vs
Alibaba Cloud vs Nebius
Both are clouds offering managed models and EU options. Alibaba brings its own Qwen flagship; Nebius brings 60+ open models, raw GPUs and a European base.
By The Subconscious Team · Updated
Alibaba Cloud vs Nebius: key differences
Alibaba Cloud and Nebius both pair managed inference with infrastructure, and both can keep workloads in the EU. The difference is whose models they serve. Alibaba's Model Studio centers on its own Qwen family, led by the closed Qwen 3.8-Max at $2 in and $6 out with 1M context and multimodal input. Nebius, headquartered in Amsterdam, serves 60+ open models including Llama, Qwen, DeepSeek, GLM, Kimi and GPT-OSS from $0.06 per million input tokens, and sells NVIDIA GPUs from H100s at $2.15 an hour preemptible up to GB300 NVL72 racks.
Customization tips toward Nebius. It serves uploaded fine-tunes at the same token pricing on dedicated endpoints with a 99.9% SLA, while Alibaba offers no fine-tuning on Max, though open Qwen weights can be tuned elsewhere. Alibaba counters with a closed flagship Nebius cannot offer, built-in web search, a free 1M token quota per model for 90 days, and frequent promotions such as night-time discounts. Nebius has no free trial and a $25 minimum first payment. European teams wanting open models and training capacity fit Nebius. Teams set on Qwen Max fit Alibaba.
What Alibaba Cloud and Nebius do
Alibaba Cloud
Alibaba Cloud serves the Qwen model family through Model Studio, its managed AI platform. The flagship Qwen 3.8-Max takes text, image and video input with a 1M token context, function calling, structured outputs and built-in web search. International pricing is $2 in and $6 out per million tokens, with implicit cache hits at $0.25. Deployments in China and some global regions list lower, at $1.65 in and about $4.95 out, and Alibaba often runs limited-time discounts, including night-time cuts of up to 80% on Qwen 3.7-Max.
Example models: Qwen 3.8-Max, Qwen 3.7-Max
Full Alibaba Cloud profileNebius
Nebius is an Amsterdam-headquartered AI cloud and the strongest European alternative to the US hyperscalers. It sells raw NVIDIA GPU compute, from H100s at $2.15 an hour preemptible up to GB300 NVL72 racks, and it has begun adding Vera Rubin. Hyperscale buyers back it: a Microsoft capacity deal worth about $17.4B in September 2025, then a Meta agreement worth up to about $27B in March 2026.
Example models: DeepSeek V3, GPT-OSS
Full Nebius profileShould you choose Alibaba Cloud or Nebius?
Alibaba Cloud
Choose Alibaba Cloud for
- Access to the closed Qwen 3.8-Max
- Trying models on a free 90-day token quota
- Asia-market products on a full cloud
Nebius
Choose Nebius for
- European teams running many open models in-region
- Serving uploaded fine-tunes with an SLA
- Raw GPU capacity for training
Alibaba Cloud vs Nebius at a glance
| Attribute | Alibaba Cloud | Nebius |
|---|---|---|
| Model access | Closed Max; open smaller Qwen | Open weights, 60+ models |
| Flagship models | Qwen 3.8-Max, Qwen 3.7-Max | DeepSeek, Qwen, GLM, Kimi, GPT-OSS |
| Speed | ~40 tok/s on Qwen 3.8-Max | Among top hosts on throughput |
| Price | $2 in, $6 out international | From $0.06 per 1M input |
| Customization | No fine-tuning on Max | Serve uploaded fine-tunes |
| Deployment | Model Studio on Alibaba Cloud | Token Factory, dedicated, raw GPUs |
| Long context | 1M (Qwen 3.8-Max) | Varies by model |
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Alibaba Cloud and Nebius?
Both are clouds offering managed models and EU options. Alibaba brings its own Qwen flagship; Nebius brings 60+ open models, raw GPUs and a European base.
When should I choose Alibaba Cloud over Nebius?
Access to the closed Qwen 3.8-Max; Trying models on a free 90-day token quota; Asia-market products on a full cloud.
When should I choose Nebius over Alibaba Cloud?
European teams running many open models in-region; Serving uploaded fine-tunes with an SLA; Raw GPU capacity for training.
Is Alibaba Cloud or Nebius cheaper?
Alibaba Cloud: $2 in, $6 out international. Nebius: From $0.06 per 1M input. The cheaper choice depends on the model and workload.
Which has more context, Alibaba Cloud or Nebius?
Alibaba Cloud: 1M (Qwen 3.8-Max). Nebius: Varies by model.
Related comparisons
Running long-horizon agents?
If your agents run past 200K tokens, compare both against Subconscious. Our inference stack treats a long-horizon trace as the primary workload, so speed, cost, and accuracy hold up deep into the trace.