Banana vs Cloudflare Workers
A detailed comparison to help you choose between Banana and Cloudflare Workers.
Quick Verdict
1.2/5
Banana
0 reviews
4.3/5
Cloudflare Workers
0 reviews
Cloudflare Workers is rated higher (4.3 vs 1.2). Banana was an ML inference hosting platform (Docker-based, Potassium framework). The service shut down permanently on March 31, 2024; do not purchase. Alternatives: Replicate, Modal, RunPod, Beam, Baseten. Run JavaScript, Python, and Rust functions at the edge with sub-millisecond latency. Ideal for APIs, middleware, and full-stack applications needing global distribution.
Banana DEFUNCT — serverless GPU inference platform sunset Feb 2024, shut down March 31, 2024 | Cloudflare Workers Deploy serverless code globally on Cloudflare's edge network | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 1.2 (0 reviews) | 4.3 (0 reviews)✓ |
| Pricing model | usage-based (historical; shut down 2024-03-31) | freemium |
| Starting price | From $2024/mo | Free tier available✓ |
| Best for | Nobody — the platform shut down on March 31, 2024. Use Replicate, Modal, RunPod, Beam, or Baseten for serverless GPU inference. | Latency-sensitive APIs, middleware, edge rendering and full-stack applications that want global deployment with no infrastructure to run — especially teams already using Cloudflare's storage and CDN products. |
| Specifications (entry plan) | ||
| CPU cores | — | 10 vCPU |
| RAM | — | — |
| Storage | — | 1 GB |
| Bandwidth | — | — |
| SLA uptime | — | 100% |
| Data-center count | — | 330 |
| €/vCPU/mo | — | €0.00 |
| Features | ||
| IPv6 | ✓ | |
| DDoS protection | ✓ | |
| Automated backups | ||
| Snapshots | ||
| Managed option | ||
| Bare metal | ||
| GPU available | ||
| S3-compatible | ||
| Hourly billing | ||
| Free tier | ✓ | |
| Data-center locations | ||
| Regions | — | Global — 300+ cities |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | gpu availableus datacenterapi access | free tierddos protectionipv6eu datacenterus datacenterapac datacenterapi accessopen source |
| Visit Banana → | Visit Cloudflare Workers → | |
Banana
Pros
- + Historical: developer-friendly Docker/Potassium deployment with scale-to-zero GPU autoscaling
- + Historical: per-second GPU billing with no charge while idle
- + Historical: warm pools and model caching reduced cold starts for popular models
- + The founder published an unusually candid shutdown account and migration guidance
Cons
- - Permanently shut down on March 31, 2024 — the service cannot be purchased or used
- - Pricing was opaque even while alive ($1,200/month Team tier, per-GPU costs unpublished)
- - No published uptime SLA and no independent benchmarks
- - Startup platform risk realized: GPU economics forced closure within two months' notice
- - Third-party listings of its pricing and features conflict and cannot be verified against a live product
Cloudflare Workers
Pros
- + No cold starts: V8 isolates start in microseconds at 330+ locations
- + CPU-time billing with a genuinely usable free tier (100k requests/day)
- + No egress or bandwidth charges on any plan
- + Storage stack (KV, D1, Durable Objects, R2) binds declaratively and stays in-network
- + Strong docs: pricing and limits pages are explicit and example-driven
Cons
- - CPU time caps exclude compute-heavy and long-running workloads
- - Real vendor lock-in through Durable Objects, bindings and deployment model
- - KV writes ($5.00/M) and Durable Objects duration billing surprise stateful designs
- - Conceptual shift for teams used to container-based serverless
- - No uptime SLA below the Business plan
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