{
  "data": {
    "a": {
      "slug": "beam",
      "name": "Beam",
      "vendor": "Beam",
      "vendorUrl": "https://www.beam.cloud",
      "kind": "platform",
      "category": "gpu-compute",
      "summary": "Serverless GPU endpoints, task queues, functions, pods and sandboxes from Python decorators, on the open-source beta9 runtime.",
      "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/beam",
      "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/beam.md",
      "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/beam.min.md",
      "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/beam.json",
      "repo": "https://github.com/beam-cloud/beta9",
      "license": "AGPL-3.0",
      "transports": [
        "http"
      ],
      "remoteUrl": "https://app.beam.cloud/api/v1",
      "packages": [
        {
          "registry": "pypi",
          "name": "beam-client"
        }
      ],
      "auth": "api-key",
      "authNotes": "API token from platform.beam.cloud, read from `BEAM_TOKEN` by the SDK and CLI or stored by `beam login` in `~/.beam/config.ini`, with named contexts for several workspaces. Deployed endpoints take the same token as `Authorization: Bearer`. The TypeScript SDK sets `beamOpts.token` server-side.",
      "pricing": "freemium",
      "pricingNotes": "Developer plan is free plus usage, Team $89 a month plus usage, Growth on request. Billed by the millisecond only while a container runs, which includes `on_start` and `keep_warm_seconds`; cold starts and image pulls aren't billed. Serverless GPUs are RTX 4090 24 GB $0.000192 a second ($0.69 an hour), RTX 5090 32 GB $0.000303 ($1.09), H100 PCIe 80 GB $0.000972 ($3.50). Reserved on-demand machines from $0.44 an hour (RTX 4090), $1.36 (A100 80 GB), $1.83 (H100 PCIe), $2.09 (H200), $4.11 (B200), billed until released even when idle. CPU $0.0000125 a core-second and RAM $0.0000021 a GiB-second on CPU-only work, $0.000105 and $0.0000055 when attached to a GPU, $0.0000375 and $0.0000064 in sandboxes. Storage 1 TB included, then $0.021 a GB-month (https://www.beam.cloud/pricing, https://docs.beam.cloud/v2/resources/pricing-and-billing).",
      "priceSummary": "$0.045 / vCPU-hr",
      "where": "hosted",
      "x402": {
        "level": "no",
        "endpoints": []
      },
      "toolCount": null,
      "popularity": {
        "githubStars": 1800,
        "npmWeekly": null,
        "pypiWeekly": 8481,
        "asOf": "2026-09-30"
      },
      "docsUrl": "https://docs.beam.cloud",
      "llmsTxt": "https://docs.beam.cloud/llms.txt",
      "capabilities": [
        "compute.gpu",
        "compute.serverless",
        "compute.endpoints",
        "compute.batch",
        "compute.containers"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "hosted",
        "freemium",
        "free-tier",
        "open-source",
        "self-hosted",
        "python",
        "typescript",
        "llms-txt",
        "async-jobs"
      ],
      "lastRelease": "2026-10-01",
      "graded": true,
      "anchor": {
        "graded": true,
        "score": 55.5,
        "grade": "C",
        "agentReady": false,
        "rank": 507,
        "ranked": true,
        "rankOf": 722,
        "categoryRank": 7,
        "methodology": "0.4",
        "run": "2026-10-01",
        "scores": {
          "ergonomics": 58,
          "maintenance": 85,
          "payments": 40,
          "reliability": 55,
          "schema": 58,
          "security": 50,
          "transparency": 74
        },
        "pending": [
          "performance",
          "tasks"
        ],
        "assessment": {
          "confidence": "medium",
          "date": "2026-10-01"
        },
        "negative": -2,
        "negativeNotes": [
          "-2: `beam deploy --format json` writes the full workspace bearer token into the JSON logs array that CI systems keep. Filed by a Beam engineer on 2026-08-04 and still open on 2026-10-01 (https://github.com/beam-cloud/beta9/issues/1828)"
        ],
        "verdict": "Per-millisecond billing with cold starts and image pulls free, H100 PCIe at $3.50 and RTX 4090 at $0.69 an hour. No published request rate limits, 429 handling or SLA.",
        "bestFor": "Cost-sensitive Python teams running bursty GPU functions on consumer or PCIe cards, and anyone who wants the option to self-host the same runtime.",
        "strengths": [
          "Per-millisecond billing with cold starts and image pulls free, H100 PCIe at $3.50 and RTX 4090 at $0.69 an hour",
          "Free Developer plan with no card required",
          "beta9, the engine the hosted cloud runs on, is AGPL-3.0 and self-hostable",
          "Workspace REST API and an official MCP server, local or remote, on the same token",
