reductions, particularly for spot instances.
Billing UnitPer-minute billing with no minimum commitments
Network EgressZero egress fees
Storage Cost$0.10 per GB / month
GPU Model
VRAM
Rate ($/hr)
Alternatives / Spot
Compare
NVIDIA B300 SXM
288 GB
$6.80/hr
Spot: $2.45/hr
NVIDIA B200 SXM6
180 GB
$6.02/hr
Spot: $2.12/hr
NVIDIA H200 SXM
141 GB
$4.54/hr
—
NVIDIA H100 SXM5
80 GB
$2.50/hr
Spot: $1.03/hr
NVIDIA H100 PCIe
80 GB
$2.01/hr
—
NVIDIA A100 SXM4
80 GB
$1.07/hr
Spot: $0.60/hr
NVIDIA L40S PCIe
48 GB
$0.81/hr
Range: $0.72 - $0.91
NVIDIA RTX 4090
24 GB
$0.55/hr
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UpCloud
Standard
Helsinki-headquartered European cloud provider offering single and multi-GPU nodes mapped with dedicated resource configurations. The entire platform operates on 100% renewable energy.
Network EgressZero egress fees within generous fair usage (1 to 48 TB)
Storage Cost$0.12 per GB / month
GPU Model
VRAM
Rate ($/hr)
Alternatives / Spot
Compare
NVIDIA B200
180 GB
$5.20/hr
Range: $5.16 - $5.23
NVIDIA H100 SXM
80 GB
$2.06/hr
Range: $2.05 - $2.08
NVIDIA L40S
48 GB
$1.28/hr
Range: $1.27 - $1.29
NVIDIA L40S Mid
48 GB
$1.43/hr
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NVIDIA L40S High
48 GB
$2.07/hr
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NVIDIA L4
24 GB
$0.66/hr
Range: $0.66 - $0.67
AceCloud
Standard
India-focused private cloud provider specializing in highly competitive local rates, bare-metal isolation, and bypassing complex hyperscaler management. Flat-rate billing with included 24/7 dedicated support.
Operates a massive global, peer-to-peer marketplace that aggregates computing units from crypto mines, independent data centers, and personal machines. Extremely cost-efficient, but does not offer standard enterprise SLAs.
Focuses on direct VS Code SSH execution, live hardware swaps, and persistent workspaces, catering to ML engineers looking for simple, low-cost developer boxes with one-click single GPU access.
Billing UnitPer-minute billing with persistent storage volumes
Network EgressIncluded network egress
Storage Cost$0.15 per GB / month
GPU Model
VRAM
Rate ($/hr)
Alternatives / Spot
Compare
NVIDIA H100 SXM
80 GB
$1.38/hr
Neocloud floor
NVIDIA A100
80 GB
$0.78/hr
Or $0.66/hr floor
NVIDIA RTX A6000
48 GB
$0.35/hr
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CoreWeave
Enterprise
Highly specialized AI hyperscaler, backing massive multi-node training workflows and VFX pipelines. Billed per-second. Capacity is primarily sold in 8-GPU node increments or contracted clusters.
Operates isolated, private GPU environments that eliminate hypervisor overhead, leading to lower per-token costs. Flat-rate pricing with dedicated clusters.
The selected accelerator, the system-component overhead (CPU, RAM, board, cooling, PSU), electricity under sustained TDP load at your tariff, and an annual hardware maintenance reserve. Depreciation is modelled as residual-value decay, because the resale floor moves every generation.
Why does persistent storage show up on the rental side?
Rental price per GPU-hour is the visible line. Storage for datasets and checkpoints is the one that surprises finance at close, so it is priced at a persistent-volume rate rather than assumed to be free.
What is the real break-even variable?
Utilization. Below the break-even utilization percentage in your own inputs, renting wins on total cost regardless of how attractive the sticker price of the hardware looks — and the engine reports that floor explicitly rather than hiding it in a single comparison number.
