Compute Comparison
vs
All providers →
SambaNova CloudvsSiliconFlow

SambaNova Cloud vs SiliconFlow: Token Pricing, Speed & Intelligence

Full comparison of SambaNova Cloud and SiliconFlow — live token pricing, latency, throughput, context window, strengths, weaknesses, and best use cases. Rates sourced from public APIs — verify before use.

SambaNova Cloud

High-throughput inference on SambaNova RDU chips — gpt-oss-120b, GLM-5.3, Llama

SambaNova Cloud runs inference on SambaNova's proprietary Reconfigurable Dataflow Unit (RDU) chips, delivering very high throughput (800+ tokens/sec on gpt-oss-120b). The catalog covers gpt-oss-120b, GLM-5.3, MiniMax-M3, DeepSeek-V3.2, Meta-Llama-3.3-70B, and Gemma 4 31B. Pricing is PAYG with prompt caching on select models.

High-throughput inferenceCost-sensitive workloadsOpen-weight models
Open-weight hostHosts open weights

SiliconFlow

Chinese LLM inference platform with CNY pricing

SiliconFlow (siliconflow.cn) is an LLM inference platform offering access to models including GLM and DeepSeek families via an OpenAI-compatible API, with pricing denominated in CNY.

ChatLong-context inference
Open-weight host

Key metric comparison

SambaNova Cloud
SiliconFlow
Cheapest input ($/1M)

—

—

Cheapest output ($/1M)

—

—

Peak throughput

—

—

Best latency (TTFT)

—

—

Intelligence score

—

—

Context window

—

—

Live token pricing

Strengths and weaknesses

SambaNova Cloud

Proprietary RDU chips deliver very high throughput — 800+ tokens/sec on gpt-oss-120b
Competitive pricing on gpt-oss-120b ($0.22/$0.59 per 1M)
Prompt caching on GLM-5.3 (cached input at $0.14/1M)
Strong open-weight model catalog: Llama, DeepSeek, Gemma, MiniMax
Smaller model catalog vs OpenRouter or Together AI
No proprietary frontier models — inference-only platform
RDU architecture may behave differently from GPU inference for some workloads

SiliconFlow

Key differentiators

SambaNova Cloud

Proprietary RDU chips deliver industry-leading throughput on open-weight models at competitive per-token rates.

Frequently asked questions

SambaNova Cloud FAQs

What makes SambaNova Cloud different?

SambaNova runs inference on its own Reconfigurable Dataflow Unit (RDU) chips rather than NVIDIA GPUs. This delivers very high throughput — over 800 tokens/sec on gpt-oss-120b — at competitive per-token rates.

What models does SambaNova Cloud offer?

As of October 2026: gpt-oss-120b ($0.22/$0.59), GLM-5.3 ($1.40/$4.40, cached $0.14), MiniMax-M3 ($0.60/$2.40, cached $0.06), DeepSeek-V3.2 ($3.00/$4.50), Meta-Llama-3.3-70B ($0.60/$1.20), and Gemma 4 31B ($0.38/$1.15). See cloud.sambanova.ai/plans/pricing for current rates.

Does SambaNova offer prompt caching?

Yes, on GLM-5.3 (cached input $0.14/1M vs $1.40/1M standard) and MiniMax-M3 (cached input $0.06/1M vs $0.60/1M standard).

SiliconFlow FAQs

What is SiliconFlow?

SiliconFlow is an LLM inference platform offering access to models including GLM and DeepSeek families. See siliconflow.cn for details.

What currency does SiliconFlow use for pricing?

SiliconFlow prices are denominated in CNY. See siliconflow.cn/pricing for current rates.

Is the SiliconFlow API OpenAI-compatible?

SiliconFlow provides an OpenAI-compatible API. See siliconflow.cn for endpoint details.

Provider resources

SambaNova Cloud

Provider page
Website
Pricing

SiliconFlow

Provider page
Website
PricingDocs

SambaNova Cloud — High-throughput inference on SambaNova RDU chips — gpt-oss-120b, GLM-5.3, Llama

SambaNova Cloud runs inference on SambaNova's proprietary Reconfigurable Dataflow Unit (RDU) chips, delivering very high throughput (800+ tokens/sec on gpt-oss-120b). The catalog covers gpt-oss-120b, GLM-5.3, MiniMax-M3, DeepSeek-V3.2, Meta-Llama-3.3-70B, and Gemma 4 31B. Pricing is PAYG with prompt caching on select models.

Proprietary RDU chips deliver industry-leading throughput on open-weight models at competitive per-token rates.

SiliconFlow — Chinese LLM inference platform with CNY pricing

SiliconFlow (siliconflow.cn) is an LLM inference platform offering access to models including GLM and DeepSeek families via an OpenAI-compatible API, with pricing denominated in CNY.

Key strengths compared

SambaNova Cloud

  • Proprietary RDU chips deliver very high throughput — 800+ tokens/sec on gpt-oss-120b
  • Competitive pricing on gpt-oss-120b ($0.22/$0.59 per 1M)
  • Prompt caching on GLM-5.3 (cached input at $0.14/1M)
  • Smaller model catalog vs OpenRouter or Together AI
  • No proprietary frontier models — inference-only platform

SiliconFlow

    Key weaknesses compared

    SambaNova Cloud

    • Smaller model catalog vs OpenRouter or Together AI
    • No proprietary frontier models — inference-only platform
    • RDU architecture may behave differently from GPU inference for some workloads

    SiliconFlow

      Provider category context

      SambaNova Cloud is a inference api, founded in 2017. SiliconFlow is a inference api. Both are inference api providers — the comparison is primarily about pricing, model selection, and feature differentiation within the same tier.

      How to choose between them

      Both SambaNova Cloud and SiliconFlow host open-weight models. The key differentiators are latency, throughput, and which specific model versions each provider offers. Check the speed metrics above — inference API providers often differ significantly on tokens-per-second for the same model. Pricing is typically competitive between them; availability of specific model versions (e.g., Llama 3.1 405B, DeepSeek V3) may be the deciding factor.