What is the difference between Aquanode and Salad Cloud?

Aquanode and Salad Cloud are both cloud GPU providers offering different pricing models, features, and GPU availability. Use our comparison tool to see real-time pricing and feature differences.

Which is cheaper: Aquanode or Salad Cloud?

Pricing varies by GPU model and usage requirements. Check our real-time comparison table to find the best deals for your specific needs.

Can I switch between Aquanode and Salad Cloud?

Yes, both providers offer flexible cloud GPU services. However, consider factors like data transfer costs, setup time, and specific features when switching between providers.

How many GPU models are available for comparison?

We track pricing for 58 different GPU models across both Aquanode and Salad Cloud, with 0 models available from both providers.

Aquanode vs Salad Cloud

Compare GPU pricing between Aquanode and Salad Cloud. Find the best rates for AI training, inference, and ML workloads.

Aquanode

Provider 1

GPUs Available

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Salad Cloud

Provider 2

GPUs Available

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Comparison Overview

Total GPU Models

Aquanode GPUs

Salad Cloud GPUs

Direct Comparisons

Average Price Difference: $0.24/hour between comparable GPUs

GPU Pricing Comparison

Total GPUs: 58Both available: 14Aquanode: 35Salad Cloud: 37

Showing 15 of 58 GPUs

Last updated: 10/30/2026, 12:33:06 PM

GPU Model ↑	Aquanode Price	Salad Cloud Price	Price Diff ↕	Sources
A100 SXM 80GB VRAM • Aquanode	$1.10/hr★ Best	Not Available	—	Aquanode GPU Price Index
A100 SXM 80GB VRAM • Aquanode $1.10/hour Updated: 10/30/2026 ★Best Price Not Available Aquanode GPU Price Index
B200 180GB VRAM • Aquanode	$9.35/hr★ Best	Not Available	—	Aquanode GPU Price Index
B200 180GB VRAM • Aquanode $9.35/hour Updated: 10/30/2026 ★Best Price Not Available Aquanode GPU Price Index
GTX 1050 Ti 4GB VRAM • Salad Cloud	Not Available	$0.01/hr★ Best	—	Salad API
GTX 1050 Ti 4GB VRAM • Not Available Salad Cloud $0.01/hour Updated: 10/30/2026 ★Best Price Salad API
GTX 1060 6GB VRAM • Salad Cloud	Not Available	$0.02/hr★ Best	—	Salad API
GTX 1060 6GB VRAM • Not Available Salad Cloud $0.02/hour Updated: 10/30/2026 ★Best Price Salad API
GTX 1650 4GB VRAM • Salad Cloud	Not Available	$0.01/hr★ Best	—	Salad API
GTX 1650 4GB VRAM • Not Available Salad Cloud $0.01/hour Updated: 10/30/2026 ★Best Price Salad API
GTX 1660 6GB VRAM • Salad Cloud	Not Available	$0.02/hr★ Best	—	Salad API
GTX 1660 6GB VRAM • Not Available Salad Cloud $0.02/hour Updated: 10/30/2026 ★Best Price Salad API
GTX 1660 SUPER 6GB VRAM • Salad Cloud	Not Available	$0.02/hr★ Best	—	Salad API
GTX 1660 SUPER 6GB VRAM • Not Available Salad Cloud $0.02/hour Updated: 10/30/2026 ★Best Price Salad API
H100 SXM 80GB VRAM • Aquanode	$2.78/hr★ Best	Not Available	—	Aquanode GPU Price Index
H100 SXM 80GB VRAM • Aquanode $2.78/hour Updated: 10/30/2026 ★Best Price Not Available Aquanode GPU Price Index
H200 141GB VRAM • Aquanode	$4.52/hr★ Best	Not Available	—	Aquanode GPU Price Index
H200 141GB VRAM • Aquanode $4.52/hour Updated: 10/30/2026 ★Best Price Not Available Aquanode GPU Price Index
L4 24GB VRAM • Aquanode	$1.10/hr★ Best	Not Available	—	Aquanode GPU Price Index
L4 24GB VRAM • Aquanode $1.10/hour Updated: 10/30/2026 ★Best Price Not Available Aquanode GPU Price Index
L40 40GB VRAM • Aquanode	$0.85/hr★ Best	Not Available	—	Aquanode GPU Price Index
L40 40GB VRAM • Aquanode $0.85/hour Updated: 10/30/2026 ★Best Price Not Available Aquanode GPU Price Index
L40S 48GB VRAM • Aquanode	$0.81/hr★ Best	Not Available	—	Aquanode GPU Price Index
L40S 48GB VRAM • Aquanode $0.81/hour Updated: 10/30/2026 ★Best Price Not Available Aquanode GPU Price Index
MI300X 192GB VRAM • Aquanode	$3.29/hr★ Best	Not Available	—	Aquanode GPU Price Index
MI300X 192GB VRAM • Aquanode $3.29/hour Updated: 10/30/2026 ★Best Price Not Available Aquanode GPU Price Index
RTX 2060 6GB VRAM • Salad Cloud	Not Available	$0.02/hr★ Best	—	Salad API
RTX 2060 6GB VRAM • Not Available Salad Cloud $0.02/hour Updated: 10/30/2026 ★Best Price Salad API
RTX 2070 8GB VRAM • Salad Cloud	Not Available	$0.02/hr★ Best	—	Salad API
RTX 2070 8GB VRAM • Not Available Salad Cloud $0.02/hour Updated: 10/30/2026 ★Best Price Salad API

