Modal vs Vultr: Complete Comparison (2026)
An in-depth comparison of Modal and Vultr to help you choose the right tool for your business.
Last updated: November 2026
Modal
6.7/10
Modal is a serverless cloud platform that runs Python code on GPUs and CPUs with per-second billing, aimed at teams building and serving AI applications.
Vultr
6.6/10
Vultr is an unmanaged cloud infrastructure provider that offers virtual machines, bare metal, GPUs, Kubernetes, storage and managed databases, aimed at developers and businesses.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6.7/10 | 6.6/10 |
| Integration | 6/10 | 6/10 |
| Analytics | 6/10 | 4/10 |
| Customization | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Ease of Use | 8/10 | 7/10 |
| Support | 6/10 | 4/10 |
| Cost | 5/10 | 8/10 |
| Scalability | 9/10 | 7/10 |
| Security | 7/10 | 6/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Cheapest paid plan | $250/mo Team | $3/mo Cloud Compute (entry) |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | $250/mo Team | Free Kubernetes Engine |
| Features | ||
| API and CLI | ||
| Managed WordPress | Not listed | |
| Multiple Regions | ||
| Object Storage | ||
| Serverless Functions | Not listed | |
| Dedicated Servers | ||
| Cloud Compute | ||
| Shared Hosting | Not listed | |
| Managed Databases | Not listed | |
| DDoS Protection | Not listed | |
| Uptime SLA | Not listed | |
| Managed Kubernetes | Not listed | |
| VPS Hosting | Not listed | |
| Content Delivery Network | Not listed | |
| Automatic Backups | Not listed | |
Modal vs Vultr cost by team size
Modal and Vultr cost the same at 1 user; Vultr costs less from 5 users.
| Team size | Modal | Vultr |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | FreeStarter | FreeKubernetes Engine |
| 5 users | $250/moTeam | FreeKubernetes Engine |
| 10 users | $250/moTeam | FreeKubernetes Engine |
| 25 users | $250/moTeam | FreeKubernetes Engine |
| 50 users | $250/moTeam | FreeKubernetes Engine |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose Modal
- Has a free plan (Vultr does not)
- Higher Analytics score (6/10 vs 4/10)
- Higher Support score (6/10 vs 4/10)
Why choose Vultr
- Lower estimated cost for 10 users: Free vs $250/mo
- Higher Cost score (8/10 vs 5/10)
- Higher Customization score (8/10 vs 7/10)
- Includes Dedicated Servers, which Modal lacks
Pros & Cons
Modal
Pros
- GPUs from the T4 up to the B300 are available without quota requests or reservations, and workloads can burst to thousands of containers.
- Per-second billing and scale-to-zero mean idle bursty inference workloads cost nothing.
- Python developers define infrastructure in code and deploy with a single CLI command, with no Kubernetes or Dockerfiles needed.
- The free Starter plan includes $30 a month of compute, and startup and academic credit programs are available.
- Sandboxes support large numbers of concurrent isolated environments for AI agents and untrusted code.
Cons
- Always-on or steady workloads can cost more than reserved GPU rentals from providers such as RunPod or Lambda.
- Containers stay billable for 60 seconds after the last request by default, and keep-warm settings are a common source of bill surprises.
- Region pinning raises prices by 1.15 to 1.75 times, and non-preemptible execution by 3 times.
- SSO, audit logs, and HIPAA support are limited to the custom-priced Enterprise plan.
- Credits from AWS, GCP, or Azure cannot be applied to Modal usage.
Vultr
Pros
- Very low entry price: Cloud Compute starts around 2.50 USD per month, billed hourly.
- The managed Kubernetes control plane is free, so you pay only for worker nodes, load balancers and storage.
- A broad compute range, from shared VMs to bare metal and Cloud GPU, across more than 30 regions.
- Reviewers praise the simple interface, fast deployment and a well-regarded API.
Cons
- All services are unmanaged, so customers handle their own troubleshooting.
- Support is the most common complaint in Capterra and Software Advice reviews.
- Some users report repeated hardware incidents and trouble restoring from snapshots.
- DDoS protection and backups cost extra rather than coming bundled.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
Modal scores higher on our AI Software criteria: 6.7/10 against 6.6/10 for Vultr. The largest gap is in Cost: 5/10 for Modal and 8/10 for Vultr.
Vultr costs less for 10 users: free on its Kubernetes Engine plan, against about $250/mo on its Team plan for Modal, billed monthly.
Modal has a free plan; Vultr does not list one.
Vultr has Dedicated Servers, which Modal lacks.
