# Modal vs RunInfra

> RunInfra's agent picks a model, benchmarks GPUs and ships an endpoint for you. Modal gives you per-second GPUs and expects you to write the code. Automated deployment versus developer control.

Canonical: https://www.subconscious.dev/compare/modal-vs-runinfra · By The Subconscious Team · Updated September 30, 2026

## How they compare

RunInfra and Modal both deploy models onto serverless GPUs that scale to zero, but the work is split differently. On RunInfra, you describe an endpoint in plain English and its agent chooses a model, benchmarks it across GPUs from L4 to B200, searches quantized variants like AWQ, GPTQ and FP8, applies its Forge kernels and ships an OpenAI-compatible endpoint with cold starts under two seconds. On Modal, you write the Python function and serving code, and Modal handles containers, scheduling and per-second billing.

RunInfra suits small teams without ML ops staff, and it adds hosted Model APIs plus coding plans from $10 a month. Paid plans take custom uploads up to 50 GB. Modal suits engineers who want full control and broader workloads: fine-tuning, batch jobs, OCR, media and agent sandboxes, with $30 of free credits monthly. RunInfra's hosted library is tiny and mid-size, and it has little independent track record. Modal's weak spots are warm-container costs and a 3.75x markup for non-preemptible US production.

## 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.

### RunInfra

RunInfra pitches open models built for agents, with two ways in. Its hosted Model APIs serve a small curated library, including Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B, Qwen 3.8 27B and Ornith 1.5 35B, behind one key that works with both the OpenAI and Anthropic SDKs. Cached context bills at a discount. Coding plans start at $10 a month with limits that reset every five hours and every week, and they plug into Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Cline, Aider and dozens of other agent CLIs.

## Which is best, and when

### Choose Modal for

- Full control over serving and training code.
- Non-LLM and batch GPU work.
- Agent sandboxes on the same platform.

### Choose RunInfra for

- Endpoints built and benchmarked by an agent.
- Cheap coding plans for Claude Code or Codex.
- Voice pipelines without ML ops staff.

## At a glance

| Attribute | Modal | RunInfra |
|---|---|---|
| Model access | Bring your own weights | Open weights |
| Flagship models | None hosted | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B, Qwen 3.8 27B |
| Speed | ~1s container boot | Cold starts under 2s |
| Price | Per second; H100 $3.95/hr list | Coding plans from $10 a month |
| Customization | Run any training code | Uploads up to 50 GB; auto-quantization |
| Deployment | Serverless GPU containers | Model APIs, agent-built endpoints |
| Long context | Depends on the model you deploy | Varies by model |

## FAQ

### What is the difference between Modal and RunInfra?

RunInfra's agent picks a model, benchmarks GPUs and ships an endpoint for you. Modal gives you per-second GPUs and expects you to write the code. Automated deployment versus developer control.

### When should I choose Modal over RunInfra?

Full control over serving and training code; Non-LLM and batch GPU work; Agent sandboxes on the same platform.

### When should I choose RunInfra over Modal?

Endpoints built and benchmarked by an agent; Cheap coding plans for Claude Code or Codex; Voice pipelines without ML ops staff.

### Is Modal or RunInfra cheaper?

Modal: Per second; H100 $3.95/hr list. RunInfra: Coding plans from $10 a month. The cheaper choice depends on the model and workload.

### Which has more context, Modal or RunInfra?

Modal: Depends on the model you deploy. RunInfra: Varies by model.

## 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 RunInfra](https://www.subconscious.dev/compare/subconscious-vs-runinfra.md).

Full profiles: [Modal](https://www.subconscious.dev/providers/modal.md), [RunInfra](https://www.subconscious.dev/providers/runinfra.md).