What is the difference between Beam and Packet AI?

Beam and Packet AI 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: Beam or Packet AI?

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 Beam and Packet AI?

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 6 different GPU models across both Beam and Packet AI, with 0 models available from both providers.

Beam vs Packet AI

Compare GPU pricing between Beam and Packet AI. Find the best rates for AI training, inference, and ML workloads.

Beam

Provider 1

GPUs Available

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Packet AI

Provider 2

GPUs Available

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Comparison Overview

Total GPU Models

Beam GPUs

Packet AI GPUs

Direct Comparisons

Average Price Difference: $0.30/hour between comparable GPUs

GPU Pricing Comparison

Total GPUs: 6Both available: 1Beam: 2Packet AI: 5

Showing 6 of 6 GPUs

Last updated: 11/6/2026, 7:53:06 PM

GPU Model ↑	Beam Price	Packet AI Price	Price Diff ↕	Sources
A100 SXM 80GB VRAM • Packet AI	Not Available	$0.89/hr★ Best	—	Packet AI
A100 SXM 80GB VRAM • Not Available Packet AI $0.89/hour Updated: 11/1/2026 ★Best Price Packet AI
B200 180GB VRAM • Packet AI	Not Available	$3.75/hr★ Best	—	Packet AI
B200 180GB VRAM • Not Available Packet AI $3.75/hour Updated: 11/1/2026 ★Best Price Packet AI
L40S 48GB VRAM • Packet AI	Not Available	$0.92/hr★ Best	—	Packet AI
L40S 48GB VRAM • Not Available Packet AI $0.92/hour Updated: 11/1/2026 ★Best Price Packet AI
RTX 4090 24GB VRAM • BeamPacket AI	$0.69/hr	$0.39/hr★ Best	↑+$0.30(+77.2%)	Beam Packet AI
RTX 4090 24GB VRAM • Beam $0.69/hour Updated: 11/4/2026 Packet AI $0.39/hour Updated: 11/1/2026 ★Best Price Price Difference:↑+$0.30(+77.2%) Beam Packet AI
RTX 5090 32GB VRAM • Beam	$1.09/hr★ Best	Not Available	—	Beam
RTX 5090 32GB VRAM • Beam $1.09/hour Updated: 11/4/2026 ★Best Price Not Available Beam
RTX PRO 6000 96GB VRAM • Packet AI	Not Available	$0.66/hr★ Best	—	Packet AI
RTX PRO 6000 96GB VRAM • Not Available Packet AI $0.66/hour Updated: 11/1/2026 ★Best Price Packet AI

A100 SXM 80GB VRAM • Packet AI	Not Available	$0.89/hr★ Best	—	Packet AI
A100 SXM 80GB VRAM • Not Available Packet AI $0.89/hour Updated: 11/1/2026 ★Best Price Packet AI
B200 180GB VRAM • Packet AI	Not Available	$3.75/hr★ Best	—	Packet AI
B200 180GB VRAM • Not Available Packet AI $3.75/hour Updated: 11/1/2026 ★Best Price Packet AI
L40S 48GB VRAM • Packet AI	Not Available	$0.92/hr★ Best	—	Packet AI
L40S 48GB VRAM • Not Available Packet AI $0.92/hour Updated: 11/1/2026 ★Best Price Packet AI
RTX 4090 24GB VRAM • BeamPacket AI	$0.69/hr	$0.39/hr★ Best	↑+$0.30(+77.2%)	Beam Packet AI
RTX 4090 24GB VRAM • Beam $0.69/hour Updated: 11/4/2026 Packet AI $0.39/hour Updated: 11/1/2026 ★Best Price Price Difference:↑+$0.30(+77.2%) Beam Packet AI
RTX 5090 32GB VRAM • Beam	$1.09/hr★ Best	Not Available	—	Beam
RTX 5090 32GB VRAM • Beam $1.09/hour Updated: 11/4/2026 ★Best Price Not Available Beam
RTX PRO 6000 96GB VRAM • Packet AI	Not Available	$0.66/hr★ Best	—	Packet AI
RTX PRO 6000 96GB VRAM • Not Available Packet AI $0.66/hour Updated: 11/1/2026 ★Best Price Packet AI