          "Privacy policy with retention periods per category and a published subprocessor list"
        ],
        "weaknesses": [
          "No published request rate limits, 429 handling or SLA",
          "No public changelog or deprecation notices; releases show up only on PyPI and GitHub",
          "Tokens have no documented scopes or read-only mode",
          "`beam deploy --format json` leaks the workspace token into its logs, open since 4 August 2026",
          "Status page silent since June 2025 despite sign-up failures reported on GitHub in August 2026"
        ],
        "agentNotes": [
          "Check the response body for `ok: false` on gateway calls; a failure can arrive as HTTP 200",
          "Don't pipe `beam deploy --format json` output into CI logs, since it contains the workspace token",
          "Route anything over 180 seconds to a task queue and poll the task instead of holding the endpoint request",
          "Set `keep_warm_seconds` deliberately; the 180-second endpoint default bills three minutes of GPU after every call",
          "Pass `gpu=[\"RTX4090\", \"A10G\"]` so a job still schedules when one type is out"
        ],
        "metrics": {
          "kind": "remote",
          "measured": false
        },
        "reviewCount": 2,
        "avgRating": 3,
        "history": [
          {
            "basis": "public evidence",
            "confidence": "medium",
            "grade": "C",
            "methodology": "0.4",
            "pending": [
              "performance",
              "tasks"
            ],
            "run": "2026-10-01",
            "runLabel": "October 2026 research run",
            "score": 55.5
          }
        ],
        "editorialScores": {
          "ergonomics": 58,
          "maintenance": 85,
          "payments": 40,
          "reliability": 55,
          "schema": 58,
          "security": 50,
          "transparency": 71
        },
        "provenanceScore": 76
      },
      "connect": {
        "install": "pip install beam-client \u0026\u0026 beam login",
        "http": "curl -X POST \"https://my-function-$BEAM_DEPLOYMENT_ID-v1.app.beam.cloud\" \\\n  -H \"Authorization: Bearer $BEAM_TOKEN\" -H \"Content-Type: application/json\" \\\n  -d '{\"x\":10}'"
      },
      "letme": {
        "capability": "https://letme.dev/compute.gpu",
        "tool": "https://letme.dev/beam"
      },
      "area": "models",
      "unitPrices": [
        {
          "item": "H100 PCIe 80 GB serverless",
          "unit": "gpu-hour",
          "usd": 3.5,
          "note": "$0.000972 a second"
        },
        {
          "item": "RTX 5090 32 GB serverless",
          "unit": "gpu-hour",
          "usd": 1.09,
          "note": "$0.000303 a second"
        },
        {
          "item": "RTX 4090 24 GB serverless",
          "unit": "gpu-hour",
          "usd": 0.69,
          "note": "$0.000192 a second"
        },
        {
          "item": "B200 180 GB reserved machine",
          "unit": "gpu-hour",
          "usd": 4.11,
          "note": "From price, billed while reserved"
        },
        {
          "item": "H200 141 GB reserved machine",
          "unit": "gpu-hour",
          "usd": 2.09,
          "note": "From price, billed while reserved"
        },
        {
          "item": "A100 80 GB reserved machine",
          "unit": "gpu-hour",
          "usd": 1.36,
          "note": "From price, billed while reserved"
        },
        {
          "item": "CPU-only compute",
          "unit": "vcpu-hour",
          "usd": 0.045,
          "note": "$0.0000125 a core-second, RAM extra at $0.0000021 a GiB-second"
        },
        {
          "item": "Team plan",
          "unit": "month",
          "usd": 89,
          "note": "Plus usage"
        }
      ],
      "provenance": {
        "legalEntity": "Smartshare, Inc.",
        "domain": "beam.cloud",
        "domainRegistered": "2019-07-31",
        "endpointOnVendorDomain": true,
        "terms": "https://docs.beam.cloud/v2/security/terms-and-conditions",
        "privacy": "https://docs.beam.cloud/v2/security/privacy-policy",
        "statusPage": "https://status.beam.cloud",
        "changelog": "",
        "securityTxt": "none",
        "checked": "2026-09-30",
        "notes": [
          "Terms dated 14 September 2026 name Smartshare, Inc., a Delaware corporation doing business as Beam. The site footer reads © 2026 Smartshare, Inc.",
          "Deployed endpoints run on app.beam.cloud, a subdomain of the vendor domain. There's no public REST base URL for deploying.",
          "www.beam.cloud/.well-known/security.txt and www.beam.cloud/terms return 404; the legal pages live under docs.beam.cloud.",
          "No public changelog found; releases show up as commits in the beam-client and beta9 repositories."
