# Baseten vs Venice

> Baseten wins on time to first token and custom deployments. Venice wins on catalog breadth, privacy tiers and uncensored models.

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

## How they compare

Baseten and Venice both expose open models through familiar SDK shapes, but they are built for different buyers. Baseten's Model APIs serve 13 curated models, including GLM 5.2, DeepSeek V4, Kimi K3 and gpt-oss 120B, over endpoints that speak both the OpenAI and Anthropic formats, and it posted the lowest time to first token on the Artificial Analysis board in August 2026 at 0.49 seconds. Venice covers 370+ models through an OpenAI-compatible endpoint, including GLM 5.3 and Kimi K3 plus proxied Claude, GPT and Gemini, but publishes no latency data. Anything off Baseten's short list means packaging your own deployment with Truss.

Deployment options decide most cases. Baseten runs dedicated GPUs billed per minute with scale to zero, a 99.99% uptime SLA, self-hosting, HIPAA and data residency, and it runs white-label APIs for model labs. That makes it the fit for private fine-tunes and custom speech or embedding models. Venice is serverless only and offers no customization, but its privacy story is contract-based zero retention with TEE and end-to-end encryption on select open models, and its uncensored fine-tunes cover content others filter out. Payment differs too. Baseten bills GPU minutes, with an H100 near $6.50 an hour, while Venice bills per token in USD, crypto, USDC or daily DIEM credits.

## 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.

### Venice

Venice is a privacy-focused AI platform founded in 2024 by Erik Voorhees, the crypto entrepreneur behind ShapeShift. It pairs a consumer chat app with a developer API that works as a drop-in replacement for OpenAI's chat endpoint and covers text, image, audio and video across 370+ models. Open models such as GLM 5.3, Kimi K3, DeepSeek V4 and Venice's own uncensored fine-tunes run under a private tier with contract-enforced zero data retention, and some add TEE inference or end-to-end encryption, where only an attested enclave can decrypt the prompt. Closed models from Anthropic, OpenAI and Google are proxied under an anonymized tier that hides user identity but leaves prompt content visible to the upstream provider.

## Which is best, and when

### Choose Baseten for

- Serving private fine-tunes on dedicated GPUs
- Coding agents that need the fastest first token
- Regulated buyers wanting self-host or data residency

### Choose Venice for

- Picking from 370+ models without deploying anything
- Uncensored or roleplay workloads
- Zero-retention calls with TEE options

## At a glance

| Attribute | Baseten | Venice |
|---|---|---|
| Model access | Open weights, 13 curated | Open weights, plus proxied closed models |
| Flagship models | GLM 5.2, DeepSeek V4, Kimi K3, gpt-oss 120B | GLM 5.3, Kimi K3, DeepSeek V4 Pro |
| Speed | 0.49s TTFT, lowest measured | - |
| Price | H100 about $6.50/hr dedicated | $0.06–$12 in, $0.28–$60 out per 1M; DIEM staking |
| Customization | Deploy any model with Truss | - |
| Deployment | Model APIs, dedicated, self-host | Serverless API, consumer app |
| Long context | Varies by model | 1M on most current models |

## FAQ

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

Baseten wins on time to first token and custom deployments. Venice wins on catalog breadth, privacy tiers and uncensored models.

### When should I choose Baseten over Venice?

Serving private fine-tunes on dedicated GPUs; Coding agents that need the fastest first token; Regulated buyers wanting self-host or data residency.

### When should I choose Venice over Baseten?

Picking from 370+ models without deploying anything; Uncensored or roleplay workloads; Zero-retention calls with TEE options.

### Is Baseten or Venice cheaper?

Baseten: H100 about $6.50/hr dedicated. Venice: $0.06–$12 in, $0.28–$60 out per 1M; DIEM staking. The cheaper choice depends on the model and workload.

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

Baseten: Varies by model. Venice: 1M on most current models.

## 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 Venice](https://www.subconscious.dev/compare/subconscious-vs-venice.md).

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