# Modal vs General Compute

> Modal rents GPUs by the second for models you deploy. General Compute sells per-token open models and dedicated ASIC racks.

Canonical: https://www.subconscious.dev/compare/modal-vs-general-compute · By The Subconscious Team · Updated October 27, 2026

## How they compare

Modal runs any Python workload on GPUs from T4 to B300, billed per second from $0.59 an hour for a T4 to $3.95 for an H100 at list, with $30 of free credits a month. It has no model catalog, so teams bring weights and serving code. General Compute serves four open models through an OpenAI-compatible API at $0.21 to $0.28 in per million tokens, with GPU prefill and ASIC decode. It reports over 1,000 tokens per second on GPT-OSS 120B in its own benchmark.

Modal is the pick for custom models, embeddings, OCR and batch jobs where control over the stack matters. General Compute fits teams that want fast tokens on its models with nothing to deploy. It also takes LoRA or fine-tuned checkpoints, so a custom LLM can run on ASIC decode without managing GPUs. For steady large loads it sells reserved racks, bare metal and tokens-per-second SLAs.

## What each one does

### Modal

Modal is serverless compute with GPUs attached. A developer decorates a Python function with the hardware it needs, such as gpu="H100", and Modal builds the container, schedules it, autoscales it and scales it back to zero. Billing runs per second with no minimum increment, from $0.59 an hour for a T4 to $3.95 for an H100 at list. Containers can hold up to 8 GPUs across T4 through B300.

### General Compute

General Compute is a San Francisco inference cloud built on alternative chips. It splits each request across hardware, with NVIDIA GPUs handling prefill and ASICs from Cerebras, SambaNova, Positron AI and d-Matrix handling decode. In its own open benchmark on GPT-OSS 120B it measured 1,025 to 1,234 output tokens per second against 100 to 121 on an unnamed GPU cloud, and up to 16.2x faster end to end. Founders Finn Puklowski and Jason Goodison raised a $15M seed led by FUSE, an up to $400M debt facility from Upper90 and, on October 27, 2026, a $100M Series A co-led by Blackbird and Abstract.

## Which is best, and when

### Choose Modal for

- Custom and non-LLM models
- Bursty per-second GPU work
- Batch and media jobs

### Choose General Compute for

- Fast open-model tokens with nothing to deploy
- Fine-tuned LLMs on ASIC decode
- Reserved racks for steady load

## At a glance

| Attribute | Modal | General Compute |
|---|---|---|
| Model access | Bring your own weights | Open weights |
| Flagship models | None hosted | MiniMax M2.7, DeepSeek V3.2, GPT-OSS 120B |
| Speed | ~1s container boot | 1,000+ tok/s on GPT-OSS 120B (vendor) |
| Price | Per second; H100 $3.95/hr list | $0.21–$0.28 in, $0.38–$1.20 out per 1M |
| Customization | Run any training code | Custom LoRA and fine-tuned checkpoints |
| Deployment | Serverless GPU containers | Serverless API, dedicated racks, bare metal |
| Long context | Depends on the model you deploy | 192K (MiniMax M2.7) |

## FAQ

### What is the difference between Modal and General Compute?

Modal rents GPUs by the second for models you deploy. General Compute sells per-token open models and dedicated ASIC racks.

### When should I choose Modal over General Compute?

Custom and non-LLM models; Bursty per-second GPU work; Batch and media jobs.

### When should I choose General Compute over Modal?

Fast open-model tokens with nothing to deploy; Fine-tuned LLMs on ASIC decode; Reserved racks for steady load.

### Is Modal or General Compute cheaper?

Modal: Per second; H100 $3.95/hr list. General Compute: $0.21–$0.28 in, $0.38–$1.20 out per 1M. The cheaper choice depends on the model and workload.

### Which has more context, Modal or General Compute?

Modal: Depends on the model you deploy. General Compute: 192K (MiniMax M2.7).

## Running long-horizon agents?

If your agents run past 200K tokens, compare both against Subconscious: [Subconscious vs Modal](https://www.subconscious.dev/compare/subconscious-vs-modal.md), [Subconscious vs General Compute](https://www.subconscious.dev/compare/subconscious-vs-general-compute.md).

Full profiles: [Modal](https://www.subconscious.dev/providers/modal.md), [General Compute](https://www.subconscious.dev/providers/general-compute.md).