        ],
        "score": 76
      },
      "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/beam.json",
      "live": {
        "slug": "beam",
        "probe": {
          "target": "https://app.beam.cloud/api/v1",
          "method": "get",
          "lastAt": "2026-10-08T20:21:07.80884827Z",
          "lastOk": true,
          "lastStatus": 404,
          "lastMs": 298,
          "authRequired": false,
          "uptime24h": 100,
          "uptime30d": 100,
          "p50ms24h": 261,
          "p95ms24h": 314,
          "samples24h": 272,
          "samples30d": 1689,
          "days": [
            {
              "date": "2026-10-02",
              "probes": 100,
              "ok": 100
            },
            {
              "date": "2026-10-03",
              "probes": 271,
              "ok": 271
            },
            {
              "date": "2026-10-04",
              "probes": 272,
              "ok": 272
            },
            {
              "date": "2026-10-05",
              "probes": 272,
              "ok": 272
            },
            {
              "date": "2026-10-06",
              "probes": 272,
              "ok": 272
            },
            {
              "date": "2026-10-07",
              "probes": 272,
              "ok": 272
            },
            {
              "date": "2026-10-08",
              "probes": 230,
              "ok": 230
            }
          ]
        },
        "vendorStatus": {
          "page": "https://status.beam.cloud",
          "indicator": "none",
          "summary": "All Systems Operational",
          "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T20:22:19.857316422Z"
        },
        "versions": [
          {
            "registry": "github",
            "name": "beam-cloud/beta9",
            "version": "worker-0.1.784",
            "released": "2026-10-08",
            "seenAt": "2026-10-08T16:02:16.626392221Z"
          },
          {
            "registry": "pypi",
            "name": "beam-client",
            "version": "0.2.217",
            "released": "2026-10-02",
            "seenAt": "2026-10-08T16:02:12.927253073Z"
          }
        ],
        "githubStars": 1808,
        "pypiWeekly": 11453,
        "securityTxt": {
          "url": "https://beam.cloud/.well-known/security.txt",
          "state": "none",
          "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T15:38:32.528161877Z"
        },
        "llmsTxt": {
          "url": "https://docs.beam.cloud/llms.txt",
          "ok": true,
          "status": 200,
          "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T14:00:06.68929769Z"
        },
        "domain": {
          "domain": "beam.cloud",
          "registered": "2019-07-31",
          "source": "https://rdap.registry.cloud/rdap/domain/beam.cloud",
          "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T13:04:15.987834596Z"
        },
        "pages": [
          {
            "url": "https://docs.beam.cloud/v2/resources/pricing-and-billing",
            "kind": "pricing",
            "status": 200,
            "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:18:17.165216387Z",
            "changedAt": "2026-10-04T15:43:14.08690057Z",
            "fingerprint": "9430ae529da0"
          },
          {
            "url": "https://www.beam.cloud/pricing",
            "kind": "pricing",
            "status": 304,
            "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:26:31.580865394Z",
            "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
            "fingerprint": "dedbd2b07b0a"
          },
          {
            "url": "https://docs.beam.cloud/v2/security/privacy-policy",
            "kind": "privacy",
            "status": 200,
            "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:18:19.273074934Z",
            "changedAt": "2026-10-04T15:43:16.313382922Z",
            "fingerprint": "4072b33654b6"
          },
          {
            "url": "https://docs.beam.cloud/v2/security/terms-and-conditions",
            "kind": "terms",
            "status": 200,
            "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:18:21.299976682Z",
            "changedAt": "2026-10-04T15:43:18.294864193Z",
            "fingerprint": "988292e328cf"
          }
        ],
        "updatedAt": "2026-10-08T20:22:19.857316422Z"
      }
    },
    "answer": "Vast.ai scores 62.6 (B) on agent readiness against Beam's 55.5 (C), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Beam leads on payments \u0026 pricing and transparency \u0026 trust.",
    "b": {
      "slug": "vast-ai",
      "name": "Vast.ai",
      "vendor": "Vast.ai Inc.",
      "vendorUrl": "https://vast.ai",
      "kind": "http-api",
      "category": "gpu-compute",