A100 SXM 80GB VRAM • Aquanode	$1.10/hr★ Best	Not Available	—	Aquanode GPU Price Index
A100 SXM 80GB VRAM • Aquanode $1.10/hour Updated: 10/30/2026 ★Best Price Not Available Aquanode GPU Price Index
B200 180GB VRAM • Aquanode	$9.35/hr★ Best	Not Available	—	Aquanode GPU Price Index
B200 180GB VRAM • Aquanode $9.35/hour Updated: 10/30/2026 ★Best Price Not Available Aquanode GPU Price Index
GTX 1050 Ti 4GB VRAM • Salad Cloud	Not Available	$0.01/hr★ Best	—	Salad API
GTX 1050 Ti 4GB VRAM • Not Available Salad Cloud $0.01/hour Updated: 10/30/2026 ★Best Price Salad API
GTX 1060 6GB VRAM • Salad Cloud	Not Available	$0.02/hr★ Best	—	Salad API
GTX 1060 6GB VRAM • Not Available Salad Cloud $0.02/hour Updated: 10/30/2026 ★Best Price Salad API
GTX 1650 4GB VRAM • Salad Cloud	Not Available	$0.01/hr★ Best	—	Salad API
GTX 1650 4GB VRAM • Not Available Salad Cloud $0.01/hour Updated: 10/30/2026 ★Best Price Salad API
GTX 1660 6GB VRAM • Salad Cloud	Not Available	$0.02/hr★ Best	—	Salad API
GTX 1660 6GB VRAM • Not Available Salad Cloud $0.02/hour Updated: 10/30/2026 ★Best Price Salad API
GTX 1660 SUPER 6GB VRAM • Salad Cloud	Not Available	$0.02/hr★ Best	—	Salad API
GTX 1660 SUPER 6GB VRAM • Not Available Salad Cloud $0.02/hour Updated: 10/30/2026 ★Best Price Salad API
H100 SXM 80GB VRAM • Aquanode	$2.78/hr★ Best	Not Available	—	Aquanode GPU Price Index
H100 SXM 80GB VRAM • Aquanode $2.78/hour Updated: 10/30/2026 ★Best Price Not Available Aquanode GPU Price Index
H200 141GB VRAM • Aquanode	$4.52/hr★ Best	Not Available	—	Aquanode GPU Price Index
H200 141GB VRAM • Aquanode $4.52/hour Updated: 10/30/2026 ★Best Price Not Available Aquanode GPU Price Index
L4 24GB VRAM • Aquanode	$1.10/hr★ Best	Not Available	—	Aquanode GPU Price Index
L4 24GB VRAM • Aquanode $1.10/hour Updated: 10/30/2026 ★Best Price Not Available Aquanode GPU Price Index
L40 40GB VRAM • Aquanode	$0.85/hr★ Best	Not Available	—	Aquanode GPU Price Index
L40 40GB VRAM • Aquanode $0.85/hour Updated: 10/30/2026 ★Best Price Not Available Aquanode GPU Price Index
L40S 48GB VRAM • Aquanode	$0.81/hr★ Best	Not Available	—	Aquanode GPU Price Index
L40S 48GB VRAM • Aquanode $0.81/hour Updated: 10/30/2026 ★Best Price Not Available Aquanode GPU Price Index
MI300X 192GB VRAM • Aquanode	$3.29/hr★ Best	Not Available	—	Aquanode GPU Price Index
MI300X 192GB VRAM • Aquanode $3.29/hour Updated: 10/30/2026 ★Best Price Not Available Aquanode GPU Price Index
RTX 2060 6GB VRAM • Salad Cloud	Not Available	$0.02/hr★ Best	—	Salad API
RTX 2060 6GB VRAM • Not Available Salad Cloud $0.02/hour Updated: 10/30/2026 ★Best Price Salad API
RTX 2070 8GB VRAM • Salad Cloud	Not Available	$0.02/hr★ Best	—	Salad API
RTX 2070 8GB VRAM • Not Available Salad Cloud $0.02/hour Updated: 10/30/2026 ★Best Price Salad API

