# GMI Cloud vs Particle.AI

> Particle AI serves a few cheap Flash-class models with 1M context via Vercel AI Gateway; GMI Cloud runs a multimodal GPU cloud on owned hardware.

Canonical: https://www.subconscious.dev/compare/gmi-cloud-vs-particle-ai · By The Subconscious Team · Updated September 30, 2026

## How they compare

Price is close at the entry level. GMI lists GLM-4.7-Flash at $0.07 in and $0.40 out, and Particle AI lists GLM 5.3 Flash at $0.10 in and $0.40 out, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash at $0.25 in and $1 out, and DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 at $0.14 in and $0.28 out, each with 1M context and cache reads at $0.03 per million. Particle also tends to pick up new Flash-class models within days, while GMI's LLM catalog is smaller and less current than the largest hosts.

Everything else favors GMI's breadth. It owns its hardware, serves 100+ models including video, image and audio, sells reserved GPUs and offers APAC residency. Particle is a very early startup with a tiny catalog, reached mainly through Vercel AI Gateway, and some listings are slow, like 3.5 seconds on DeepSeek V4.1 Flash. Use Particle as a cheap route or fallback inside a gateway. Use GMI as a primary platform.

## What each one does

### GMI Cloud

GMI Cloud is a vertically integrated GPU cloud and inference platform that owns its NVIDIA hardware. It runs Tier-4 data centers in Silicon Valley, Colorado, Taiwan, Thailand and Malaysia, and as an NVIDIA Cloud Partner it gets priority access to H100, H200 and B200 supply. The company pivoted from crypto mining into AI, which gave it experience standing up high-density power and cooling fast. An $82M Series A came from Headline, Wistron and Thai energy group Banpu.

### Particle.AI

Particle AI is an early San Francisco infrastructure startup with a mission to make intelligence as cheap and abundant as electricity. The team works on post-training, inference optimization and distributed systems, all aimed at pushing down cost per unit of intelligence. It is still hiring its founding team and works fully in person. Public detail about funding and founders is thin as of this writing.

## Which is best, and when

### Choose GMI Cloud for

- A primary platform with text and media models
- APAC residency and reserved GPU capacity
- Teams that want a direct vendor relationship

### Choose Particle.AI for

- Cheap Flash-class calls with full 1M context
- Fast access to newly released Flash models
- A fallback route inside Vercel AI Gateway

## At a glance

| Attribute | GMI Cloud | Particle.AI |
|---|---|---|
| Model access | Open and third-party models | Open weights |
| Flagship models | GLM-4.7-Flash, Google Veo | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, GLM 5.3 Flash |
| Speed | Near bare-metal performance | ~157 tok/s on DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| Price | $0.07 in, $0.40 out (GLM-4.7-Flash) | $0.10 in, $0.40 out (GLM 5.3 Flash) |
| Customization | - | - |
| Deployment | Shared, autoscaling, reserved GPUs | Via Vercel AI Gateway |
| Long context | Varies by model | 1M |

## FAQ

### What is the difference between GMI Cloud and Particle.AI?

Particle AI serves a few cheap Flash-class models with 1M context via Vercel AI Gateway; GMI Cloud runs a multimodal GPU cloud on owned hardware.

### When should I choose GMI Cloud over Particle.AI?

A primary platform with text and media models; APAC residency and reserved GPU capacity; Teams that want a direct vendor relationship.

### When should I choose Particle.AI over GMI Cloud?

Cheap Flash-class calls with full 1M context; Fast access to newly released Flash models; A fallback route inside Vercel AI Gateway.

### Is GMI Cloud or Particle.AI cheaper?

GMI Cloud: $0.07 in, $0.40 out (GLM-4.7-Flash). Particle.AI: $0.10 in, $0.40 out (GLM 5.3 Flash). The cheaper choice depends on the model and workload.

### Which has more context, GMI Cloud or Particle.AI?

GMI Cloud: Varies by model. Particle.AI: 1M.

## Running long-horizon agents?

If your agents run past 200K tokens, compare both against Subconscious: [Subconscious vs GMI Cloud](https://www.subconscious.dev/compare/subconscious-vs-gmi-cloud.md), [Subconscious vs Particle.AI](https://www.subconscious.dev/compare/subconscious-vs-particle-ai.md).

Full profiles: [GMI Cloud](https://www.subconscious.dev/providers/gmi-cloud.md), [Particle.AI](https://www.subconscious.dev/providers/particle-ai.md).