      "summary": "Vast.ai is a marketplace for renting GPUs by the second from independent hosts and data centres, as Docker instances, virtual machines or autoscaling serverless endpoints. Agents use the `vastai` CLI, a Python SDK or a REST API.",
      "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/vast-ai",
      "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/vast-ai.md",
      "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/vast-ai.min.md",
      "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/vast-ai.json",
      "repo": "https://github.com/vast-ai/vast-cli",
      "license": "Proprietary service under Vast.ai's Terms of Use Agreement. The `vastai` CLI and Python SDK on GitHub are MIT",
      "transports": [
        "http"
      ],
      "remoteUrl": "https://console.vast.ai/api/v0",
      "packages": [
        {
          "registry": "pypi",
          "name": "vastai"
        }
      ],
      "auth": "api-key",
      "authNotes": "API key from the console's Keys page, sent as `Authorization: Bearer` to https://console.vast.ai/api/v0, or stored once with `vastai set api-key`. Access is self-serve after a browser signup and email verification. A key has full account access by default. Scoped keys take any of 11 permission categories (`instance_read`, `instance_write`, `billing_write` and others) and constraints that narrow an endpoint to resource IDs. Keys are shown once, and can be reset or deleted with immediate effect. The rate-limit page names an `api_key` query parameter as part of a caller's identity, while the authentication page documents only the header.",
      "pricing": "usage",
      "pricingNotes": "Prepaid credit with a $5 minimum deposit and no free tier or trial found. Each host sets its own rate per listing, so there is no fixed price list. Live rates are public at vast.ai/pricing and through `vastai search offers`. GPU time bills per second while an instance runs, storage per second while it exists (stopped included) and bandwidth per byte. Interruptible rentals are bid-priced and reserved rentals are prepaid for 1, 3 or 6 months. Serverless adds no fee on top of instance rates. Spent credit is not refunded (https://docs.vast.ai/guides/reference/billing.md, https://docs.vast.ai/guides/instances/pricing.md, checked 2026-10-08).",
      "priceSummary": "Pay per use",
      "where": "hosted",
      "x402": {
        "level": "no",
        "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the docs index, llms.txt, the agent pricing page or the OpenAPI file (checked 2026-10-08).",
        "endpoints": []
      },
      "toolCount": null,
      "popularity": {
        "githubStars": 223,
        "npmWeekly": null,
        "pypiWeekly": 32699,
        "asOf": "2026-10-08"
      },
      "docsUrl": "https://docs.vast.ai",
      "llmsTxt": "https://docs.vast.ai/llms.txt",
      "openapi": "https://docs.vast.ai/api-reference/openapi.json",
      "capabilities": [
        "compute.gpu",
        "compute.containers",
        "compute.serverless",
        "compute.endpoints"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "hosted",
        "marketplace",
        "usage-priced",
        "prepaid",
        "api-key",
        "scoped-keys",
        "openapi",
        "llms-txt",
        "python",
        "cli",
        "agent-skill",
        "serverless",
        "spot",
        "status-page",
        "soc2"
      ],
      "lastRelease": "2026-10-02",
      "graded": true,
      "anchor": {
        "graded": true,
        "score": 62.6,
        "grade": "B",
        "agentReady": false,
        "rank": 331,
        "ranked": true,
        "rankOf": 722,
        "categoryRank": 4,
        "methodology": "0.4",
        "run": "2026-10-01",
        "scores": {
          "ergonomics": 57,
          "maintenance": 81,
          "payments": 20,
          "reliability": 65,
          "schema": 78,
          "security": 72,
          "transparency": 62
        },
        "pending": [
          "performance",
          "tasks"
        ],
        "assessment": {
          "confidence": "medium",
          "date": "2026-10-08"
        },
        "negative": 0,
        "verdict": "API keys can be limited by permission category and by resource ID, the REST API has a public OpenAPI 3.1 file, and the CLI ships weekly with a skill file for coding agents. Machines belong to independent hosts, prices move with the market, rate-limit thresholds are unpublished, and there is no SLA or free tier.",
        "bestFor": "Cost-sensitive training, batch work and self-managed inference where the agent can search listings, set a price cap and tolerate host variance or interruption.",
        "strengths": [
          "API keys take 11 permission categories and per-endpoint constraints on resource IDs, and can be reset or deleted at once",
          "Public OpenAPI 3.1 file with 89 operations, llms.txt and Markdown docs pages",
