Takeaways
- AWS P5 gives you multi-node clusters with 8× H100s per node, 3200 Gbps networking, and 30.7 TB NVMe priced at ~$55-66/hr (varies by region).
- Want the cheapest, no-commitment way to fine-tune or serve models? Thunder Compute offers H100 80 GB for $1.38/hr, billed per second with persistent storage and one-click instance creation in VS Code.
- AWS adds separate costs for storage and data egress, up to $0.08/GB/month for EBS and $0.09/GB for egress after 100 GB.
- AWS requires quotas and has a 60-second billing minimum. Thunder Compute doesn't.
AWS P5 Instances
There are different types of AWS P5 instances, each with its dedicated GPU accelerator:
| Instance | GPU | Variants |
|---|---|---|
| P5 | NVIDIA H100 | p5.4xlarge (1 GPU), p5.48xlarge (8 GPUs) |
| P5e | NVIDIA H200 | — |
| P5en | NVIDIA H200 | p5en.48xlarge (8 GPUs) |
AWS P5 Pricing (June 2026)
| Provider | SKU | GPUs | Memory per GPU | Hourly price | Price per-GPU |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AWS | P5 p5en.48xlarge | 8 × H200 | 80 GB | $63.30-$79.12** | $7.91-$9.89 |
| AWS | P5 p5.48xlarge | 8 × H100 | 80 GB | $55.04-$68.80** | $6.88-$8.60 |
| AWS | P5 p5.4xlarge | 1 × H100 | 80 GB | $6.88 | $6.88 |
| AWS | P4de.24xlarge* | 8 × A100 | 80 GB | $27.45 | $3.43 |
| AWS | P4d.24xlarge* | 8 × A100 | 40 GB | $21.96 | $2.75 |
| Thunder Compute | H100 80 GB - Development | 1-2 × H100 | 80 GB | $1.38-$2.76 | $1.38 |
| Thunder Compute | H100 80 GB - Production | 1-8 × H100 | 80 GB | $2.49-$19.92 | $2.49 |
| *AWS P4 instances added for reference. Full A100 Pricing Comparison. **AWS pricing varies by region and is subject to quotas. Last update: May 12. |
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Specs Comparison
| Feature | AWS P5 | AWS P5en | Thunder Compute |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPUs | 8 × H100 | 8 × H200 | 1 × H100 |
| GPU Memory | 640GB | 1128GB | 80GB |
| System RAM | 2TiB | 2TiB | 32-128GB |
| Storage | 30.7 TB NVMe (ephemeral) | 57.6 TB NVMe (ephemeral) | Persistent block storage |
| Billing | Per-second (60s minimum) | Per-second (60s minimum) | Per minute |
| Storage Cost | EBS $0.08/GB | Same | $0.15/GB/month |
| Snapshots | Standard $0.05/GB | Same | $0.05/GB (compressed) |
| Egress | $0.09/GB (after 100GB) | Same | N/A |
Quick cost calculations
At $1.38 and $6.88 there is a wide pricing difference between Thunder Compute and AWS p5.4xlarge instances.
Thunder Compute is ~5x cheaper
If you don't need P5-level networking, Thunder Compute is cheaper by a large margin for nearly all fine-tuning, eval, and model serving tasks.
Storage and Persistence
AWS uses ephemeral storage; persistence requires EBS volumes ($0.08/GB/mo), snapshots, and egress costs.
Thunder Compute is persistent by default. You can stop and resume without data loss, with one-click snapshots and spec changes.
Billing and Availability
AWS bills per-second with a 60-second minimum, and many GPU families (like P5) require a quota request (see AWS quotas).
Thunder Compute bills per minute and has no minimums, no quotas, and no lock-in.
As shown on this chart, Thunder Compute is cheaper across the board given AWS' 60 second minimum and its premium price.
When to Choose Each
Use AWS P5 if:
- You need UltraCluster networking
- You're running massively parallel H100 jobs
- You require tight AWS service integration
Use Thunder Compute if:
- You want the cheapest A100 80 GB
- You need persistent storage and snapshots
- You want no lock-in and a simple interface
Get Started
- Spin up an H100 for $1.38/hr with persistent storage and per-minute billing on Thunder Compute.
- If needed, you can migrate to AWS P5 later for high-scale training.
Last Thoughts on AWS P5 Pricing
AWS P5 instances are built for large-scale training. That makes them hard to beat if you need 8-GPU H100 or H200 clusters with ultra-fast networking. But that power comes with complexity: quota requests, ephemeral storage, and extra costs for EBS, snapshots, and egress add up fast.
For most fine-tuning, eval, and inference workloads, Thunder Compute covers the same GPU hardware at a fraction of the cost, with none of the setup friction. Start there and scale to AWS if you outgrow it.
Discover current cloud pricing for NVIDIA H100 instances or learn What is a Neocloud?.