Market insights
Lambda Labs Alternatives: Low-price A100 and H100 Options
August 14, 2025
9 mins read
TL;DR
If you like Lambda’s managed feel but want lower on-demand prices or simpler dev UX, start with Thunder Compute (A100 80 GB at $0.78 per hour, H100 at $1.47 per hour) and compare against Runpod, Crusoe, Voltage Park, Modal, Paperspace, and marketplace options like Vast.ai.
Quick picks
- Cheapest on-demand A100/H100: Thunder Compute (pricing page) – per-second billing, persistent storage, one-click VS Code integration.
- Large marketplace with consumer cards: Vast.ai (overview of GPU marketplace) – crowdsourced supply, many RTX 4090 options.
- Enterprise-y alternative with public rates: Crusoe (on-demand pricing FAQ).
- Low H100 headline price at scale: Voltage Park (pricing) – H100 from $1.99 per hour.
- Serverless and workflows: Modal (pricing) – per-second rates translate to ~$2.50/hr for A100, ~$3.95/hr for H100.
- Broad ecosystem and notebooks: Paperspace via DigitalOcean (pricing details) – H100 on-demand ~$5.95/hr; A100 also available.
Pricing snapshot (A100 and H100)
Rates are on-demand list prices where published. Some providers sell multi-GPU nodes; figures shown are per-GPU where the provider publishes per-GPU pricing.
| Provider | A100 80 GB ($/hr) | H100 80 GB ($/hr) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thunder Compute | 0.78 | 1.47 | Per‑second billing, persistent storage 0.15/GB/mo, snapshots, change vCPU/RAM on the fly, one‑click VS Code. [Thunder pricing] |
| Lambda Labs | 1.79 | 2.99 | Published per‑GPU on their 8× nodes. [Lambda GPU Cloud pricing] |
| Runpod | 1.64–1.74 | from 1.99 | A100 PCIe 1.64, A100 SXM 1.74, H100 starts 1.99. [Runpod pricing] |
| Crusoe Cloud | 1.95 (SXM) | 3.90 | Public on‑demand table. [Crusoe pricing] |
| Voltage Park | n/a | from 1.99 | H100 headline on‑demand price. [Voltage Park pricing] |
| Modal | ~2.50 | ~3.95 | Per‑second rates converted to hourly. [Modal pricing] |
| Paperspace | 3.09 (40 GB) or 3.18 (80 GB) | 5.95 | On‑demand per official docs. [Paperspace pricing] |
Marketplace vs managed clouds (important if you need consumer GPUs)
Marketplaces can deliver the lowest cost, but host consistency varies.
- Vast.ai is a decentralized, peer-to-peer marketplace aggregating GPUs from both individuals and datacenters—including consumer-grade GPUs like RTX 4090—resulting in high supply variability and often lower prices.
- Runpod Community Cloud also lists consumer GPUs with transparent starting prices and community-provided capacity.
If consistent performance, multi-GPU NVLink, or enterprise networking matters, managed clouds (Thunder Compute, Lambda Labs, Crusoe, Voltage Park) are more predictable.
Why teams pick Thunder Compute
- Lowest on-demand A100/H100 rates in this comparison—A100 80 GB for $0.78/hr; H100 for $1.47/hr.
- Developer velocity—one-click VS Code, per-second billing, persistent disks, snapshots, dynamic vCPU/RAM adjustments.
- Simple pricing model—storage at $0.15/GB/month.
See the Thunder Compute pricing page for up-to-date details.
How to choose
- For multi-GPU training with fast interconnect: opt for managed providers that explicitly publish SXM node specs and interconnect performance.
- For fast prototyping or fine-tuning: prioritize per-second billing, quick restart speeds, and persistent storage.
- To minimize cash burn: compare hourly A100 vs H100 costs—A100 often offers more cost-effective compute per token for prototyping models.
- If you need consumer GPUs: good for specific workloads like image generation or lightweight training, but verify VRAM, driver compatibility, and host stability.