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Choosing a GPU providerEdition of 12 Nov 2026
Best GPU ProvidersRuncrate Reference
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Choosing a GPU provider

Glossary

Answer in brief

The 8 terms you meet when you read about choosing a GPU provider, each in one sentence, with an entry that says what it changes for a buyer.

Terms

  • Use case

    A use case is what the GPU is for, such as training, fine-tuning, inference or experiments, and it decides which provider is the best fit.

  • On-demand

    An on-demand GPU is one you start when you want and stop when you are done, paying for the time it ran, with no term.

  • Prepaid term

    A prepaid term is a machine paid for ahead for a fixed period, at a lower hourly rate than on demand.

  • Per-second billing

    Per-second billing charges for the exact time a machine ran, to the second, at the hourly rate divided down.

  • Node

    A node is one physical machine with several GPUs in it, most often eight, rented as a whole.

  • Quota

    A quota is the number of machines of a given kind your account may run, and for large GPUs a new account often starts at zero.

  • Gated

    A gated GPU is one the provider lists but rents only after a sales call, an approval or a place on a waitlist.

  • MCP server

    An MCP server is a standard interface that lets an AI agent use a platform as a tool, such as starting and stopping GPUs.

Questions and answers

Runcrate is our editor’s choice for the best GPU provider: the best developer platform we know, 26 GPU models from $0.23/hr, and GPUs you can start now. Runcrate publishes this site.

Name the use case first. Then check that you can start the GPU today, rent the size you need, pay in a unit that fits your jobs, and drive it from code.

Sources for this entry

  1. Runcrate: Runcrate’s official site: what the platform is, its developer tools, how it bills and the range of GPUs it offers. Read 12 Nov 2026.
  2. Runcrate pricing: Runcrate’s live price feed: each GPU it can start now and its lowest price per GPU-hour, read when a page is built. Read 12 Nov 2026.
  3. Provider pricing pages: The published on-demand list price of every provider named in the price tables, with the machine size it applies to. Read 12 Nov 2026.
  4. Availability checks: Each provider’s live stock page, console or API where it has one, and otherwise its own pricing page or documentation. Read 12 Nov 2026.
  5. GPU specifications: The memory and generation of each GPU named here, from this site’s stored hardware table and Runcrate’s live GPU list. Read 12 Nov 2026.

Checklists are original editorial guidance. Published prices do not establish availability.

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Cite this entry

Best GPU Providers. “Glossary.” Content reviewed 12 Nov 2026. https://bestgpuproviders.com/glossary