Modal alternatives
Depot darling for Python agent backends and bursty GPU jobs. If you think in functions not VMs, start here.
Overall 8.44 (curated_estimate, high) · score asOf 2026-10-19 · last reviewed 2026-10-19. This is not an Elo and not a live price board. Provider · JSON
Jobs: serverless-gpu, production-inference-fleet, batch-gpu, finetune, agent-backend, agent-sandbox, code-interpreter, platform-sandbox
| Provider | Why listed | Overall | Δ vs subject | asOf |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| E2B Depot default code sandbox for agents. Use for untrusted code; Daytona when you need persistent… | same_jtbd_pick, same_jtbd_runner · agent-sandbox, code-interpreter, agent-ephemeral-ci | 8.56high | +0.12 | 2026-09-14 |
| RunPod Depot default for self-serve GPUs. Secure Cloud for anything customer-facing; Community/spot for batch. | same_jtbd_runner, same_jtbd_pick · serverless-gpu, production-inference-fleet, batch-gpu | 8.32high | -0.12 | 2026-10-19 |
| Together AI Best catalog breadth for OSS models. Watch minimums and lifetime spend gates before you design around a gated… | same_jtbd_pick · finetune | 8.2high | -0.24 | 2026-09-14 |
| Northflank Choose when the agent needs a whole app platform, not just a code jail. E2B for pure sandboxes; Railway for… | same_jtbd_pick · platform-sandbox | 7.49high | -0.95 | 2026-09-14 |
| Anyscale Default when your agent stack already is Ray or you need serious multi-node Python. For simple serverless GPU… | same_jtbd_pick · ray-distributed-agents | 7.46high | -0.98 | 2026-09-14 |
| Daytona Choose when agents need sticky filesystems and full dev environments. E2B for disposable code exec. Confirm… | same_jtbd_runner · agent-sandbox, platform-sandbox, agent-ephemeral-ci | 8.24high | -0.2 | 2026-09-14 |
| Upstash Box Interesting E2B peer for freezeable agent computers. Keep medium until preview exits; production default… | same_jtbd_runner · agent-sandbox, code-interpreter, agent-ephemeral-ci | 7.67medium | -0.77 | 2026-09-14 |
| Fly Machines DIY sandbox substrate with global edge. Prefer E2B unless you need custom machine control. | same_jtbd_runner · agent-sandbox, agent-ephemeral-ci | 8.21high | -0.23 | 2026-09-14 |
| Railway Depot favorite for shipping agent APIs quickly. When bills climb, move steady-state to Fly/Hetzner/DO. | same_jtbd_runner · agent-backend, platform-sandbox | 8.08high | -0.36 | 2026-09-14 |
| FriendliAI Open-model production peer when latency/tool-calling matter. Fireworks remains depot open-model default… | same_jtbd_runner · serverless-gpu, production-inference-fleet | 8.03high | -0.41 | 2026-10-01 |
| Baseten Strong custom-model serving alternative to Replicate/Modal when you bring your own model. | same_jtbd_runner · serverless-gpu, production-inference-fleet | 7.99high | -0.45 | 2026-09-14 |
| AWS GPU (EC2/P5/SageMaker) Use when AWS is destiny. For greenfield agent GPUs, neoclouds win on price and speed-to-pod. | same_jtbd_runner · production-inference-fleet, batch-gpu | 7.72high | -0.72 | 2026-09-14 |
Prices are not ranked on this page. For a job, use the sourced quote (separate input and output rows, Depot Pick unchanged): serverless-gpu, production-inference-fleet, batch-gpu, finetune.
Alternatives are other catalog providers that share a JTBD as pick or runner-up. If fewer than three exist, same-category active providers fill the list and are labeled same_category. Overall deltas are catalog scores. kind=curated_estimate is not a lab measurement. Pricing rows are sourced or explicitly null. Do not parse pricingNotes. A single normalized USD figure is set only for a provider with exactly one token row.