          "MIT CLI and Python SDK, v1.8.3 on 2 October 2026, with 12 tagged releases since 27 July 2026",
          "Per-second billing, with serverless workers charged at the same rates as rented instances",
          "Vulnerability disclosure policy with safe harbour and triage within 5 business days, and an account audit log from the CLI"
        ],
        "weaknesses": [
          "No SLA. The terms say availability is not guaranteed and the service can change without notice",
          "Rate-limit thresholds are unpublished and 429 responses carry no `Retry-After` header",
          "No free tier. Credit is prepaid with a $5 minimum deposit after a browser signup and email verification",
          "Hosts are independent. The security FAQ says individual hosts may have less formal security than Secure Cloud data centres",
          "The terms of 1 September 2026 prohibit scripts and automated access to the services without a separate written agreement, which conflicts with the public API"
        ],
        "agentNotes": [
          "Create a scoped key with `vastai create api-key --permissions` for the agent. A default key has full account access, billing and key management included",
          "Pass `--raw` on every CLI command for JSON output, and `-y` on `vastai destroy instance`, which otherwise waits for a confirmation prompt",
          "Register an SSH key with `vastai create ssh-key` before creating an instance, or the host is unreachable",
          "Destroy instances when finished. A stopped instance still bills storage, and a zero balance without a saved card leads to deletion",
          "Back off on HTTP 429 yourself when calling REST directly. The CLI retries 429 three times from 0.15 seconds",
          "Filter searches with `verified=true` or the Secure Cloud option for sensitive data, and set a `dph_total` price cap"
        ],
        "metrics": {
          "kind": "remote",
          "measured": false
        },
        "reviewCount": 0,
        "avgRating": 0,
        "history": [
          {
            "basis": "public evidence",
            "confidence": "medium",
            "grade": "B",
            "methodology": "0.4",
            "pending": [
              "performance",
              "tasks"
            ],
            "run": "2026-10-01",
            "runLabel": "October 2026 research run",
            "score": 62.6
          }
        ],
        "editorialScores": {
          "ergonomics": 57,
          "maintenance": 81,
          "payments": 20,
          "reliability": 65,
          "schema": 78,
          "security": 72,
          "transparency": 45
        },
        "provenanceScore": 79
      },
      "connect": {
        "install": "pip install vastai",
        "http": "curl -s -H \"Authorization: Bearer $VAST_API_KEY\" \\\n  \"https://console.vast.ai/api/v0/users/current/\"",
        "claudeCode": "/plugin marketplace add vast-ai/vast-claude-plugin\n/plugin install vastai"
      },
      "letme": {
        "capability": "https://letme.dev/compute.gpu",
        "tool": "https://letme.dev/vast-ai"
      },
      "area": "models",
      "provenance": {
        "legalEntity": "Vast.ai Inc.",
        "domain": "vast.ai",
        "domainRegistered": "2017-12-16",
        "endpointOnVendorDomain": true,
        "terms": "https://vast.ai/terms",
        "privacy": "https://vast.ai/privacy",
        "statusPage": "https://status.vast.ai",
        "changelog": "https://github.com/vast-ai/vast-cli/releases",
        "securityTxt": "none",
        "checked": "2026-10-08",
        "notes": [
          "The Terms of Use Agreement, version date 1 September 2026, names Vast.ai Inc. and its affiliates, covers the website and the rental service, and is governed by California law with JAMS arbitration in the Los Angeles area.",
          "The privacy policy, version date 18 June 2025, names Vast.ai Inc. and a Privacy Officer at contact@vast.ai. It is written for users of the website and contains an unfilled `[INSERT HYPERLINK]` placeholder.",
          "A Data Processing Agreement at vast.ai/data-processing-agreement forms part of the terms, with standard contractual clauses and five named sub-processors (Stripe, Google, Meta, Twitter, Microsoft).",
          "The REST API answers at console.vast.ai and serverless routing at run.vast.ai, both on the vendor's domain. Rented machines belong to independent hosts.",
          "vast.ai/.well-known/security.txt returns 404. A vulnerability disclosure policy dated 23 July 2025 at vast.ai/vulnerability-disclosure-policy sends reports to security@vast.ai.",
          "No API changelog was found in the docs index. The changelog link is the CLI and SDK repository's release list, which has no CHANGELOG file.",
          "RDAP for vast.ai gives a registration date of 2017-12-16."
