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AWS vs SF Compute: Pricing, Specs, Strengths & Weaknesses

Side-by-side comparison of GPU compute pricing, regions, billing models, and strengths for AWS and SF Compute. Rates sourced from public APIs — verify current availability and billing terms before purchasing.

Overview

Attribute
Provider type
Hyperscaler
Specialist
Founded
2006
2023
Headquarters
Seattle, WA
San Francisco, CA
Billing model
On-demand, Reserved (1yr/3yr), Spot, Savings Plans
On-demand, Contract
Min commitment
None (on-demand)
None (on-demand); contract options available
Support tier
Basic → Enterprise
Standard
Regions
5 regions
1 regions

Strengths & Best For

AWS

AWS EC2 P5 instances are powered by NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core GPUs (up to 8× H100, 640 GB HBM3, 3,200 Gbps EFA networking). P5e and P5en instances use NVIDIA H200 GPUs (up to 8× H200, 1,128 GB HBM3e). P5en adds Gen5 PCIe and third-generation EFA for 35% lower latency. All three families deploy in EC2 UltraClusters scaling to 20,000 GPUs with petabit-scale nonblocking networking delivering 20 exaflops aggregate. SageMaker HyperPod manages resilient training clusters at any scale. Amazon Bedrock provides serverless access to DeepSeek v3.2, MiniMax, Kimi 3, Z.AI GLM 5, and Writer Palmyra. 30+ global regions with enterprise SLAs.

Strengths
  • P5/P5e/P5en: H100 and H200 in UltraClusters up to 20,000 GPUs
  • 20 exaflops aggregate compute in EC2 UltraClusters
  • 3,200 Gbps EFA networking with GPUDirect RDMA
  • SageMaker HyperPod for resilient distributed training
  • Amazon Bedrock: serverless access to DeepSeek, MiniMax, Kimi, GLM, Palmyra
  • 30+ global regions with enterprise SLAs and compliance certifications
Weaknesses
  • Highest on-demand GPU rates among all providers
  • Complex pricing — on-demand vs reserved vs spot vs savings plans
  • GPU quota increases require support tickets and can take days
Best For
Hyperscale AI training requiring 1,000+ GPUsEnterprise workloads needing compliance (HIPAA, FedRAMP, SOC 2)Teams already invested in the AWS ecosystemProduction ML inference via SageMaker
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SF Compute

SF Compute offers H100 SXM5 80GB GPU clusters with both short-term on-demand and longer-term contract pricing. The platform targets AI training and research teams that need reliable H100 access at competitive rates. October 2026 on-demand rate: $5.04/GPU-hr. SF Compute provides VMs, bare metal, and managed Slurm cluster options, making it flexible for different workflow types. A practical choice for teams that want H100 compute without the overhead of hyperscaler pricing.

Strengths
  • H100 SXM5 80GB at competitive on-demand rates
  • Bare metal and managed Slurm options
  • Short and long-term contract flexibility
  • US West region — low latency for West Coast teams
Weaknesses
  • Limited GPU catalog — primarily H100
  • Smaller provider — less geographic diversity
  • Less mature ecosystem vs established GPU clouds
Best For
AI training teams needing H100 clustersResearch teams wanting Slurm-managed GPU computeTeams comparing H100 on-demand rates across providers
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Live GPU Pricing

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Region Coverage

AWS — 5 regions
us-east-1us-west-2eu-west-1ap-southeast-1ap-northeast-1

Popular Comparisons

Key differences

AWS

P5 (H100), P5e/P5en (H200), UltraClusters up to 20,000 GPUs — hyperscale AI infrastructure

SF Compute

H100 cluster compute — contract and on-demand GPU access from $5.04/hr

AttributeAWSSF Compute
Provider typehyperscalerspecialist
Billing modelOn-demand, Reserved (1yr/3yr), Spot, Savings PlansOn-demand, Contract
Min commitmentNone (on-demand)None (on-demand); contract options available
Regions5 (us-east-1, us-west-2, eu-west-1, +2)1 (US)
Support tierBasic → EnterpriseStandard
Best forHyperscale AI training requiring 1,000+ GPUs, Enterprise workloads needing compliance (HIPAA, FedRAMP, SOC 2)AI training teams needing H100 clusters, Research teams wanting Slurm-managed GPU compute
Founded / HQ2006 · Seattle, WA2023 · San Francisco, CA