# Vast.ai vs Verda

> Vast.ai and Verda score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 62.6 (B) and 62.3 (B). Verda leads on agent ergonomics and transparency & trust. Both do compute gpu. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/vast-ai-vs-verda
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/vast-ai-vs-verda.md (~2,450 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/vast-ai-vs-verda.min.md (~630 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/vast-ai-vs-verda.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-09

Vast.ai and Verda score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 62.6 (B) and 62.3 (B). Verda leads on agent ergonomics and transparency & trust. Both do compute gpu.

- Vast.ai: grade B, 62.6/100, rank #384 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/vast-ai.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/vast-ai.json
- Verda: grade B, 62.3/100, rank #396 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/verda.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/verda.json

## Which one, for what

### Vast.ai (B)

Good 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.

Also in its favour:
- No incidents deducted, where Verda loses 3 points for them

Watch for: No SLA. The terms say availability is not guaranteed and the service can change without notice

### Verda (B)

Good for: Agents that rent whole GPU machines or clusters in Finland for training or batch work, or deploy scale-to-zero container endpoints, and that can run a local CLI for MCP.

Ahead on:
- Agent ergonomics, 63 against 57
- Transparency & trust, 76 against 62

Also in its favour:
- Runs on your own machine

Watch for: No free tier. Accounts are prepaid, and instances are discontinued and volumes deleted when the balance reaches zero


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Vast.ai | Verda | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 65 | 67 | Verda +2 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 78 | 82 | Verda +4 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 57 | 63 | Verda +6 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 72 | 68 | Vast.ai +4 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 20 | even |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 81 | 83 | Verda +2 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 62 | 76 | Verda +14 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -3 | |
| **Total** | | **62.6 · B** | **62.3 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Vast.ai | Verda |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Vast.ai Inc. | Verda |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://console.vast.ai/api/v0` | `https://api.verda.com/v1` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, stdio |
| Auth | API key | OAuth |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Pay per use |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under Vast.ai's Terms of Use Agreement. The `vastai` CLI and Python SDK on GitHub are MIT | Proprietary service under Verda's Terms of Service. The CLI, the Python SDK and the Go SDK on GitHub are Apache-2.0 |
| Tools exposed | none | 18 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-02 | 2026-10-07 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-09-01 | 2025-09-30 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2025-06-18 | no date given |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | yes |
| Popularity | 223 stars, 33k PyPI/wk | 10k PyPI/wk |

## Verdicts

**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.

**Verda.** The REST API has a public OpenAPI 3.1 document, a dated changelog, published rate limits with `Retry-After`, and an audit log endpoint. The CLI's MCP server refuses billed or destructive calls without `confirm: true`. Access needs a browser signup and a prepaid balance, credentials carry one scope, and instance creation has no idempotency key.

## Before you call either

### Vast.ai

1. 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
2. Pass `--raw` on every CLI command for JSON output, and `-y` on `vastai destroy instance`, which otherwise waits for a confirmation prompt
3. Register an SSH key with `vastai create ssh-key` before creating an instance, or the host is unreachable
4. Destroy instances when finished. A stopped instance still bills storage, and a zero balance without a saved card leads to deletion
5. Back off on HTTP 429 yourself when calling REST directly. The CLI retries 429 three times from 0.15 seconds
6. Filter searches with `verified=true` or the Secure Cloud option for sensitive data, and set a `dph_total` price cap

### Verda

1. Exchange the client ID and secret at `POST /v1/oauth2/token`, then send the access token as a Bearer header. It expires after 3,600 seconds, so refresh it.
2. Send `location_code` on every create call. Requests without it have returned 400 since March 2026.
3. Call `GET /v1/instance-availability` before launching. `POST /v1/instances` returns 503 `service_unavailable` when the location has no capacity.
4. List instances before retrying a failed launch, because create has no idempotency key.
5. Use the `delete` action to stop charges. `shutdown` keeps billing, and deleted volumes stay recoverable for 96 hours unless `delete_permanently` is set.

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Vast.ai or Verda?

Vast.ai and Verda score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 62.6 (B) and 62.3 (B). Verda leads on agent ergonomics and transparency & trust.

### Do Vast.ai and Verda need an API key?

Vast.ai needs an API key. Verda uses an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call Vast.ai and Verda without installing anything?

Yes. Vast.ai has a hosted endpoint at https://console.vast.ai/api/v0 and Verda at https://api.verda.com/v1.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/vast-ai-vs-verda.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/vast-ai-vs-verda.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "vast-ai", "b": "verda"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare vast-ai verda`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/vast-ai.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/verda.json

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