Cloudflare Workers AI vs SambaNova

Workers AI runs open models on GPUs inside Cloudflare's network next to your Workers code. SambaNova sells fast decode on large open models from its own dataflow chip.

By The Subconscious Team · Updated September 30, 2026

Cloudflare Workers AI vs SambaNova: key differences

The two overlap on gpt-oss 120B and DeepSeek, and the price gap there is real. SambaNova lists GPT-OSS 120B at $0.22 in and $0.59 out per million, below Workers AI's $0.35 and $0.75. SambaNova also leads on speed: it says a SambaRack SN50 runs MiniMax M2.7 near 820 tokens per second in its fastest setup, while Cloudflare publishes no speed figures. Workers AI answers with breadth and context. Its catalog of 50+ models adds Kimi K2.6 and K2.7 Code, GLM 5.3 and the full 1M token context on DeepSeek V4, where SambaNova tops out around 192K on MiniMax M2.7.

Platform fit usually settles it. Workers AI is called from a Worker through an AI binding, sits beside Cloudflare storage and the Agents SDK, and gives 10,000 Neurons a day free. AI Gateway adds caching, fallbacks and spend logs. The limits are no fine-tuning on large models and queuing on synchronous requests when capacity is tight. SambaNova offers no customization either, and many of its headline numbers are vendor benchmarks on SN50 hardware still ramping, but its millisecond model hot swapping suits agents that jump between several large models.

What Cloudflare Workers AI and SambaNova do

Cloudflare Workers AI

Workers AI is the serverless GPU inference service of Cloudflare, which was founded in 2009. It launched in September 2023 and reached general availability in April 2024. Models run on GPUs inside Cloudflare's own network and are called from a Worker through an AI binding or over REST, including OpenAI-compatible Chat Completions and Embeddings endpoints plus a Responses endpoint for gpt-oss. The catalog lists 50+ open models. Since Kimi K2.5 arrived in March 2026 it has carried frontier-scale LLMs: Kimi K2.6 and K2.7 Code, GLM 5.2 and 5.3, DeepSeek V4 Pro and Flash, gpt-oss 120B and 20B, Qwen 3.8 27B and Llama 4 Scout. DeepSeek V4, added August 14, 2026, was the first to offer the full 1,048,576 token context.

Example models: DeepSeek V4 Pro, GLM 5.3

Full Cloudflare Workers AI profile

SambaNova

SambaNova designs its own inference chip, the Reconfigurable Dataflow Unit, and sells fast tokens on large open models through SambaCloud. The RDU maps the model graph onto the chip to cut trips to off-chip memory. A three-tier memory design of SRAM, HBM and bulk DRAM lets one system host very large models and hot swap between several of them in milliseconds. SambaCloud serves models like MiniMax M2.7, DeepSeek, Gemma 4 31B and GPT-OSS 120B, with speeds reported by Artificial Analysis.

Example models: MiniMax M2.7, GPT-OSS 120B

Full SambaNova profile

Should you choose Cloudflare Workers AI or SambaNova?

Cloudflare Workers AI

Choose Cloudflare Workers AI for

Agents built end to end on Workers and the Agents SDK
1M token context on DeepSeek V4
A free daily allocation for prototypes

SambaNova

Choose SambaNova for

Fast decode on large open models like MiniMax M2.7
Cheaper GPT-OSS 120B tokens
Agents that switch between several models mid-task

Cloudflare Workers AI vs SambaNova at a glance

Attribute	Cloudflare Workers AI	SambaNova
Model access	Open weights	Open weights
Flagship models	DeepSeek V4 Pro, GLM 5.3, Kimi K2.7 Code, gpt-oss 120B	MiniMax M2.7, GPT-OSS 120B, DeepSeek
Speed	Unknown	~820 tok/s on MiniMax M2.7 (SN50)
Price	$0.011 per 1K Neurons; 10K free daily	$0.22 in, $0.59 out (GPT-OSS 120B)
Customization	BYO LoRA on small models (beta)	Unknown
Deployment	Serverless on Cloudflare network	SambaCloud, racks for neoclouds
Long context	1M on DeepSeek V4; 262K on Kimi	Up to 192K (MiniMax M2.7)

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Cloudflare Workers AI and SambaNova?

Workers AI runs open models on GPUs inside Cloudflare's network next to your Workers code. SambaNova sells fast decode on large open models from its own dataflow chip.

When should I choose Cloudflare Workers AI over SambaNova?

Agents built end to end on Workers and the Agents SDK; 1M token context on DeepSeek V4; A free daily allocation for prototypes.

When should I choose SambaNova over Cloudflare Workers AI?

Fast decode on large open models like MiniMax M2.7; Cheaper GPT-OSS 120B tokens; Agents that switch between several models mid-task.

Is Cloudflare Workers AI or SambaNova cheaper?

Cloudflare Workers AI: $0.011 per 1K Neurons; 10K free daily. SambaNova: $0.22 in, $0.59 out (GPT-OSS 120B). The cheaper choice depends on the model and workload.

Which has more context, Cloudflare Workers AI or SambaNova?

Cloudflare Workers AI: 1M on DeepSeek V4; 262K on Kimi. SambaNova: Up to 192K (MiniMax M2.7).

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.

Subconscious vs Cloudflare Workers AI Subconscious vs SambaNova