DeepInfra vs Petals
A side-by-side look at pricing plans, free tiers, features, pros and cons, updated for 2026. Petals is completely free, while DeepInfra is paid.
At a glance
Best for
Category
Pricing model
Starting price
Free plan
Made by
Based in
Rating
Key features
- Hundreds of open models
- OpenAI-compatible API
- Custom model deployment
- Embedding models
- Hugging Face provider
- Distributed LLM inference
- Fine-tuning support
- PyTorch and Transformers API
- Access to hidden states
- Colab quickstart
| Feature | DeepInfra | Petals |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Low-cost serverless API for hundreds of open-source models | Run large language models together over a BitTorrent-style network |
| Category | Models & APIs | Models & APIs |
| Pricing model | Paid | Free |
| Starting price | See pricing page | Free |
| Free plan | No | Yes, fully free |
| Made by | DeepInfra | Petals open-source project |
| Based in | United States | – |
| Rating | No ratings yet | No ratings yet |
| Key features |
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Pricing compared
Petals is completely free, while DeepInfra is paid.
Free plan
Cheapest paid plan
Top plan
Free trial
Prices in USD, checked Oct 28, 2026 or later. Plans change often, so confirm on each tool's site before you buy.
Pros and cons
DeepInfra
- Very low token prices
- Large catalog
- No monthly fee
- Basic dashboard
- Fewer enterprise features
- Latency varies by model
Petals
- Runs very large models without owning big GPUs
- Full control over sampling and fine-tuning
- Free and open source
- Speed is only a few tokens per second
- Depends on volunteer servers
- Not suited to production traffic
Which one should you choose?
Choose DeepInfra if you want:
- Very low token prices
- Large catalog
- No monthly fee
Watch out: basic dashboard.
Choose Petals if you want:
- Runs very large models without owning big GPUs
- Full control over sampling and fine-tuning
- Free and open source
Watch out: speed is only a few tokens per second.
DeepInfra vs Petals FAQ
What is the difference between DeepInfra and Petals?
DeepInfra: Low-cost serverless API for hundreds of open-source models. Petals: Run large language models together over a BitTorrent-style network. Both are models & apis tools.
Is DeepInfra or Petals cheaper?
Petals is completely free, while DeepInfra is paid.
Do DeepInfra and Petals have free plans?
DeepInfra: No. Petals: Yes, fully free.
Who makes DeepInfra?
DeepInfra is made by DeepInfra, based in United States.
Who makes Petals?
Petals is made by Petals open-source project.
Which should I choose, DeepInfra or Petals?
Choose DeepInfra if you value very low token prices and large catalog. Choose Petals if you value runs very large models without owning big gpus and full control over sampling and fine-tuning.