# Baseten vs DeepInfra

> DeepInfra sets the price floor across 150+ open models. Baseten charges more but leads on first-token latency, custom deployments and compliance.

Canonical: https://www.subconscious.dev/compare/baseten-vs-deepinfra · By The Subconscious Team · Updated September 30, 2026

## How they compare

The split is cost versus control. DeepInfra is the reference price for open tokens, with Llama 3.1 8B at $0.02 per million and DeepSeek V4 Flash at $0.14 in and $0.28 out, no minimums and no contracts. Its 150+ model catalog dwarfs Baseten's 13. Baseten's own downsides admit its effective H100 pricing runs well above DeepInfra's. What Baseten sells instead is speed to the first token (0.49 seconds, the lowest Artificial Analysis measured in August 2026), KV cache-aware routing for agentic coding, and Truss deployments for any model you bring. DeepInfra has no managed fine-tuning, so private checkpoints have to be trained and served elsewhere.

Quality and context deserve a check on DeepInfra. It serves DeepSeek V4 Pro in FP4, which caps context at 66K tokens, and some reviewers report weaker output unless they pin FP8 variants. Baseten targets regulated buyers with HIPAA, data residency, self-hosting and a 99.99% SLA. The practical verdict: bulk extraction, tagging and synthetic data belong on DeepInfra. Production agents with latency targets, custom weights or compliance reviews fit Baseten better.

## What each one does

### 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.

### DeepInfra

DeepInfra is the price floor for open-model inference. Developers treat it as the reference point for what a token should cost, with small models like Llama 3.1 8B at $0.02 per million and DeepSeek V4 Flash at $0.14 in and $0.28 out. The catalog covers 150+ open models across text, image and speech behind a fully OpenAI-compatible API. There are no minimums, setup fees or contracts on the shared API.

## Which is best, and when

### Choose Baseten for

- Latency-sensitive production agents with an SLA
- Serving private fine-tunes and non-LLM models
- Buyers who need HIPAA or data residency

### Choose DeepInfra for

- Cost-first bulk jobs like tagging and synthetic data
- Trying many open models with no contract
- Budget backends for consumer chat apps

## At a glance

| Attribute | Baseten | DeepInfra |
|---|---|---|
| Model access | Open weights, 13 curated | Open weights |
| Flagship models | GLM 5.2, DeepSeek V4, Kimi K3, gpt-oss 120B | DeepSeek V4 Flash, Llama 3.1 8B |
| Speed | 0.49s TTFT, lowest measured | ~33 tok/s on DeepSeek V4 Pro (FP4) |
| Price | H100 about $6.50/hr dedicated | From $0.02 per 1M |
| Customization | Deploy any model with Truss | No managed fine-tuning |
| Deployment | Model APIs, dedicated, self-host | Shared API, no contracts |
| Long context | Varies by model | 66K on FP4 DeepSeek V4 Pro |

## FAQ

### What is the difference between Baseten and DeepInfra?

DeepInfra sets the price floor across 150+ open models. Baseten charges more but leads on first-token latency, custom deployments and compliance.

### When should I choose Baseten over DeepInfra?

Latency-sensitive production agents with an SLA; Serving private fine-tunes and non-LLM models; Buyers who need HIPAA or data residency.

### When should I choose DeepInfra over Baseten?

Cost-first bulk jobs like tagging and synthetic data; Trying many open models with no contract; Budget backends for consumer chat apps.

### Is Baseten or DeepInfra cheaper?

Baseten: H100 about $6.50/hr dedicated. DeepInfra: From $0.02 per 1M. The cheaper choice depends on the model and workload.

### Which has more context, Baseten or DeepInfra?

Baseten: Varies by model. DeepInfra: 66K on FP4 DeepSeek V4 Pro.

## Running long-horizon agents?

If your agents run past 200K tokens, compare both against Subconscious: [Subconscious vs Baseten](https://www.subconscious.dev/compare/subconscious-vs-baseten.md), [Subconscious vs DeepInfra](https://www.subconscious.dev/compare/subconscious-vs-deepinfra.md).

Full profiles: [Baseten](https://www.subconscious.dev/providers/baseten.md), [DeepInfra](https://www.subconscious.dev/providers/deepinfra.md).