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Nebius vs Particle.AI
An early startup selling cheap Flash-class models with 1M context through Vercel AI Gateway, against a full European AI cloud.
By The Subconscious Team · Updated
Nebius vs Particle.AI: key differences
Particle AI is very early. Its product is visible mainly on Vercel AI Gateway, where it serves a few fast, cheap open models with 1M token context: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash at $0.25 in and $1 out, GLM 5.3 Flash at $0.10 in and $0.40 out, and DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 at $0.14 in and $0.28 out, all with cache reads at $0.03 per million. Nebius is an established AI cloud with 60+ open models from $0.06 per million input tokens, dedicated endpoints, uploaded fine-tunes and raw GPUs.
Particle fits a narrow slot well: a price-optimized or fallback route for Flash-class calls inside a gateway, tried with no new contract. It has a tiny catalog, little public track record, and some listings trail faster hosts on latency, like 3.5 seconds on DeepSeek V4.1 Flash. Nebius is the choice for anything that needs contracts, EU or US placement, a 99.9% SLA, fine-tune hosting or training capacity.
What Nebius and Particle.AI do
Nebius
Nebius is an Amsterdam-headquartered AI cloud and the strongest European alternative to the US hyperscalers. It sells raw NVIDIA GPU compute, from H100s at $2.15 an hour preemptible up to GB300 NVL72 racks, and it has begun adding Vera Rubin. Hyperscale buyers back it: a Microsoft capacity deal worth about $17.4B in September 2025, then a Meta agreement worth up to about $27B in March 2026.
Example models: DeepSeek V3, GPT-OSS
Full Nebius profile
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.
Example models: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, GLM 5.3 Flash
Full Particle.AI profileShould you choose Nebius or Particle.AI?
Nebius
Choose Nebius for
- Production workloads that need an SLA and a direct contract
- EU placement and dedicated endpoints for fine-tunes
- A wide catalog beyond Flash-class models
Particle.AI
Choose Particle.AI for
- Cheap high-volume DeepSeek and GLM Flash calls with 1M context
- A fallback route inside Vercel AI Gateway
- Trying a low-cost host with no new vendor contract
Nebius vs Particle.AI at a glance
| Attribute | Nebius |  Particle.AI |
|---|---|---|
| Model access | Open weights, 60+ models | Open weights |
| Flagship models | DeepSeek, Qwen, GLM, Kimi, GPT-OSS | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, GLM 5.3 Flash |
| Speed | Among top hosts on throughput | ~157 tok/s on DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| Price | From $0.06 per 1M input | $0.10 in, $0.40 out (GLM 5.3 Flash) |
| Customization | Serve uploaded fine-tunes | Unknown |
| Deployment | Token Factory, dedicated, raw GPUs | Via Vercel AI Gateway |
| Long context | Varies by model | 1M |
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Nebius and Particle.AI?
An early startup selling cheap Flash-class models with 1M context through Vercel AI Gateway, against a full European AI cloud.
When should I choose Nebius over Particle.AI?
Production workloads that need an SLA and a direct contract; EU placement and dedicated endpoints for fine-tunes; A wide catalog beyond Flash-class models.
When should I choose Particle.AI over Nebius?
Cheap high-volume DeepSeek and GLM Flash calls with 1M context; A fallback route inside Vercel AI Gateway; Trying a low-cost host with no new vendor contract.
Is Nebius or Particle.AI cheaper?
Nebius: From $0.06 per 1M input. 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, Nebius or Particle.AI?
Nebius: Varies by model. Particle.AI: 1M.
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