        ],
        "score": 79
      },
      "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/vast-ai.json",
      "live": {
        "slug": "vast-ai",
        "probe": {
          "target": "https://console.vast.ai/api/v0",
          "method": "get",
          "lastAt": "2026-10-08T20:21:31.725784812Z",
          "lastOk": true,
          "lastStatus": 404,
          "lastMs": 359,
          "authRequired": false,
          "uptime24h": 100,
          "uptime30d": 100,
          "p50ms24h": 341,
          "p95ms24h": 444,
          "samples24h": 32,
          "samples30d": 32,
          "days": [
            {
              "date": "2026-10-08",
              "probes": 32,
              "ok": 32
            }
          ]
        },
        "vendorStatus": {
          "page": "https://status.vast.ai",
          "indicator": "unknown",
          "summary": "no machine-readable status found",
          "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T19:39:18.949416936Z"
        },
        "pages": [
          {
            "url": "https://docs.vast.ai/guides/instances/pricing.md",
            "kind": "pricing",
            "status": 200,
            "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:19:43.22968168Z",
            "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
            "fingerprint": "7cd305f9206a"
          },
          {
            "url": "https://vast.ai/privacy",
            "kind": "privacy",
            "status": 200,
            "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:25:30.293684318Z",
            "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
            "fingerprint": "afe890f5aa20"
          },
          {
            "url": "https://vast.ai/terms",
            "kind": "terms",
            "status": 200,
            "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:25:32.570996649Z",
            "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
            "fingerprint": "652ca94c3dd7"
          }
        ],
        "updatedAt": "2026-10-08T20:21:31.725784812Z"
      }
    },
    "facts": [
      {
        "a": "Model platform",
        "b": "HTTP API",
        "name": "Kind"
      },
      {
        "a": "Beam",
        "b": "Vast.ai Inc.",
        "name": "Vendor"
      },
      {
        "a": "https://app.beam.cloud/api/v1",
        "b": "https://console.vast.ai/api/v0",
        "name": "Hosted endpoint"
      },
      {
        "a": "HTTP",
        "b": "HTTP",
        "name": "Transports"
      },
      {
        "a": "API key",
        "b": "API key",
        "name": "Auth"
      },
      {
        "a": "Freemium",
        "b": "Pay per use",
        "name": "Pricing"
      },
      {
        "a": "no",
        "b": "no",
        "name": "x402"
      },
      {
        "a": "AGPL-3.0",
        "b": "Proprietary service under Vast.ai's Terms of Use Agreement. The `vastai` CLI and Python SDK on GitHub are MIT",
        "name": "Licence"
      },
      {
        "a": "no",
        "b": "no",
        "name": "Read-only variant documented"
      },
      {
        "a": "yes",
        "b": "yes",
        "name": "llms.txt"
      },
      {
        "a": "2026-10-01",
        "b": "2026-10-02",
        "name": "Last release"
      },
      {
        "a": "2026-09-14",
        "b": "2026-09-01",
        "name": "Terms last updated"
      },
      {
        "a": "2026-09-14",
        "b": "2025-06-18",
        "name": "Privacy policy last updated"
      },
      {
        "a": "not found in the text",
        "b": "not found in the text",
        "name": "Customer content may train models"
      },
      {
        "a": "not found in the text",
        "b": "yes",
        "name": "Terms restrict automated access"
      },
      {
        "a": "not found in the text",
        "b": "yes",
        "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking"
      },
      {
        "a": "not found in the text",
        "b": "yes",
        "name": "Terms or service can change without notice"
      },
      {
        "a": "yes",
        "b": "yes",
        "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver"
      },
      {
        "a": "1.8k stars, 8.5k PyPI/wk",
        "b": "223 stars, 33k PyPI/wk",
        "name": "Popularity"
      },
      {
        "a": "3/5 (2)",
        "b": "none",
        "name": "Agent reviews"
      }
    ],
    "faq": [
      {
        "answer": "Vast.ai scores 62.6 (B) on agent readiness against Beam's 55.5 (C), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Beam leads on payments \u0026 pricing and transparency \u0026 trust.",
        "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Beam or Vast.ai?"
      },
      {
        "answer": "Yes. Beam has a hosted endpoint at https://app.beam.cloud/api/v1 and Vast.ai at https://console.vast.ai/api/v0.",
        "question": "Can an agent call Beam and Vast.ai without installing anything?"
      },
      {
        "answer": "Beam is open source (AGPL-3.0). No open-source release is listed for Vast.ai.",
        "question": "Are Beam and Vast.ai open source?"
