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Replicate

Run public models or deploy custom models behind an API.

What it is

Replicate exposes public, official and user-deployed machine-learning models through APIs. Billing depends on the model and deployment mode: public models generally bill active processing time, while private models and deployments can also bill setup and idle time. The practical consequence is that cost tracks how the model is served, not how many requests you make, so an idle private deployment still bills.

Replicate pricing

Replicate does not publish a plan ladder we could verify. Usage-based pricing.

Prices read from the vendor's own pricing page on 2026-09-09. Vendors change plans without notice — check the source before you budget.

Cheaper alternatives to Replicate — same category, ordered by verified starting price.

Key features

  • Public model API

    Runs public models through a shared queue with usage-based billing rules.

  • Official models

    Offers vendor-maintained models with stable APIs and published input/output pricing.

  • Custom deployments

    Deploys packaged models onto selected hardware with configurable scaling.

  • Operational controls

    Provides deployment monitoring, version updates and rollback support.

Strengths and trade-offs

What works well

  • Public and official catalog: Use community models or vendor-maintained official models.
  • Custom deployments: Package and expose your own model with chosen hardware and scaling.
  • Usage-based public models: Public model runs generally bill only active processing time.
  • Deployment controls: Configure hardware, minimum instances and scale-to-zero behavior.

Where it falls short

  • Cold starts: Public and scale-to-zero workloads may wait for hardware to boot.
  • Idle billing boundary: Private models and deployments can incur idle charges.
  • Community variation: Public model ownership, maintenance and outputs are not uniform.
  • Workload-specific pricing: Some models bill by compute time and others by input or output.

Who it is for

Developers who want API access to supported models or managed deployment of their own model without operating the underlying GPU fleet directly.

Pick it or skip it

Pick Replicate if

  • Bursty inference: hardware is billed per second, from $0.000025/sec ($0.09/hr) on small CPU
  • Image and video work priced per output, such as FLUX 1.1 Pro at $0.04 per output image
  • Teams that need large GPUs occasionally: Nvidia H100 at $0.001525/sec ($5.49/hr)

Skip it if

  • You run steady, high-volume inference — per-second GPU rates beat idle servers only when usage is spiky
  • You need a free tier to evaluate; none is published on the pricing page
  • You need very large clusters cheaply: 8x H100 runs $0.012200/sec ($43.92/hr)

Our verdict

Choose Replicate after matching the exact model type and scaling mode to your traffic; public-model and dedicated-deployment economics are materially different.

Frequently asked questions

Does Replicate have a free plan?
No free plan is listed on the vendor's pricing page. Replicate is sold on usage-based pricing.
Who is Replicate best for?
Developers who want API access to supported models or managed deployment of their own model without operating the underlying GPU fleet directly.
What are the main drawbacks of Replicate?
The trade-offs we noted: Cold starts: Public and scale-to-zero workloads may wait for hardware to boot.; Idle billing boundary: Private models and deployments can incur idle charges.; Community variation: Public model ownership, maintenance and outputs are not uniform..
When should you not use Replicate?
Skip Replicate if: You run steady, high-volume inference — per-second GPU rates beat idle servers only when usage is spiky; You need a free tier to evaluate; none is published on the pricing page; You need very large clusters cheaply: 8x H100 runs $0.012200/sec ($43.92/hr).

What we checked

  • Public APIOffers a documented API you can build against.Yes
  • Mobile appHas a native app for iOS or Android, not just a mobile website.No
  • Open source / self-hostableSource is open and the tool can be run on your own infrastructure.No
  • SSO (SAML)Supports SAML single sign-on on at least one plan.No

“Not checked” means exactly that — we have not verified it, and we do not guess.

Evidence and freshness

Status: Vendor pricing page verifiedReviewed: 2026-09-09

  • Replicate — Pricing ↗

    Checked 2026-09-09 · Supports: CPU Small $0.000025/sec ($0.09/hr); CPU $0.000100/sec ($0.36/hr), Nvidia T4 $0.000225/sec ($0.81/hr); L40S $0.000975/sec ($3.51/hr); A100 80GB $0.001400/sec ($5.04/hr), Nvidia H100 and H200 $0.001525/sec ($5.49/hr); 8x H100 $0.012200/sec ($43.92/hr), Per-prediction models: FLUX 1.1 Pro $0.04 per output image, FLUX Dev $0.025, DeepSeek R1 $3.75 per million input tokens, No free tier is published on the pricing page

Limit: Vendor pricing page was reviewed by an editor on this date; this record is not a ToolCompare benchmark. Prices and limits change.

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