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Baseten vs Crusoe
Baseten holds the lowest measured time to first token and deploys any model with Truss. Crusoe claims large TTFT gains of its own and owns the GPUs underneath.
By The Subconscious Team · Updated
Baseten vs Crusoe: key differences
Both route traffic around the KV cache, but they report results differently. Baseten posted 0.49 seconds time to first token on the Artificial Analysis provider board in August 2026, the lowest measured, and its KV cache-aware routing helps agentic coding traffic. Crusoe's MemoryAlloy shares KV cache across the whole cluster with cache-aware routing, and Crusoe claims up to 9.9x faster time to first token versus vLLM on prefix-heavy work, a vendor benchmark rather than a third-party board. Catalogs are similar in size. Baseten's Model APIs serve 13 curated models, including DeepSeek V4, GLM 5.2, Kimi K3 and gpt-oss 120B. Crusoe's serverless list covers DeepSeek, GLM 5.3, Kimi K2.6, Gemma, gpt-oss and Nemotron.
Baseten wins on compatibility and packaging. Every endpoint speaks both OpenAI and Anthropic formats, so coding agents switch with a base URL change, and Truss packages any model, including speech and embeddings, for dedicated serving with scale to zero and a 99.99% uptime SLA. Self-host, HIPAA and data residency options suit regulated buyers. Crusoe wins on price per GPU. Its self-serve H100 deployments run $5.50 an hour against about $6.50 on Baseten, raw H100s cost $3.90 on demand, and it rents GB200, B200 and MI355X capacity for training too. Crusoe also offers serverless LoRA fine-tuning. Choose Baseten for custom non-LLM models and Anthropic-compatible endpoints, and Crusoe for cheaper dedicated capacity and training clusters.
What Baseten and Crusoe do
Baseten
Baseten runs two products. Model APIs serve a curated set of 13 open models, including DeepSeek V4, GLM 5.2, Kimi K3 and gpt-oss 120B, over endpoints that speak both the OpenAI Chat Completions shape and the Anthropic Messages shape. That dual compatibility means an existing OpenAI or Claude SDK, or a coding agent, points at Baseten with a base URL change. Dedicated deployments take any model you package with the open-source Truss CLI and bill per GPU minute, with an H100 at about $6.50 an hour.
Example models: GLM 5.2, gpt-oss 120B
Full Baseten profileCrusoe
Crusoe started in 2018 turning wasted natural gas into power for computing and has since become a vertically integrated AI infrastructure company: it sources energy, builds data centers and rents GPUs through Crusoe Cloud. It designed and built the Abilene, Texas campus behind the OpenAI and Oracle Stargate project, planned at 1.2 GW, and in March 2026 announced an adjacent 900 MW campus for Microsoft. On September 17, 2026 it closed the first part of a $3.9B Series F at a $30.9B post-money valuation, and it reports over 6 GW of contracted capacity. Crusoe Cloud lists GB200 NVL72, B200 and AMD MI355X by quote, with H100 at $3.90 and H200 at $4.29 per GPU-hour on demand.
Example models: DeepSeek V4 Pro, GLM 5.3, Kimi K2.6
Full Crusoe profileShould you choose Baseten or Crusoe?
Baseten
Choose Baseten for
- Coding agents on Anthropic-compatible endpoints
- Packaging custom speech or embedding models with Truss
- Regulated buyers needing self-host or HIPAA
Crusoe
Choose Crusoe for
- Dedicated H100 endpoints at a lower hourly rate
- Serverless LoRA fine-tunes
- Training clusters on GB200 and B200
Baseten vs Crusoe at a glance
| Attribute | Baseten | Crusoe |
|---|---|---|
| Model access | Open weights, 13 curated | Open weights |
| Flagship models | GLM 5.2, DeepSeek V4, Kimi K3, gpt-oss 120B | DeepSeek V4, GLM 5.3, Kimi K2.6, Nemotron 3 |
| Speed | 0.49s TTFT, lowest measured | Up to 9.9x faster TTFT vs vLLM (vendor claim) |
| Price | H100 about $6.50/hr dedicated | $0.05–$1.74 in, $0.20–$4.40 out per 1M |
| Customization | Deploy any model with Truss | Serverless LoRA fine-tuning |
| Deployment | Model APIs, dedicated, self-host | Serverless, self-serve and tailored dedicated, raw GPUs |
| Long context | Varies by model | Varies by model; cluster-wide KV cache |
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Baseten and Crusoe?
Baseten holds the lowest measured time to first token and deploys any model with Truss. Crusoe claims large TTFT gains of its own and owns the GPUs underneath.
When should I choose Baseten over Crusoe?
Coding agents on Anthropic-compatible endpoints; Packaging custom speech or embedding models with Truss; Regulated buyers needing self-host or HIPAA.
When should I choose Crusoe over Baseten?
Dedicated H100 endpoints at a lower hourly rate; Serverless LoRA fine-tunes; Training clusters on GB200 and B200.
Is Baseten or Crusoe cheaper?
Baseten: H100 about $6.50/hr dedicated. Crusoe: $0.05–$1.74 in, $0.20–$4.40 out per 1M. The cheaper choice depends on the model and workload.
Which has more context, Baseten or Crusoe?
Baseten: Varies by model. Crusoe: Varies by model; cluster-wide KV cache.
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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.