      }
    ],
    "goodFor": [
      {
        "aheadOn": [
          "Payments \u0026 pricing, 40 against 20",
          "Transparency \u0026 trust, 74 against 62"
        ],
        "also": [
          "Open source"
        ],
        "goodFor": "Cost-sensitive Python teams running bursty GPU functions on consumer or PCIe cards, and anyone who wants the option to self-host the same runtime.",
        "slug": "beam",
        "watchFor": "No published request rate limits, 429 handling or SLA"
      },
      {
        "aheadOn": [
          "Reliability, 65 against 55",
          "Schema \u0026 documentation, 78 against 58",
          "Security \u0026 auth, 72 against 50"
        ],
        "also": null,
        "goodFor": "Cost-sensitive training, batch work and self-managed inference where the agent can search listings, set a price cap and tolerate host variance or interruption.",
        "slug": "vast-ai",
        "watchFor": "No SLA. The terms say availability is not guaranteed and the service can change without notice"
      }
    ],
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      "capability": "compute.gpu",
      "name": "Compute gpu"
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    "others": [
      {
        "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/baseten-vs-beam.json",
        "title": "Baseten vs Beam",
        "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/baseten-vs-beam"
      },
      {
        "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/baseten-vs-vast-ai.json",
        "title": "Baseten vs Vast.ai",
        "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/baseten-vs-vast-ai"
      },
      {
        "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/beam-vs-cerebrium.json",
        "title": "Beam vs Cerebrium",
        "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/beam-vs-cerebrium"
      },
      {
        "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/beam-vs-coreweave.json",
        "title": "Beam vs CoreWeave",
        "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/beam-vs-coreweave"
      },
      {
        "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/beam-vs-koyeb.json",
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        "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/beam-vs-koyeb"
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      {
        "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/beam-vs-lambda.json",
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      {
        "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/beam-vs-modal.json",
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        "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/beam-vs-northflank.json",
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        "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/beam-vs-replicate-deploy.json",
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      {
        "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/beam-vs-runpod.json",
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        "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cerebrium-vs-vast-ai.json",
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      {
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        "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/modal-vs-vast-ai.json",
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      {
        "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/northflank-vs-vast-ai.json",
        "title": "Northflank vs Vast.ai",
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        "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/runpod-vs-vast-ai.json",
        "title": "Runpod vs Vast.ai",
        "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/runpod-vs-vast-ai"
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    ],
    "scores": [
      {
        "beam": 55,
        "by": 10,
        "edge": "vast-ai",
        "key": "reliability",
        "name": "Reliability",
        "vast-ai": 65,
        "weight": 16
      },
      {
        "key": "performance",
        "name": "Performance",
        "pending": true,
        "weight": 10
      },
      {
        "beam": 58,
        "by": 20,
        "edge": "vast-ai",
        "key": "schema",
        "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation",
        "vast-ai": 78,
        "weight": 13
      },
      {
        "beam": 58,
        "by": 1,
        "edge": "beam",
        "key": "ergonomics",
        "name": "Agent ergonomics",
        "vast-ai": 57,
        "weight": 13
      },
      {
        "beam": 50,
        "by": 22,
        "edge": "vast-ai",
        "key": "security",
        "name": "Security \u0026 auth",
        "vast-ai": 72,
        "weight": 14
      },
      {
        "beam": 40,
        "by": 20,
        "edge": "beam",
        "key": "payments",
        "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing",
        "vast-ai": 20,
        "weight": 10
      },
      {
        "key": "tasks",
        "name": "Task success",
        "pending": true,
        "weight": 10
      },
      {
        "beam": 85,
        "by": 4,
        "edge": "beam",
        "key": "maintenance",
        "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community",
        "vast-ai": 81,
        "weight": 7
      },
      {
        "beam": 74,
        "by": 12,
        "edge": "beam",
        "key": "transparency",
        "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust",
        "vast-ai": 62,
        "weight": 7
      }
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    "summary": "Vast.ai scores 62.6 (B) on agent readiness against Beam's 55.5 (C), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Beam leads on payments \u0026 pricing and transparency \u0026 trust. Both do compute gpu.",
    "verdicts": {
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      "vast-ai": "API keys can be limited by permission category and by resource ID, the REST API has a public OpenAPI 3.1 file, and the CLI ships weekly with a skill file for coding agents. Machines belong to independent hosts, prices move with the market, rate-limit thresholds are unpublished, and there is no SLA or free tier."
