Vast.ai vs Lium: which wins in 2026?
Head-to-head on the facts that decide the purchase: real prices in the provider's own unit, minimum, KYC, proof, payment and terms - every number sourced in the linked reviews.
Short answer: Vast.ai wins overall (6.9/10 vs 6.6/10). Lium is the better pick if you care most about ease of use. Facts checked 2026-11-04.
 Vast.ai | Lium | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall score (0-10) | 6.9 | 6.6 |
| Vertical | GPU / AI compute | GPU / AI compute |
| Type | GPU marketplace | GPU marketplace |
| Price from | $0.067 per GPU/hr | $0.160 per GPU/hr |
| Minimum | unknown | unknown |
| KYC | none | none |
| Proof | partial | partial |
| Payment | BTC · fiat | TAO · fiat |
| Contract term | unknown | unknown |
| Maintenance / fee | unknown | unknown |
| Operator | Vast.ai | Saint Kitts and Nevis |
| Facts checked | 2026-11-04 | 2026-11-04 |
// Score breakdown
Vast.ai leads on track record (+1.5), contract terms (+3) · Lium leads on ease of use (+1.5).
why 6.9/10?
why 6.6/10?
// Vast.ai at a glance
The most transparent and cheapest raw-GPU marketplace of the six, run by a real Delaware/California company with no token, but host reliability is genuinely variable (documented mid-job restarts) and storage/bandwidth charges are easy to underestimate.
++ What works
- Open public offers API and host-set prices; no markup on host rates
- Per-second billing with no minimums or rounding
- No token and no KYC; card (Stripe) and crypto (BitPay/Crypto.com) accepted
- Multiple tiers let a buyer trade price for interruptibility
-- What to watch
- Host reliability varies sharply; containers restarted mid-job in a paid benchmark
- Storage is billed continuously even when an instance is stopped; egress/bandwidth is extra
- Vast explicitly does not support getting a host machine working
- Crypto-purchased credits are non-refundable
// Lium at a glance
A real, busy, open-source GPU marketplace with strong datacenter-GPU prices and the best agent/scripting tooling on our list. The trade-offs are structural: offshore terms with no refunds and a $100 liability floor, no SLA, a pseudonymous team, hosts that can read pods on standard nodes, and a supply side whose prices rest on Bittensor emissions still exceeding rental revenue.
++ What works
- Keyless public price, fleet and launch-stats feeds; open-source code with daily activity
- Per-second billing with no minimum; failed starts are not charged
- Strong datacenter-GPU asks (H100 PCIe from $1.79, H200 from $3.60 observed 2026-11-04)
- CLI, Python SDK, REST API and MCP server; account creation without email possible; no KYC published
-- What to watch
- Offshore terms: Saint Kitts and Nevis law, top-ups non-refundable, liability capped at 12-month payments or $100
- No uptime SLA; pods deleted 2 minutes after the balance reaches zero
- On standard nodes the host can read pod files, environment and memory; only TDX CVM nodes are protected
- Emission pool labelled 'burn' routes to the operator's own payout key (UID 47) per public source code
- Supply side subsidised by subnet emissions (~2.3x rental revenue per independent analysis); prices can move sharply
// FAQ
Which is cheaper, Vast.ai or Lium?
Vast.ai is cheaper at $0.067 per GPU/hr versus $0.160 per GPU/hr.
Which is more verifiable, Vast.ai or Lium?
Tie - both publish partial or full proof (partial).
Which needs less KYC, Vast.ai or Lium?
Both have the same KYC stance (none).
Which has the longer track record?
Vast.ai has the longer track record (since 2016).
Scores and facts: meta-reviews with dated sources - Vast.ai · Lium. Method: how we verify. More: all providers compared.