kitio.aivLLM vs Beam
A side-by-side look at pricing plans, free tiers, features, pros and cons, updated for 2026. vLLM is completely free, while Beam is freemium.
At a glance
Best for
Category
Pricing model
Starting price
Free plan
Made by
Based in
Rating
Key features
- PagedAttention
- Continuous batching
- OpenAI-compatible server
- Multi-GPU parallelism
- LoRA serving
- Serverless GPU functions
- Fast cold starts
- Code sandboxes
- Open-source runtime
- Per-second billing
| Feature | vLLM | Beam |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | High-throughput open-source engine for serving LLMs in production | Serverless GPUs and sandboxes for AI inference and agents |
| Category | Models & APIs | Models & APIs |
| Pricing model | Free | Freemium |
| Starting price | Free | See pricing page |
| Free plan | Yes, fully free | Yes |
| Made by | vLLM project | Beam |
| Based in | United States | United States |
| Rating | No ratings yet | No ratings yet |
| Key features |
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Pricing compared
vLLM is completely free, while Beam is freemium.
Free plan
Cheapest paid plan
Top plan
Free trial
5 plans
Virtual Machines
From $0.0306 / hr
- 1 vCPU, 1 GiB RAM base
- 50 GiB root disk included
Sandboxes
From $0.319 / hr
- Isolated environments for untrusted code
- Billed by the millisecond
Serverless GPU
From $0.000192 / sec
- RTX 4090, 5090, H100 and more
- Pay only while code runs
On-demand GPUs
H100 from $1.83 / hr
- Flat price per machine
- vCPU, RAM and NVMe included
Clusters
Contact sales
- Multi-node GPU with InfiniBand
- Reserved monthly or yearly
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
vLLM
- Excellent throughput
- Broad hardware support
- Industry-standard serving
- Needs server-class GPUs
- Many tuning flags
- Fast releases change defaults
Beam
- Quick container start times
- Self-hostable runtime
- Simple Python API
- Smaller company than rivals
- Python-focused
- Fewer GPU regions
Which one should you choose?
Choose vLLM if you want:
- Excellent throughput
- Broad hardware support
- Industry-standard serving
Watch out: needs server-class gpus.
Choose Beam if you want:
- Quick container start times
- Self-hostable runtime
- Simple Python API
Watch out: smaller company than rivals.
vLLM vs Beam FAQ
What is the difference between vLLM and Beam?
vLLM: High-throughput open-source engine for serving LLMs in production. Beam: Serverless GPUs and sandboxes for AI inference and agents. Both are models & apis tools.
Is vLLM or Beam cheaper?
vLLM is completely free, while Beam is freemium.
Do vLLM and Beam have free plans?
vLLM: Yes, fully free. Beam: Yes.
Who makes vLLM?
vLLM is made by vLLM project, based in United States.
Who makes Beam?
Beam is made by Beam, based in United States.
Which should I choose, vLLM or Beam?
Choose vLLM if you value excellent throughput and broad hardware support. Choose Beam if you value quick container start times and self-hostable runtime.