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Lium vs Nscale: Pricing, Specs, Strengths & Weaknesses

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

Overview

Attribute
Provider type
Marketplace
Specialist
Founded
2023
2022
Headquarters
United States
London, UK
Billing model
Per-second (spot and secure tiers)
Enterprise contracts (contact sales)
Min commitment
None (15-min balance required to start)
Enterprise minimum
Support tier
Standard
Standard → Enterprise
Regions
1 regions
4 regions

Strengths & Best For

Lium

Lium (operated by Datura AI Corp) is a GPU marketplace offering H100, H200, A100, and other GPU nodes with per-second billing and no minimum rental period. A prepaid balance sufficient to cover 15 minutes is required to start a rental; billing stops the moment you end it. Spot and secure node tiers are available. Check the live table for current availability and rates.

Strengths
  • Per-second billing — pay only for what you use
  • Minimum rentable GPUs varies by node — single GPUs to whole 8-GPU nodes
  • Spot and secure node tiers
  • H100, H200, A100 and other GPU models available
  • Marketplace prices move as nodes rent out
Weaknesses
  • Marketplace model — hardware availability varies by node
  • Smaller provider with limited scale
  • Less mature ecosystem vs established providers
Best For
Short-burst GPU workloadsCost-sensitive training with per-second billingTeams wanting flexible on-demand GPU access
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Lium Rating

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Nscale

Nscale filed for IPO in September 2026 and is building full-stack AI infrastructure powering the world's most powerful AI systems. Data centers: Glomfjord Norway, Narvik Norway, Loughton UK, Texas US, plus partner-run sites in Sines Portugal, Keflavik Iceland, Stavanger Norway, Oslo Norway, Blönduós Iceland, Hayes UK, North Carolina US, and West Virginia US. Products: Nscale Cloud (managed platform with inference endpoints, fine-tuning, Kubernetes, Slurm, IAM), Nscale Infrastructure (dedicated GPU/CPU, fast networking, storage), Nscale Data Centers (modular, liquid-cooled, low PUE), and Nscale Energy (behind-the-meter power, microgrid islands). Partnerships: Figure (physical AI), Aker ASA, G Squared. UK AI Minister endorsement. Fidji Simo joined board September 2026.

Strengths
  • IPO filing Sept 2026 — rapidly scaling AI infrastructure company
  • Data centers in Norway, UK, Texas, Iceland, Portugal — renewable energy focus
  • Full-stack: inference, fine-tuning, Kubernetes, Slurm, IAM in one platform
  • Figure partnership for physical AI infrastructure
  • Modular, liquid-cooled data centers with low PUE
  • UK AI Minister endorsement — sovereign AI credentials
Weaknesses
  • No public self-serve pricing — contact sales required
  • Newer provider — ecosystem still maturing
  • IPO process may create uncertainty
Best For
Enterprise AI teams needing dedicated GPU infrastructureUK/EU organizations with data sovereignty requirementsPhysical AI and robotics workloadsTeams wanting full-stack AI cloud with managed services
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Nscale Rating

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Live GPU Pricing

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Region Coverage

Nscale — 4 regions
EU-North (Norway)EU-West (UK)US-South (Texas)EU-North (Iceland)

Popular Comparisons

Key differences

Lium

GPU marketplace — per-second billing, no minimum rental period

Nscale

IPO filing Sept 2026 — full-stack AI cloud with data centers in Norway, UK, Texas, and Iceland

AttributeLiumNscale
Provider typemarketplacespecialist
Billing modelPer-second (spot and secure tiers)Enterprise contracts (contact sales)
Min commitmentNone (15-min balance required to start)Enterprise minimum
Regions1 (Various)4 (EU-North (Norway), EU-West (UK), US-South (Texas), +1)
Support tierStandardStandard → Enterprise
Best forShort-burst GPU workloads, Cost-sensitive training with per-second billingEnterprise AI teams needing dedicated GPU infrastructure, UK/EU organizations with data sovereignty requirements
Founded / HQ2023 · United States2022 · London, UK