Google Vertex AI vs Baseten

Vertex AI is a full Google Cloud AI stack with 200+ models. Baseten is a lean serving company with 13 open models, the lowest measured time to first token and dual API compatibility.

By The Subconscious Team · Updated September 30, 2026

Google Vertex AI vs Baseten: key differences

Catalog size tells most of the story. Vertex AI's Model Garden lists 200+ models, closed and open, including Gemini 3.8 and Claude. Baseten's Model APIs serve 13 curated open models like DeepSeek V4, GLM 5.2, Kimi K3 and gpt-oss 120B. What Baseten gives up in breadth it puts into serving: the lowest time to first token on the Artificial Analysis board in August 2026 at 0.49 seconds, KV cache-aware routing for agentic coding traffic, and endpoints that accept both OpenAI and Anthropic request shapes. Vertex is a platform you build inside. Baseten is a fast endpoint plus a way to ship your own models.

For custom models, both work, in different styles. Vertex trains and registers models inside Google's MLOps stack. Baseten deploys whatever you package with its open-source Truss CLI, bills per GPU minute with scale to zero, and backs it with a 99.99% uptime SLA. Baseten also offers self-hosting, HIPAA and data residency, which gives regulated buyers a path that does not tie them to one cloud's pipelines. Vertex is the better call when the work depends on Gemini, BigQuery or Google's managed agent runtime.

What Google Vertex AI and Baseten do

Google Vertex AI

Vertex AI is Google Cloud's enterprise AI platform. At Google Cloud Next on April 22, 2026, Google rebranded it the Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform with an agent-first structure, though the API endpoint and most docs still say Vertex. Model Garden offers 200+ models, including Google's Gemini 3.8 family, Anthropic's Claude models and open models like Gemma, alongside Imagen, Veo and Chirp for media and speech. Google's own TPUs sit underneath much of its first-party serving.

Example models: Gemini 3.8, Claude

Full Google Vertex AI profile

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.

Example models: GLM 5.2, gpt-oss 120B

Full Baseten profile

Should you choose Google Vertex AI or Baseten?

Google Vertex AI

Choose Google Vertex AI for

Closed frontier models and open models in one catalog
Training, registry and evaluation on Google Cloud
Enterprise agents built on Agent Studio or ADK

Baseten

Choose Baseten for

Interactive agents where time to first token matters
Serving private fine-tunes or speech and embedding models
Pointing an OpenAI or Claude SDK over with a base URL change

Google Vertex AI vs Baseten at a glance

Attribute	Google Vertex AI	Baseten
Model access	Closed and open, 200+ models	Open weights, 13 curated
Flagship models	Gemini 3.8 Flash, Claude, Gemma	GLM 5.2, DeepSeek V4, Kimi K3, gpt-oss 120B
Speed	Flash tier built for low latency	0.49s TTFT, lowest measured
Price	Gemini 3.8 Flash $0.75 in, $3.75 out	H100 about $6.50/hr dedicated
Customization	Custom training on GPUs or TPUs	Deploy any model with Truss
Deployment	Managed on Google Cloud	Model APIs, dedicated, self-host
Long context	1M on Gemini 3.8 Flash	Varies by model

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Google Vertex AI and Baseten?

Vertex AI is a full Google Cloud AI stack with 200+ models. Baseten is a lean serving company with 13 open models, the lowest measured time to first token and dual API compatibility.

When should I choose Google Vertex AI over Baseten?

Closed frontier models and open models in one catalog; Training, registry and evaluation on Google Cloud; Enterprise agents built on Agent Studio or ADK.

When should I choose Baseten over Google Vertex AI?

Interactive agents where time to first token matters; Serving private fine-tunes or speech and embedding models; Pointing an OpenAI or Claude SDK over with a base URL change.

Is Google Vertex AI or Baseten cheaper?

Google Vertex AI: Gemini 3.8 Flash $0.75 in, $3.75 out. Baseten: H100 about $6.50/hr dedicated. The cheaper choice depends on the model and workload.

Which has more context, Google Vertex AI or Baseten?

Google Vertex AI: 1M on Gemini 3.8 Flash. Baseten: Varies by model.

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.

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