Features Comparison

Beam

Pay-per-millisecond Billing
Only charged when your code runs, no charges for cold starts or server spin-up
Sub-second Cold Starts
Memory snapshots and GPU checkpoint restore bring containers back in seconds, which Beam reports as up to 35x faster than a traditional cold boot
Secure Sandbox Environments
Run untrusted code safely in isolated environments for AI agents and code interpreters
Stateful, Persistent Runtimes
Pause and resume sessions while maintaining filesystem, memory, and running processes
Elastic GPU Scaling
Scale to zero when idle, burst to thousands of containers in seconds
Custom Docker Images
Bring your own Docker images for full environment control, including running the Docker daemon inside containers

Packet AI

Full Root SSH Access
Direct SSH access to GPU instances with full root control and native performance
Browser-Based Development
VS Code and Jupyter environments accessible directly in the browser
OpenAI-Compatible API
Drop-in replacement for OpenAI APIs with automatic model discovery and streaming support
Instant Setup
Deploy GPU instances in under 5 minutes without procurement cycles or contracts
Smart Resource Optimization
Advanced scheduling technology that optimizes GPU utilization and reduces costs

Pros & Cons

Beam

Advantages

Pay-per-millisecond billing with no charges for cold starts
Ultrafast boot times with sub-second cold starts via memory snapshots
GPU selection spanning RTX 4090 through B200, plus InfiniBand cluster nodes
On-demand machines priced flat per machine, including vCPU, RAM, and NVMe storage

Considerations

Serverless GPUs other than the RTX 4090 require a committed-spend agreement
GPU container concurrency is capped on the lower plan tiers
Multi-node InfiniBand clusters are sales-only with no published pricing

Packet AI

Advantages

Fast deployment under 5 minutes
Free unlimited data egress
OpenAI-compatible API for inference
Browser-based development environments (VS Code, Jupyter)

Considerations

B200s currently sold out, H200s coming soon
Newer provider with less established track record
Limited data center locations compared to major clouds

Compute Services

Beam

Inference Endpoints

Deploy high-performance inference endpoints with custom models

Custom model hosting on GPU or CPU
Pre-loading models for fast response times

Sandboxes

Secure code execution environments for AI agents

Run untrusted LLM-generated code safely
Snapshot and restore complete system state

Task Queues

Run large-scale workloads with distributed processing

Audio processing pipelines
Data processing at scale

Packet AI

Pricing Options

Beam

Pay-per-millisecond

Serverless GPU, CPU, and sandbox usage billed by the millisecond with no minimum charges

Committed Spend

Serverless access to GPUs beyond the RTX 4090 is arranged through a committed-spend agreement

On-Demand Machines

Flat hourly price per machine that already includes the vCPU, RAM, and NVMe storage

Reserved Clusters

Multi-node InfiniBand clusters reserved monthly or yearly, quoted through sales

Bring Your Own Cloud

Per-vCPU and per-GB management fee on top of compute billed directly by your own cloud provider

Storage

Persistent volumes and snapshots included up to a capacity threshold, then billed per GB per month

Monthly Plans

Developer plan free with usage, Team plan with a monthly base fee plus usage, and a contact-sales Growth tier

Free Monthly Credits

All plans include monthly free credits that refresh each month

Volume Discounts

Discounts available for high monthly usage, arranged through sales

Packet AI

On-Demand Pricing

Pay per second with no long-term commitments or minimum usage requirements

Smart Scheduling

Advanced resource optimization that reduces costs by eliminating idle GPU time

Getting Started

Beam

Get Started

1
Create an account
Sign up on the Beam platform to receive monthly free credits
2
Set up Python environment
Create a virtual environment and install the Beam SDK
3
Authenticate with API token
Configure your API token to connect to Beam
4
Deploy your first app
Run a function locally, then deploy it as a web endpoint with the Beam CLI

Packet AI

Get Started

1
Sign up in seconds
Quick account creation with no credit card required to start
2
Select GPU type
Choose from available NVIDIA GPUs including RTX Pro 6000, H200s, and B200s
3
Deploy and connect
Instance ready in under 5 minutes with SSH access or web dashboard

Support & Global Availability

Beam

Global Regions

30+ regions spanning the US, EU, Asia-Pacific, and Canada, with workloads routed across clouds and regions in real time

Support

Documentation, public Slack community, and a status page; live chat support on paid plans and a private Slack channel on the top tier

Packet AI