# Google Vertex AI vs Together AI

> A hyperscaler with closed Gemini and Claude against an open-model cloud. Vertex wins on governance and data gravity, Together on open-weight breadth, fine-tuning and GPU pricing.

Canonical: https://www.subconscious.dev/compare/google-vertex-vs-together-ai · By The Subconscious Team · Updated September 30, 2026

## How they compare

Vertex AI and Together AI answer different questions. Vertex is Google Cloud's managed platform, where Gemini 3.8 and Claude sit next to pipelines, a feature store, a model registry and BigQuery. Together is an open-model specialist: thirty-plus open text models such as DeepSeek V4, Kimi K3, GLM 5.2 and Qwen 3.8, with serverless, dedicated and raw GPU clusters on one bill. Vertex does host open models like Gemma in Model Garden, but its draw is closed frontier models and the enterprise stack around them. Together's draw is that new open releases land within days, on a serving stack shaped by the team behind FlashAttention.

Customization is where they overlap and differ. Vertex trains inside Google's MLOps tooling on GPUs or TPUs. Together sells LoRA and full SFT from $0.48 per million training tokens, reinforcement learning in closed beta, and checkpoints that deploy straight to inference. On cost, Together is easier to reason about: token prices at parity with Fireworks and Baseten, and H100 clusters from $3.19 an hour reserved. Vertex's split pricing is harder to forecast, but new accounts get up to $300 in credits, where Together has no free tier at all.

## What each one does

### 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.

### Together AI

Together AI is the broadest open-model platform in the category. One bill covers per-token serverless inference, batch at up to 50% off, provisioned throughput with a 99% SLA, dedicated deployments, raw GPU clusters, managed fine-tuning and code sandboxes for agents. The text catalog runs past thirty open models, including DeepSeek V4, Kimi K3, GLM 5.2, Qwen 3.8 and MiniMax M3, plus image, video, speech and embedding models. Token prices sit at parity with Fireworks and Baseten.

## Which is best, and when

### Choose Google Vertex AI for

- Gemini or Claude inside a governed Google Cloud stack
- Agents that need BigQuery data close by
- Multimodal and video work on Gemini

### Choose Together AI for

- Fine-tuning or RL on open models, then serving the checkpoint
- Moving off closed APIs to open weights
- Reserved GPU clusters at low hourly rates

## At a glance

| Attribute | Google Vertex AI | Together AI |
|---|---|---|
| Model access | Closed and open, 200+ models | Open weights |
| Flagship models | Gemini 3.8 Flash, Claude, Gemma | Kimi K3, DeepSeek V4, GLM 5.2, Qwen 3.8 |
| Speed | Flash tier built for low latency | 0.99s TTFT on DeepSeek V4 Pro |
| Price | Gemini 3.8 Flash $0.75 in, $3.75 out | Parity with Fireworks and Baseten |
| Customization | Custom training on GPUs or TPUs | LoRA and full SFT; RL in beta |
| Deployment | Managed on Google Cloud | Serverless, dedicated, GPU clusters |
| Long context | 1M on Gemini 3.8 Flash | 512K on DeepSeek V4 Pro |

## FAQ

### What is the difference between Google Vertex AI and Together AI?

A hyperscaler with closed Gemini and Claude against an open-model cloud. Vertex wins on governance and data gravity, Together on open-weight breadth, fine-tuning and GPU pricing.

### When should I choose Google Vertex AI over Together AI?

Gemini or Claude inside a governed Google Cloud stack; Agents that need BigQuery data close by; Multimodal and video work on Gemini.

### When should I choose Together AI over Google Vertex AI?

Fine-tuning or RL on open models, then serving the checkpoint; Moving off closed APIs to open weights; Reserved GPU clusters at low hourly rates.

### Is Google Vertex AI or Together AI cheaper?

Google Vertex AI: Gemini 3.8 Flash $0.75 in, $3.75 out. Together AI: Parity with Fireworks and Baseten. The cheaper choice depends on the model and workload.

### Which has more context, Google Vertex AI or Together AI?

Google Vertex AI: 1M on Gemini 3.8 Flash. Together AI: 512K on DeepSeek V4 Pro.

## Running long-horizon agents?

If your agents run past 200K tokens, compare both against Subconscious: [Subconscious vs Google Vertex AI](https://www.subconscious.dev/compare/subconscious-vs-google-vertex.md), [Subconscious vs Together AI](https://www.subconscious.dev/compare/subconscious-vs-together-ai.md).

Full profiles: [Google Vertex AI](https://www.subconscious.dev/providers/google-vertex.md), [Together AI](https://www.subconscious.dev/providers/together-ai.md).