Cheapest GPUs for inference
For AI inference you rarely need a flagship H100. The cheapest inference-class GPU we track is the NVIDIA L4 at $0.33/hr on Vast.ai. The L4 (24GB, 72W) gives the best cost-per-token for steady serving; the L40S (48GB) adds throughput for larger models; the A6000 and RTX 4090 are budget VRAM workhorses on marketplace clouds. Ranked below across every provider.
Source: Provider pricing pages. Data as of June 2026.
Inference GPUs ranked cheapest first
| Rank | GPU | Provider | VRAM | On-demand /hr |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | L4 | Vast.ai | 24GB GDDR6 | $0.33/hr |
| #2 | L4 | RunPod | 24GB GDDR6 | $0.39/hr |
| #3 | A6000 | RunPod | 48GB GDDR6 | $0.49/hr |
| #4 | A6000 | Hyperstack | 48GB GDDR6 | $0.50/hr |
| #5 | RTX 6000 Ada | Lambda | 48GB GDDR6 | $0.50/hr |
| #6 | RTX 4090 | Vast.ai | 24GB GDDR6X | $0.52/hr |
| #7 | A6000 | Verda (formerly DataCrunch) | 48GB GDDR6 | $0.61/hr |
| #8 | RTX 4090 | RunPod | 24GB GDDR6X | $0.69/hr |
| #9 | L4 | Google Cloud | 24GB GDDR6 | $0.71/hr |
| #10 | RTX 6000 Ada | RunPod | 48GB GDDR6 | $0.77/hr |
| #11 | A6000 | Lambda | 48GB GDDR6 | $0.80/hr |
| #12 | L4 | AWS EC2 | 24GB GDDR6 | $0.81/hr |
| #13 | L40S | RunPod | 48GB GDDR6 | $0.86/hr |
| #14 | RTX 6000 Ada | Verda (formerly DataCrunch) | 48GB GDDR6 | $1.04/hr |
| #15 | L40S | Verda (formerly DataCrunch) | 48GB GDDR6 | $1.37/hr |
| #16 | L40S | Crusoe | 48GB GDDR6 | $1.50/hr |
| #17 | L40S | Nebius | 48GB GDDR6 | $1.55/hr |
| #18 | L40S | Paperspace (DigitalOcean) | 48GB GDDR6 | $1.57/hr |
| #19 | RTX 6000 Ada | Paperspace (DigitalOcean) | 48GB GDDR6 | $1.57/hr |
| #20 | L40S | Vultr Cloud GPU | 48GB GDDR6 | $1.67/hr |
| #21 | RTX 6000 Ada | Hyperstack | 48GB GDDR6 | $1.80/hr |
| #22 | RTX 6000 Ada | Nebius | 48GB GDDR6 | $1.80/hr |
| #23 | L40S | AWS EC2 | 48GB GDDR6 | $1.86/hr |
| #24 | A6000 | Paperspace (DigitalOcean) | 48GB GDDR6 | $1.89/hr |
| #25 | L40S | CoreWeave | 48GB GDDR6 | $2.25/hr |
| #26 | RTX 6000 Ada | CoreWeave | 48GB GDDR6 | $2.50/hr |
Source: Provider pricing pages. Data as of June 2026.
Snapshot June 2026 — cloud GPU prices change weekly; verify on the provider's pricing page before relying on a figure.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest GPU for AI inference?
The cheapest inference-class GPU we track is the NVIDIA L4 at $0.33/hr on Vast.ai. For steady, high-volume serving the L4 (24GB, 72W) is usually the best cost-per-token; the L40S adds throughput and 48GB for bigger models. Snapshot June 2026 — cloud GPU prices change weekly; verify on the provider's pricing page before relying on a figure.
L4 vs L40S vs A6000 for inference?
L4 (24GB) is the cheapest and most power-efficient for steady serving of small/medium models. L40S (48GB) is much faster and fits bigger models, at a higher hourly rate. The A6000/RTX 6000 Ada (48GB) are good value when you mainly need lots of VRAM. Match VRAM to your model size first, then optimise cost.
Can I use an RTX 4090 for inference?
Yes — the RTX 4090 (24GB) is excellent value for inference and Stable Diffusion on community/marketplace clouds (RunPod Community, Vast.ai). It is a consumer card, so it is rarely offered by enterprise providers and has no ECC, but per dollar it is hard to beat for single-GPU serving.
Should inference run on spot GPUs?
For batch/offline inference, yes — spot cuts cost ~50%. For latency-sensitive online serving, prefer on-demand or reserved so your endpoint is not reclaimed mid-request; or run a small on-demand baseline plus spot for burst.
Keep exploring
Last updated: 2026-06-21