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Novita AI vs StreamLake
StreamLake sells Kuaishou's proprietary KAT-Coder models from China. Novita sells cheap open models from San Francisco. A coding specialist against a generalist.
By The Subconscious Team · Updated
Novita AI vs StreamLake: key differences
StreamLake is Kuaishou's AI cloud. Its lead product is KAT-Coder-Pro V2.5, a closed agentic coding model that StreamLake says was trained for repository-level work, sold per token or on a KwaiKAT Coding Plan with a Claude-protocol proxy for Claude Code. Novita has no in-house model. It serves 200+ open models from other labs, with both OpenAI and Anthropic formats, so Claude Code can also point at Novita for open coding models. The choice is KAT-Coder specifically versus a cheap, wide menu.
Compliance cuts against both, differently. StreamLake's docs and pricing lead with China and yuan, and data residency in China rules it out for many US and EU buyers. Novita is based in San Francisco but has no public SOC 2, HIPAA or VPC peering. StreamLake also sells bare metal to Chinese internet businesses on Kuaishou's infrastructure, while Novita rents GPUs from RTX 3090s to H200s. For a Western developer wanting the cheapest agentic coding on open models, Novita is easier to buy.
What Novita AI and StreamLake do
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.
Example models: DeepSeek V4 Pro, Gemma 4
Full Novita AI profileStreamLake
StreamLake is the AI cloud brand of Kuaishou, the Chinese short-video company behind the Kling video models. It sells model-as-a-service inference and bare-metal compute to internet businesses, drawing on the infrastructure Kuaishou built to serve video at massive scale. Its developer site offers APIs, SDKs and integration guides aimed at taking teams from testing to production.
Example models: KAT-Coder-Pro V2.5, KAT-Coder-Air
Full StreamLake profileShould you choose Novita AI or StreamLake?
Novita AI
Choose Novita AI for
- Open coding models inside Claude Code
- Western teams avoiding China data residency
- One bill for models, GPUs and sandboxes
StreamLake
Choose StreamLake for
- KAT-Coder-Pro V2.5 for repository-level agents
- Flat-rate agentic coding via a subscription
- Domestic MaaS for Chinese internet businesses
Novita AI vs StreamLake at a glance
| Attribute | Novita AI | StreamLake |
|---|---|---|
| Model access | Open weights | Proprietary coding models |
| Flagship models | DeepSeek V4 Pro, Gemma 4 | KAT-Coder-Pro V2.5, KAT-Coder-Air |
| Speed | ~36 tok/s on DeepSeek V4 Pro | Unknown |
| Price | From $0.02 per 1M; batch 50% off | Per token or KwaiKAT Coding Plan |
| Customization | Hot-swappable LoRA adapters | Unknown |
| Deployment | Serverless, GPU cloud, dedicated | MaaS API, bare metal |
| Long context | Full 1M on DeepSeek V4 Pro | Unknown |
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Novita AI and StreamLake?
StreamLake sells Kuaishou's proprietary KAT-Coder models from China. Novita sells cheap open models from San Francisco. A coding specialist against a generalist.
When should I choose Novita AI over StreamLake?
Open coding models inside Claude Code; Western teams avoiding China data residency; One bill for models, GPUs and sandboxes.
When should I choose StreamLake over Novita AI?
KAT-Coder-Pro V2.5 for repository-level agents; Flat-rate agentic coding via a subscription; Domestic MaaS for Chinese internet businesses.
Is Novita AI or StreamLake cheaper?
Novita AI: From $0.02 per 1M; batch 50% off. StreamLake: Per token or KwaiKAT Coding Plan. The cheaper choice depends on the model and workload.
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