vs
Crusoe vs Relace
Relace builds small tool models for coding agents, from 10,000 tok/s apply to 50,000 tok/s compaction. Crusoe is a general open-model cloud with GPUs and fine-tuning.
By The Subconscious Team · Updated
Crusoe vs Relace: key differences
Relace targets the utility work inside coding agents. Its relace-apply-3 model merges lazy edit snippets into files at about 10,000 tokens per second with 128K tokens of input and output, and Relace says this is over 3x faster and cheaper than a big model rewriting the file. Its agentic search explores large codebases in parallel, and a compaction model runs at 50,000 tokens per second. Crusoe's serverless catalog is general-purpose: DeepSeek, GLM, Kimi, Gemma, gpt-oss and Nemotron behind an OpenAI-compatible API, from $0.05 in and $0.20 out per million. It is where the planning model of an agent could run, with a shared KV cache that Crusoe claims speeds repeated prefixes.
Deployment options differ in kind. Relace offers a hosted API, an OpenAI-compatible endpoint and self-hosting with guided onboarding, which matters for enterprises that keep code in-house. It returns an error past 128K tokens, so very large files need a fallback. Crusoe offers serverless tokens, self-serve dedicated deployments billed per GPU-hour, tailored SLAs, managed LoRA fine-tuning and raw GPU clusters on GB200, B200 and AMD MI355X. Relace does not serve general models, and Crusoe does not ship coding-specific tool models, so these are complements for most agent builders.
What Crusoe and Relace do
Crusoe
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 profileRelace
Relace trains small, fast models that act as tools for coding agents. Its best-known product is Instant Apply: a frontier model writes a lazy edit snippet, and relace-apply-3 merges it into the original file at about 10,000 tokens per second with 128K tokens of input and output. Relace says this runs over 3x faster and cheaper than having the big model rewrite the file. It exposes both a REST endpoint and an OpenAI-compatible one, and the model is also listed on OpenRouter.
Example models: relace-apply-3, Relace agentic search
Full Relace profileShould you choose Crusoe or Relace?
Crusoe vs Relace at a glance
| Attribute | Crusoe | Relace |
|---|---|---|
| Model access | Open weights | Specialist models |
| Flagship models | DeepSeek V4, GLM 5.3, Kimi K2.6, Nemotron 3 | relace-apply-3, agentic search |
| Speed | Up to 9.9x faster TTFT vs vLLM (vendor claim) | ~10,000 tok/s apply |
| Price | $0.05–$1.74 in, $0.20–$4.40 out per 1M | 3x+ cheaper than full rewrites |
| Customization | Serverless LoRA fine-tuning | Unknown |
| Deployment | Serverless, self-serve and tailored dedicated, raw GPUs | Hosted API or self-hosted |
| Long context | Varies by model; cluster-wide KV cache | 128K max |
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Crusoe and Relace?
Relace builds small tool models for coding agents, from 10,000 tok/s apply to 50,000 tok/s compaction. Crusoe is a general open-model cloud with GPUs and fine-tuning.
When should I choose Crusoe over Relace?
The main model in a coding agent; Fine-tuned open models on dedicated GPUs; General chat and reasoning traffic.
When should I choose Relace over Crusoe?
Instant apply for AI app builders; Fast search across large repositories; Self-hosted coding tools for private code.
Is Crusoe or Relace cheaper?
Crusoe: $0.05–$1.74 in, $0.20–$4.40 out per 1M. Relace: 3x+ cheaper than full rewrites. The cheaper choice depends on the model and workload.
Which has more context, Crusoe or Relace?
Crusoe: Varies by model; cluster-wide KV cache. Relace: 128K max.
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.