SambaNova Cloud vs TensorX: Token Pricing, Speed & Intelligence

Full comparison of SambaNova Cloud and TensorX — 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

TensorX

EU inference — Dublin, Helsinki, Paris — GLM-5.3, Kimi K3, zero data retention

TensorX is an EU inference provider with nodes in Dublin, Helsinki, and Paris. It offers GLM-5.3, Kimi K3, and GLM-5.3 Flash with zero data retention and prepaid credits. USD pricing. Suited for EU workloads that need geographic diversity within Europe and a zero-retention policy.

EU inferencePrivacy-sensitive workloadsGeographic diversity

Open-weight hostHosts open weights

Key metric comparison

Cheapest input ($/1M)

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Cheapest output ($/1M)

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Peak throughput

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Best latency (TTFT)

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Intelligence score

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Context window

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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

TensorX

EU nodes in Dublin, Helsinki, and Paris — geographic diversity

Zero data retention policy

Prompt caching on GLM-5.3 (cached $0.44/1M vs $1.75/1M standard)

USD pricing — no currency conversion for international customers

Small model catalog

Prepaid credits only — no post-pay billing

Newer provider — limited third-party benchmark transparency

Key differentiators

SambaNova Cloud

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

TensorX

EU inference with nodes in Dublin, Helsinki, and Paris, zero data retention, and prompt caching on GLM-5.3.

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).

TensorX FAQs

What is TensorX?

TensorX is an EU inference provider with nodes in Dublin, Helsinki, and Paris. It offers GLM-5.3, Kimi K3, and GLM-5.3 Flash with zero data retention and prepaid credits. See tensorx.ai/pricing for current rates.

Does TensorX retain my data?

No. TensorX operates a zero data retention policy.

Provider resources

SambaNova Cloud

Provider page

Website

Pricing

TensorX

Provider page

Website

Pricing

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

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

TensorX — EU inference — Dublin, Helsinki, Paris — GLM-5.3, Kimi K3, zero data retention

EU inference with nodes in Dublin, Helsinki, and Paris, zero data retention, and prompt caching on GLM-5.3.

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

TensorX

EU nodes in Dublin, Helsinki, and Paris — geographic diversity
Zero data retention policy
Prompt caching on GLM-5.3 (cached $0.44/1M vs $1.75/1M standard)

Small model catalog
Prepaid credits only — no post-pay billing

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

TensorX

Small model catalog
Prepaid credits only — no post-pay billing
Newer provider — limited third-party benchmark transparency

Provider category context

SambaNova Cloud is a inference api, founded in 2017. TensorX is a inference api, founded in 2024. 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 TensorX 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.