Features Comparison

Aquanode

Multi-provider GPU marketplace
One live marketplace over the providers Aquanode supports, so the same GPU model can be compared across offers before deploying. Each offer is tagged on-demand or preemptible.
Pods
An Environment (image and installed software) and a Volume (code, checkpoints, data) that persist while the rented machine is released, and can restart on a different GPU, provider or country.
Per-second billing
The machine is billed by the second only while it runs, with no minimum term; a stopped pod rents no machine.
Auto-stop
Opt-in per pod: an idle GPU gets a warning, then its environment and volume are captured and the machine is released.
Jobs
Run a command on a GPU to completion, with automatic retry on a different machine if a provider takes the original one away.
Teams and workspaces
Shared deployments, volumes, API keys and a credit balance owned by the team, with owner, admin and member roles.

Salad Cloud

Community Cloud
On-demand pool of idle consumer GPUs with nodes in 190+ countries, deployed onto through Salad Container Engine.
Salad Container Engine
Managed orchestration that schedules Docker containers onto nodes it does not control, isolates them behind a hypervisor, streams logs, and reallocates work when a node disappears.
Priority Tiers
High, Medium, Low, and Lowest tiers price the same GPU class differently so a workload can trade preemption risk for cost; High is never preempted by other workloads.
Salad Dedicated
Reserved bare metal and virtual machines on contract, starting with RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell, quoted per allocation and term.
Private Cloud
Salad's orchestration stack licensed per deployment on hardware you already own, pooling idle workstation and server GPUs into a private OpenAI-compatible token service.
Managed APIs and Tooling
AI Gateway (an OpenAI-compatible endpoint for open-weight models, in closed beta), Transcription API, Recipes deployment templates, S4 temporary storage, Gateway Service residential IPs, and a Virtual Kubelet for Kubernetes.

