Paperspace (Gradient) vs Banana
A detailed comparison to help you choose between Paperspace (Gradient) and Banana.
Quick Verdict
3.4/5
Paperspace (Gradient)
0 reviews
1.2/5
Banana
0 reviews
Paperspace (Gradient) is rated higher (3.4 vs 1.2). M4000 GPU machines from $0.45/hour 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.
Paperspace (Gradient) ML platform and GPU cloud by DigitalOcean | Banana DEFUNCT — serverless GPU inference platform sunset Feb 2024, shut down March 31, 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 3.4 (0 reviews)✓ | 1.2 (0 reviews) |
| Pricing model | freemium | usage-based (historical; shut down 2024-03-31) |
| Starting price | Free tier available✓ | From $2024/mo |
| Best for | Individuals, students and existing users wanting managed GPU notebooks and cheap older-generation GPU machines without building infrastructure. | Nobody — the platform shut down on March 31, 2024. Use Replicate, Modal, RunPod, Beam, or Baseten for serverless GPU inference. |
| Features | ||
| IPv6 | ||
| DDoS protection | ||
| Automated backups | ||
| Snapshots | ||
| Managed option | ||
| Bare metal | ||
| GPU available | ||
| S3-compatible | ||
| Hourly billing | ✓ | |
| Free tier | ✓ | |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | free tierhourly billinggpu availableus datacenterapi access | gpu availableus datacenterapi access |
| Visit Paperspace (Gradient) → | Visit Banana → | |
Paperspace (Gradient)
Pros
- + Cheap GPU access on older cards: M4000 at $0.45/hour, P4000 at $0.51/hour
- + Free tier plus $8/month Pro plan makes managed GPU notebooks accessible
- + Machines include persistent storage and free unlimited bandwidth
- + Notebook-to-deployment ML workflow (notebooks, workflows, deployments) in one product
- + Amsterdam region gives EU machine placement
Cons
- - Being sunset into DigitalOcean's platform — standalone roadmap and APIs already replaced
- - ML platform (Notebooks/Deployments/Workflows) runs in NY2 only; no APAC presence
- - Newest GPUs (A100/H100/RTX5000) are NY2-only; rate cards have changed recently
- - Team tiers cap at 2-5 members; storage overages at $0.29/GB
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
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