DigitalOcean Gradient AI vs HAI by HCloud: Token Pricing, Speed & Intelligence
Full comparison of DigitalOcean Gradient AI and HAI by HCloud — live token pricing, latency, throughput, context window, strengths, weaknesses, and best use cases. Rates sourced from public APIs — verify before use.
DigitalOcean Gradient AI
Serverless inference on Gradient AI — Claude, GPT-5, DeepSeek V4, Kimi K2.6, Qwen 3.5, Llama 4
DigitalOcean Gradient AI is the serverless LLM inference platform from DigitalOcean, offering access to frontier and open-weight models including Claude Sonnet 4.6, Claude Haiku 4.5, Claude Opus 4.7, GPT-5.4, GPT-5.4 mini, GPT-5, GPT-4.1, GPT-4o, gpt-oss-120b, gpt-oss-20b, DeepSeek V4 Pro/Flash, Kimi K2.6, GLM-5.1, Qwen 3.5 397B A17B, Llama 4 Maverick, and MiMo V2.5 Pro. Pricing is published at docs.digitalocean.com/products/gradient-ai-platform/details/pricing.
HAI by HCloud
Japan-based inference — zero data retention, JPY pricing, TEE-secured Kimi K3
HAI is HCloud's LLM inference platform based in Japan, offering DeepSeek, GLM-5.3, Kimi K3, and Gemma 4 models with a zero data retention policy. Prices are in JPY per 1M tokens, tax included. The Kimi K3 (TEE) variant runs in a Trusted Execution Environment for confidential inference. Suited for Japanese enterprises and APAC workloads requiring data residency.
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Live token pricing
Strengths and weaknesses
DigitalOcean Gradient AI
HAI by HCloud
Key differentiators
DigitalOcean's developer-friendly platform extended to LLM inference — frontier models (Claude, GPT-5) alongside open-weight models (DeepSeek V4, Kimi K2.6, Llama 4) under one billing account.
Japan-based inference with zero data retention and a TEE-secured Kimi K3 variant for confidential workloads.
Frequently asked questions
DigitalOcean Gradient AI FAQs
What is DigitalOcean Gradient AI?
DigitalOcean Gradient AI is DigitalOcean's serverless LLM inference platform, offering frontier and open-weight models including Claude, GPT-5, DeepSeek V4, Kimi K2.6, and Llama 4 Maverick. See docs.digitalocean.com/products/gradient-ai-platform/details/pricing for current rates.
What models does DigitalOcean Gradient AI offer?
The catalog includes Claude Sonnet 4.6, Claude Haiku 4.5, Claude Opus 4.7, GPT-5.4, GPT-5.4 mini, GPT-5, GPT-4.1, GPT-4o, gpt-oss-120b, gpt-oss-20b, DeepSeek V4 Pro/Flash, Kimi K2.6, GLM-5.1, Qwen 3.5 397B A17B, Llama 4 Maverick, and MiMo V2.5 Pro.
How much does DigitalOcean Gradient AI cost?
As of October 2026: Claude Sonnet 4.6 $3/$15, Claude Haiku 4.5 $1/$5, Claude Opus 4.7 $5/$25, GPT-5.4 $2.50/$15, GPT-5.4 mini $0.75/$4.50, GPT-5 $1.25/$10, GPT-4.1 $2/$8, GPT-4o $2.50/$10. See docs.digitalocean.com/products/gradient-ai-platform/details/pricing for current rates.
HAI by HCloud FAQs
What is HAI by HCloud?
HAI is HCloud's LLM inference API based in Japan. It offers DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, GLM-5.3, Kimi K3 (TEE), and Gemma 4 31B with a zero data retention policy and JPY pricing. See hai.hcloud.ltd/pricing for current rates.
What is the Kimi K3 TEE variant?
The Kimi K3 (TEE) variant runs inside a Trusted Execution Environment, providing hardware-level isolation for confidential inference. This is suited for workloads where prompt and response data must not be accessible to the infrastructure operator.
Does HAI retain my data?
No. HAI operates a zero data retention policy — prompts and responses are not stored after the request completes.
Provider resources
DigitalOcean Gradient AI — Serverless inference on Gradient AI — Claude, GPT-5, DeepSeek V4, Kimi K2.6, Qwen 3.5, Llama 4
DigitalOcean Gradient AI is the serverless LLM inference platform from DigitalOcean, offering access to frontier and open-weight models including Claude Sonnet 4.6, Claude Haiku 4.5, Claude Opus 4.7, GPT-5.4, GPT-5.4 mini, GPT-5, GPT-4.1, GPT-4o, gpt-oss-120b, gpt-oss-20b, DeepSeek V4 Pro/Flash, Kimi K2.6, GLM-5.1, Qwen 3.5 397B A17B, Llama 4 Maverick, and MiMo V2.5 Pro. Pricing is published at docs.digitalocean.com/products/gradient-ai-platform/details/pricing.
DigitalOcean's developer-friendly platform extended to LLM inference — frontier models (Claude, GPT-5) alongside open-weight models (DeepSeek V4, Kimi K2.6, Llama 4) under one billing account.
HAI by HCloud — Japan-based inference — zero data retention, JPY pricing, TEE-secured Kimi K3
HAI is HCloud's LLM inference platform based in Japan, offering DeepSeek, GLM-5.3, Kimi K3, and Gemma 4 models with a zero data retention policy. Prices are in JPY per 1M tokens, tax included. The Kimi K3 (TEE) variant runs in a Trusted Execution Environment for confidential inference. Suited for Japanese enterprises and APAC workloads requiring data residency.
Japan-based inference with zero data retention and a TEE-secured Kimi K3 variant for confidential workloads.
Key strengths compared
DigitalOcean Gradient AI
- Frontier model access: Claude Opus 4.7, GPT-5.4, GPT-5 via serverless inference
- Broad catalog: Claude, GPT, DeepSeek V4, Kimi K2.6, Qwen 3.5, Llama 4 Maverick
- DigitalOcean's developer-friendly platform and billing
- Resells frontier models — no proprietary models
- Pricing may be higher than direct provider APIs for frontier models
HAI by HCloud
- Zero data retention policy — suitable for privacy-sensitive workloads
- Japan-based infrastructure — low latency for APAC users
- TEE-secured Kimi K3 variant for confidential inference
- JPY pricing excluded from USD cross-provider comparisons
- Smaller catalog vs global inference hubs
Key weaknesses compared
DigitalOcean Gradient AI
- Resells frontier models — no proprietary models
- Pricing may be higher than direct provider APIs for frontier models
- Newer inference platform — less mature than dedicated inference providers
HAI by HCloud
- JPY pricing excluded from USD cross-provider comparisons
- Smaller catalog vs global inference hubs
- Newer provider — limited third-party benchmark transparency
Provider category context
DigitalOcean Gradient AI is a cloud, founded in 2012. HAI by HCloud is a inference api, founded in 2024. The category difference means these providers serve partially overlapping use cases — compare the model lists and pricing tables above to find the best fit for your specific workload.
How to choose between them
Choose DigitalOcean Gradient AI if you need frontier model access: claude opus 4.7, gpt-5.4, gpt-5 via serverless inference. Choose HAI by HCloud if you need Privacy-sensitive workloads. For high-volume production workloads, run a cost comparison using the token pricing table above with your actual prompt/completion token ratio — the cheapest provider depends heavily on your input-to-output token ratio.