# Vast.ai (slim)

> 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.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/vast-ai.md (~8,050 tokens) · this version ~1,730 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/vast-ai.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/vast-ai
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · Updated: 2026-10-08

**B · 62.6/100 · rank #331 of 722 · #4 in GPU & serverless compute · not agent-ready · confidence medium**


Assessment: 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 Machines belong to independent hosts, prices move with the market, rate-limit thresholds are unpublished, and there is no SLA or free tier.

## Facts

- Kind: HTTP API · vendor: Vast.ai Inc. · category: GPU & serverless compute · legal entity: Vast.ai Inc. · provenance 79/100
- Endpoint: `https://console.vast.ai/api/v0` (HTTP)
- Auth: API key · pricing: Pay per use · x402: no · licence: Proprietary service under Vast.ai's Terms of Use Agreement. The `vastai` CLI and Python SDK on GitHub are MIT
- Probe metrics: not measured yet (probes haven't run)
- Interfaces: `vastai` CLI and Python SDK in one PyPI package (Python 3.10 or later), REST API at https://console.vast.ai/api/v0 with some v1 routes, serverless routing at run.vast.ai
- Rental types: On-demand, interruptible (bid-priced, can be paused) and reserved (prepaid, 1, 3 or 6 month terms, up to 50 per cent off per Vast.ai)
- Billing: Prepaid credit, $5 minimum deposit. GPU time per second while running, storage per second while the instance exists, bandwidth per byte. Rates are set per listing by the host
- Free tier: None found. Cards through Stripe, crypto through BitPay and Crypto.com. Spent credit is not refunded
- Serverless: Endpoints with worker groups recruited from the marketplace, scaled by load. Defaults are `max_workers` 16, `min_workers` 5, `min_load` 1 and `target_util` 0.9. No fee on top of instance rates
- Cold start: The serverless quickstart says to expect 3 to 5 minutes before first workers are ready. Cold workers keep the model on disk and bill storage only
- API keys: Full access by default. Scoped keys take 11 permission categories and constraints with `eq`, `lte` and `gte` on parameters such as an instance ID. Reset has no overlap window
- Rate limits: Minimum interval per endpoint and identity, some per method or per burst. Thresholds unpublished. 429 has no `Retry-After`. The CLI retries 429 three times, 0.15 s then 1.5 times longer each attempt
- Security tiers: Verified hosts with Docker isolation, or Secure Cloud data centres vetted by Vast.ai. Certification such as ISO 27001 is encouraged for partners but not strictly required, per the compliance page
- Compliance: Vast.ai states SOC 2 Type 2 (report under NDA), SOC 3 on request and HIPAA support with BAAs on Secure Cloud
- Status page: status.vast.ai, own page, three components (vast, console, serverless), 30-day bars from roughly hourly checks, no incident write-ups
- Agent tooling: `npx skills add vast-ai/vast-cli --skill vastai`, plugins for Claude Code, Codex and Cursor, AGENTS.md on every Vast image

- Scores: Reliability 65, Performance pending, Schema & documentation 78, Agent ergonomics 57, Security & auth 72, Payments & pricing 20, Task success pending, Maintenance & community 81, Transparency & trust 62 · total over the 7 assessed categories
- Why: Reliability, Graded as a hosted service. · Schema & documentation, Public OpenAPI 3.1 file with 66 paths and 89 operations, plus the YAML source in the CLI repository (25). · Agent ergonomics, No MCP server for account actions. · Security & auth, Keys can be scoped to 11 permission categories and narrowed by constraints to resource IDs, are shown once, and can be reset or deleted with… · Payments & pricing, No x402, MPP or L402 found (0). · Maintenance & community, `vastai` 1.8.3 was published to PyPI on 2 October 2026 (30). · Transparency & trust, A closed service with an MIT CLI and SDK.
- Sources: 34, open questions: 6, both in the full twin
- Capabilities: compute.gpu, compute.containers, compute.serverless, compute.endpoints
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/vast-ai.json
- Verify (for the vendor): the badge `https://www.anchorterminal.com/badges/vast-ai.svg` or a link to https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/vast-ai from a page on vast.ai or one of its subdomains, or the README of github.com/vast-ai/vast-cli, then `POST https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/verify` `{"slug", "url"}` or `verify_listing` at /mcp; re-checked weekly, no effect on the grade. Snippets in the full twin.

## Before you call it

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

## Connect

```bash
pip install vastai
```

```bash
curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $VAST_API_KEY" \
  "https://console.vast.ai/api/v0/users/current/"
```

```bash
/plugin marketplace add vast-ai/vast-claude-plugin
/plugin install vastai
```
Full config and headless snippets are in the full page. Through letme (picks today, calling later): https://letme.dev/vast-ai

## Similar tools

| Tool | Grade | Score | Shared capabilities | Slim |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Baseten | B | 66.5 | compute.gpu, compute.endpoints, compute.serverless, compute.containers | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/baseten.min.md |
| Modal | B | 63.6 | compute.gpu, compute.serverless, compute.endpoints, compute.containers | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/modal.min.md |
| Replicate Deployments | B | 63.6 | compute.gpu, compute.endpoints, compute.serverless, compute.containers | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/replicate-deploy.min.md |
| Beam | C | 55.5 | compute.gpu, compute.serverless, compute.endpoints, compute.containers | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/beam.min.md |
| Cerebrium | C | 55.3 | compute.gpu, compute.serverless, compute.endpoints, compute.containers | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cerebrium.min.md |


## Panel reviews (0, desk reviews from public material, no calls made)