# Novita AI vs Inference.net

> Novita AI is a broad, cheap real-time and GPU platform. Inference.net focuses on bulk batch on spare capacity and on distilling traffic into custom models.

Canonical: https://www.subconscious.dev/compare/novita-ai-vs-inference-net · By The Subconscious Team · Updated September 30, 2026

## How they compare

Novita is built for breadth. Its serverless API spans 200+ open models across text, image, video, speech, voice cloning and embeddings, with LLM prices from $0.02 per million and batch at half off. It also rents GPUs, runs dedicated endpoints for any Hugging Face model and offers an Agent Sandbox on Firecracker microVMs. Inference.net is narrower and deeper on two jobs. Its OpenAI-compatible Batch API accepts up to 1M requests per file with windows from 24 hours to 7 days, running on aggregated spare GPU capacity, and its gateway turns production traffic into datasets for fine-tuning.

The trade-off follows from those designs. Inference.net says its fragmented capacity suits batch better than strict real-time SLAs, where Novita serves interactive traffic across modalities. Inference.net, though, goes further on custom models: it fine-tunes a task-specific model from your traces and deploys it on a dedicated GPU with a 99.99% uptime target, above Novita's 99.5% dedicated SLA. Neither has much independent benchmarking, and Novita lacks public SOC 2 or HIPAA. Teams replacing a narrow GPT-class workload should look hard at Inference.net.

## What each one does

### Novita AI

Novita AI is a San Francisco inference cloud founded in late 2023 by Frank Lewis and Junyu Huang, and it competes on price and breadth. Its serverless API covers 200+ open models across LLMs, image, video, speech, voice cloning and embeddings, with LLM prices starting at $0.02 per million tokens. The API speaks both OpenAI and Anthropic formats. It became an official Hugging Face Inference Partner in April 2026 and was the day-zero launch partner for Google's Gemma 4.

### Inference.net

Inference.net started as a buyer of last resort for idle GPU time. Its scheduler aggregates small unused chunks of capacity across data centers and runs models on them, and it passes the steep discounts it gets from those data centers on to customers. That origin still shows in its OpenAI-compatible Batch API, which takes up to 1M requests per file with completion windows from 24 hours to 7 days and far higher headroom than synchronous limits.

## Which is best, and when

### Choose Novita AI for

- Real-time text and image generation on a budget
- Browsing 200+ models before committing to one
- Agent sandboxes billed per second

### Choose Inference.net for

- Million-request batch jobs with long windows
- Distilling production traces into a small custom model
- Dedicated serving with a 99.99% uptime target

## At a glance

| Attribute | Novita AI | Inference.net |
|---|---|---|
| Model access | Open weights | Open, closed and custom |
| Flagship models | DeepSeek V4 Pro, Gemma 4 | Customer fine-tunes |
| Speed | ~36 tok/s on DeepSeek V4 Pro | Batch windows of 24h to 7 days |
| Price | From $0.02 per 1M; batch 50% off | Discounted spare GPU capacity |
| Customization | Hot-swappable LoRA adapters | Distill traces into custom models |
| Deployment | Serverless, GPU cloud, dedicated | Batch API, gateway, dedicated GPUs |
| Long context | Full 1M on DeepSeek V4 Pro | Varies by model |

## FAQ

### What is the difference between Novita AI and Inference.net?

Novita AI is a broad, cheap real-time and GPU platform. Inference.net focuses on bulk batch on spare capacity and on distilling traffic into custom models.

### When should I choose Novita AI over Inference.net?

Real-time text and image generation on a budget; Browsing 200+ models before committing to one; Agent sandboxes billed per second.

### When should I choose Inference.net over Novita AI?

Million-request batch jobs with long windows; Distilling production traces into a small custom model; Dedicated serving with a 99.99% uptime target.

### Is Novita AI or Inference.net cheaper?

Novita AI: From $0.02 per 1M; batch 50% off. Inference.net: Discounted spare GPU capacity. The cheaper choice depends on the model and workload.

### Which has more context, Novita AI or Inference.net?

Novita AI: Full 1M on DeepSeek V4 Pro. Inference.net: Varies by model.

## Running long-horizon agents?

If your agents run past 200K tokens, compare both against Subconscious: [Subconscious vs Novita AI](https://www.subconscious.dev/compare/subconscious-vs-novita-ai.md), [Subconscious vs Inference.net](https://www.subconscious.dev/compare/subconscious-vs-inference-net.md).

Full profiles: [Novita AI](https://www.subconscious.dev/providers/novita-ai.md), [Inference.net](https://www.subconscious.dev/providers/inference-net.md).