What is the cheapest A100 80GB cloud in August 2025?

Thunder Compute offers A100 80GB instances at $0.78/hr billed per second—more than 2× cheaper than Crusoe Cloud's $1.65–$1.95/hr.

Does Crusoe Cloud bill by the second?

No. Crusoe Cloud bills GPU time by the minute, while Thunder Compute bills per second, which is more cost-effective for short jobs.

Can I resize Thunder Compute instances on the fly?

Yes. Thunder Compute supports live changes to RAM, CPU, and disk without downtime.

Is Crusoe Cloud cheaper if I commit long-term?

Yes. Crusoe offers 6–36 month reserved instances with 20–35% savings, but requires a commitment upfront.

Which provider has better dev experience?

Thunder Compute offers one-click VS Code, persistent storage, live spec changes, and per-second billing—making it easier and faster to use.

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Crusoe Cloud vs Thunder Compute (August 2025)

A100 80 GB price showdown and feature‑by‑feature comparison

Published:

Aug 1, 2025

Last updated:

Aug 1, 2025

Crusoe Cloud vs Thunder Compute: A100 GPU Comparison (August 2025)

Looking for cheap A100s? Here’s how Crusoe Cloud compares to Thunder Compute across pricing, billing, flexibility, and ease of use.

1. A100 80GB Pricing (On-Demand)

Provider	A100 80GB Price	Billing Granularity	Reserved Pricing
Thunder Compute	$0.78/hr	Per second	No commitment
Crusoe Cloud (PCIe)	$1.65/hr	Per minute	6–36 month discounts
Crusoe Cloud (SXM)	$1.95/hr	Per minute	6–36 month discounts

Sources:
– Crusoe Cloud pricing
– Crusoe pricing FAQ

Thunder Compute is over 2× cheaper than Crusoe’s base price, with no lock-in or commitments.

2. Persistent Storage and Egress

Feature	Thunder Compute	Crusoe Cloud
Persistent storage	$0.15/GB/mo	$0.08–0.09/GB/mo
Snapshots	Yes (instant)	Yes
Egress within region	Free	Standard egress fees

Source: Crusoe storage documentation

Crusoe’s block storage is cheaper, but Thunder’s GPU savings typically outweigh storage cost differences.

3. Flexibility and Instance Management

Thunder Compute: Resize CPU, RAM, and disk live. Persistent storage tied to instance. No contracts, no waitlist, no limits per account.
Crusoe Cloud: PCIe A100s often limited to one per VM. SXM A100s tied to full-node allocations. Reserved pricing requires advance planning and longer commitments.

Also see the GPU cloud availability tracker for current Crusoe capacity.

4. Developer Experience

Feature	Thunder Compute	Crusoe Cloud
One-click VS Code in-browser	✅	❌
Per-second billing	✅	❌
Live hardware config changes	✅	❌
CLI + simple browser UI	✅	✅
Green energy story	⚪️	✅ (flare gas)

Thunder prioritizes speed and simplicity—ideal for fast iteration. Crusoe emphasizes sustainability and reserved cluster usage.

5. Verdict: Which to Choose?

If you need flexible, low-cost A100s with no commitment and simple UX, Thunder Compute is the winner.
If you need long-term reservations or are optimizing for carbon offsets, Crusoe Cloud may appeal—but expect to pay more up front.

Quick Summary

Question	Winner
Lowest on-demand A100 price	Thunder Compute
Best for quick prototyping	Thunder Compute
Cheapest persistent storage	Crusoe Cloud
Best long-term discounts	Crusoe Cloud
Simplest billing + developer interface	Thunder Compute

Carl Peterson

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Crusoe Cloud vs Thunder Compute (August 2025)