Pros & Cons

Aquanode

Advantages

Compares live offers for the same GPU model across several providers from one account and one balance
Billed per second with no minimum commitment, and a stopped pod does not rent a machine
Environment and volume persist across stops and can move to a different provider or region
Failover and automatic job retry on another machine if the chosen card is taken

Considerations

Capacity comes from third-party providers, so availability and network policy vary by offer
Marketplace rates are live minimums that can change between page loads
No spot bidding or committed-use reserved tier is offered

Salad Cloud

Advantages

Aggregating idle consumer hardware gives some of the lowest published per-GPU-hour rates available
Per-second billing with no contracts or minimums; allocation, image download, and cold start are not billed
vCPU and RAM are included with every GPU class at no additional charge
Four priority tiers make interruptibility an explicit, priced choice per container group

Considerations

On-demand catalog is consumer RTX GPUs only — data center accelerators are not offered outside the contracted Dedicated product
Published GPU classes top out at 32 GB of VRAM, limiting the size of a model that fits on a single GPU
Nodes are individually owned machines that can disconnect at any time, so workloads must be stateless or retryable

Compute Services

Aquanode

Salad Cloud

Salad Container Engine on Community Cloud

On-demand container orchestration across the distributed pool of idle consumer GPUs, with more than 40 GPU classes selectable by priority tier.

Salad Dedicated

Reserved bare metal and virtual machines on contract, separate from the on-demand community pool.

CPU-only container groups

Container groups with no GPU attached, billed per vCPU-hour and per GB of RAM per hour, running at the Lowest priority tier.

Pricing Options

Aquanode

On-demand

Per-second billing while an instance runs, with no contract or minimum term

Preemptible

Lower-cost capacity from independent hosts, shown beside on-demand offers in the GPU Availability Index

Storage for pods

Environments and volumes are billed separately for the time they are held

Salad Cloud

Per-second on-demand billing

Published per-GPU-hour rates billed by the second for the time each replica spends running; allocation, image download, and cold start are not charged, and vCPU and RAM are included.

Priority tiers

High, Medium, Low, and Lowest tiers price each GPU class differently - lower tiers cost less and are more interruptible, with Lowest intended for retryable batch work.

CPU-only container groups

Billed per vCPU-hour plus per GB of RAM per hour for container groups that need no GPU.

Volume discounts

Large deployments, long-running jobs, and committed spend are priced below list by sales.

Salad Dedicated contracts

Reserved bare metal and virtual machines quoted separately per allocation and term.

Private Cloud licensing

Licensed per deployment to run the orchestration stack on hardware you already own.

Getting Started

Aquanode

Get Started

1
Create an account
Sign up in the Aquanode console and add credit to the account or team balance.
2
Choose a GPU
Browse live offers in the marketplace and pick a GPU model, provider and region.
3
Launch a pod
Start from a template such as JupyterLab or ComfyUI, or an empty box, and connect by browser terminal, SSH or the aq CLI.
4
Stop when idle
Stop the pod to release the machine and stop the hourly charge; the Environment and Volume are kept and can be started again on another provider.

Salad Cloud

Get Started

1
Create a SaladCloud account
Sign up at portal.salad.com to reach the dashboard, API keys, and deployment tools.
2
Pick a GPU class and priority tier
Compare published per-GPU-hour rates and live availability on the pricing page, then choose the tier that matches how interruptible the workload is.
3
Deploy a container group
Supply a Docker image, CPU/memory/GPU resources, and a replica count through the portal or the public API; Recipes provide ready-made templates for popular open models.
4
Monitor and scale
Track replicas in the portal and adjust GPU class, priority, or replica count; the container engine reallocates work as nodes join and leave the network.
5
Talk to sales for reserved or volume capacity
Large deployments, committed spend, and Salad Dedicated allocations are quoted directly rather than bought self-service.

Support & Global Availability

Aquanode

Global Regions

Capacity is listed across many countries in Europe, Asia and Oceania, varying with live supply. The regions page notes some regions, such as the United States and Canada, can show no listed capacity at a given time.

Support

Documentation at docs.aquanode.io, a Discord community, and a Book a demo / Contact Sales option on the website.

Salad Cloud

Global Regions

Nodes in 190+ countries across the distributed network; capacity is chosen by GPU class and priority tier rather than by selectable region, and availability varies by class.

Support

Documentation at docs.salad.com, a developer hub and Recipes library, status page at cloud-status.salad.com, Trust Center, Discord and GitHub communities, and direct engineering and sales contact for volume and enterprise deployments.