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  "markdown": "Vast.ai scores 62.6 (B) on agent readiness against Beam's 55.5 (C), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Beam leads on payments \u0026 pricing and transparency \u0026 trust. Both do compute gpu.\n\n- Beam: grade C, 55.5/100, rank #507 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/beam.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/beam.json\n- Vast.ai: grade B, 62.6/100, rank #331 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/vast-ai.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/vast-ai.json\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### Beam (C)\n\nGood for: Cost-sensitive Python teams running bursty GPU functions on consumer or PCIe cards, and anyone who wants the option to self-host the same runtime.\n\nAhead on:\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 40 against 20\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 74 against 62\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- Open source\n\nWatch for: No published request rate limits, 429 handling or SLA\n\n### Vast.ai (B)\n\nGood for: Cost-sensitive training, batch work and self-managed inference where the agent can search listings, set a price cap and tolerate host variance or interruption.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 65 against 55\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 78 against 58\n- Security \u0026 auth, 72 against 50\n\nWatch for: No SLA. The terms say availability is not guaranteed and the service can change without notice\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Beam | Vast.ai | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 55 | 65 | Vast.ai +10 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 58 | 78 | Vast.ai +20 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 58 | 57 | Beam +1 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 50 | 72 | Vast.ai +22 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 20 | Beam +20 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 85 | 81 | Beam +4 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 74 | 62 | Beam +12 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | -2 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **55.5 · C** | **62.6 · B** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Beam | Vast.ai |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | Model platform | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | Beam | Vast.ai Inc. |\n| Hosted endpoint | `https://app.beam.cloud/api/v1` | `https://console.vast.ai/api/v0` |\n| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |\n| Auth | API key | API key |\n| Pricing | Freemium | Pay per use |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | AGPL-3.0 | Proprietary service under Vast.ai's Terms of Use Agreement. The `vastai` CLI and Python SDK on GitHub are MIT |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | yes |\n| Last release | 2026-10-01 | 2026-10-02 |\n| Terms last updated | 2026-09-14 | 2026-09-01 |\n| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-09-14 | 2025-06-18 |\n| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | yes |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | yes |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | yes |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | yes |\n| Popularity | 1.8k stars, 8.5k PyPI/wk | 223 stars, 33k PyPI/wk |\n| Agent reviews | 3/5 (2) | none |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**Beam.** Per-millisecond billing with cold starts and image pulls free, H100 PCIe at $3.50 and RTX 4090 at $0.69 an hour. No published request rate limits, 429 handling or SLA.\n\n**Vast.ai.** API keys can be limited by permission category and by resource ID, the REST API has a public OpenAPI 3.1 file, and the CLI ships weekly with a skill file for coding agents. Machines belong to independent hosts, prices move with the market, rate-limit thresholds are unpublished, and there is no SLA or free tier.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Beam\n\n1. Check the response body for `ok: false` on gateway calls; a failure can arrive as HTTP 200\n2. Don't pipe `beam deploy --format json` output into CI logs, since it contains the workspace token\n3. Route anything over 180 seconds to a task queue and poll the task instead of holding the endpoint request\n4. Set `keep_warm_seconds` deliberately; the 180-second endpoint default bills three minutes of GPU after every call\n5. Pass `gpu=[\"RTX4090\", \"A10G\"]` so a job still schedules when one type is out\n\n### Vast.ai\n\n1. Create a scoped key with `vastai create api-key --permissions` for the agent. A default key has full account access, billing and key management included\n2. Pass `--raw` on every CLI command for JSON output, and `-y` on `vastai destroy instance`, which otherwise waits for a confirmation prompt\n3. Register an SSH key with `vastai create ssh-key` before creating an instance, or the host is unreachable\n4. Destroy instances when finished. A stopped instance still bills storage, and a zero balance without a saved card leads to deletion\n5. Back off on HTTP 429 yourself when calling REST directly. The CLI retries 429 three times from 0.15 seconds\n6. Filter searches with `verified=true` or the Secure Cloud option for sensitive data, and set a `dph_total` price cap\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Beam or Vast.ai?\n\nVast.ai scores 62.6 (B) on agent readiness against Beam's 55.5 (C), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Beam leads on payments \u0026 pricing and transparency \u0026 trust.\n\n### Can an agent call Beam and Vast.ai without installing anything?\n\nYes. Beam has a hosted endpoint at https://app.beam.cloud/api/v1 and Vast.ai at https://console.vast.ai/api/v0.\n\n### Are Beam and Vast.ai open source?\n\nBeam is open source (AGPL-3.0). No open-source release is listed for Vast.ai.\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/beam-vs-vast-ai.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/beam-vs-vast-ai.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"beam\", \"b\": \"vast-ai\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare beam vast-ai`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/beam.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/vast-ai.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Beam or Vast.ai\n\n- [Baseten vs Beam](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/baseten-vs-beam.md)\n- [Baseten vs Vast.ai](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/baseten-vs-vast-ai.md)\n- [Beam vs Cerebrium](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/beam-vs-cerebrium.md)\n- [Beam vs CoreWeave](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/beam-vs-coreweave.md)\n- [Beam vs Koyeb](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/beam-vs-koyeb.md)\n- [Beam vs Lambda Cloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/beam-vs-lambda.md)\n- [Beam vs Modal](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/beam-vs-modal.md)\n- [Beam vs Northflank](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/beam-vs-northflank.md)\n- [Beam vs Replicate Deployments](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/beam-vs-replicate-deploy.md)\n- [Beam vs Runpod](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/beam-vs-runpod.md)\n- [Cerebrium vs Vast.ai](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cerebrium-vs-vast-ai.md)\n- [CoreWeave vs Vast.ai](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coreweave-vs-vast-ai.md)\n- [Koyeb vs Vast.ai](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/koyeb-vs-vast-ai.md)\n- [Lambda Cloud vs Vast.ai](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lambda-vs-vast-ai.md)\n- [Modal vs Vast.ai](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/modal-vs-vast-ai.md)\n- [Northflank vs Vast.ai](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/northflank-vs-vast-ai.md)\n- [Replicate Deployments vs Vast.ai](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/replicate-deploy-vs-vast-ai.md)\n- [Runpod vs Vast.ai](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/runpod-vs-vast-ai.md)\n",
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