# GPUBank vs Thunder Compute

> Thunder Compute is a US developer GPU cloud that runs its own virtualization layer: instances use GPUs attached over the network from a shared pool. Its H100 SXM costs $3.20 per GPU-hour on demand; GPUBank charges $1.85 on a GPU attached to the VM. Thunder is cheap on older cards, with the RTX A6000 at $0.35 and the A100 80GB at $1.09, but it bills per minute until deletion and runs in North America only.

- Page: https://gpubank.io/compare/gpubank-vs-thunder-compute
- Prices last checked on 29 September 2026, on Thunder Compute's own pages (sources below). Page updated 2 November 2026.
- Thunder Compute: https://www.thundercompute.com, headquartered in San Francisco, United States
- GPUBank: https://gpubank.io, GPU cloud billed per second at an all-in hourly price (vCPU, RAM, NVMe, one IPv4 and traffic included), prepaid balance topped up in crypto.

## Verdict

**Low A6000 and A100 prices at Thunder Compute. Cheaper H100, stop billing and more regions at GPUBank.**

Thunder Compute suits developers who prototype on an RTX A6000 or A100 from VS Code or an AI agent, and do not need the newest GPUs. Its GPUs are virtualized over the network, and its docs list features that do not work, such as managed memory, CUDA MPS and GPU profilers. Instances bill per minute from creation to deletion, with no stop state; GPUBank bills per second and keeps only the disk on the bill when you stop. On the H100 SXM, GPUBank costs 42 % less, runs in four regions and takes crypto.

Score over 27 points: GPUBank ahead on 14, even on 9, Thunder Compute ahead on 4.

## Key facts

| Criterion | Thunder Compute | GPUBank |
|---|---|---|
| H100 SXM, per GPU-hour | $3.20 on demand | $1.85, all-in |
| Cheapest GPU-hour | $0.35, RTX A6000 | $0.23, RTX 4090 |
| Billing granularity | Per minute; sandboxes per second | Per second |
| Stopped instance | No stop state, billed until deleted | Disk only |
| Persistent storage | $0.22 per GB-month above 100 GB per GPU | $0.03 per GB-month |
| Egress traffic | Included | Included |
| Crypto payments | No | Bitcoin, USDT, Ethereum and 12+ more |
| Card payments | Credit cards | No |
| Minimum deposit | Not published | $25 |
| GPU models listed | 4 | 10 |
| Regions | North America only | 4 |
| Serverless GPUs | H100 sandboxes, billed per second | No |
| Availability target | None; availability not guaranteed | 99.9 % monthly |
| Compliance reports | No SOC 2 or ISO; DPA published | None published |
| Support | Discord and email | Tickets from a $25 balance |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, United States | Tallinn, Estonia |

## Same GPUs, price per GPU-hour (USD, excl. VAT)

| GPU | Thunder Compute | GPUBank | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| H100 SXM | $3.20 (on demand) | $1.85 | -42 % |

## When to pick Thunder Compute

- RTX A6000 at $0.35 and L40 at $0.79 per GPU-hour
- A100 80GB at $1.09 per GPU-hour on 1 or 2 GPUs
- Per-second H100 sandboxes with a TTL for agent jobs
- VS Code extension, tnr CLI and an MCP server
- No egress fees and 100 GB of disk per GPU included

## When to pick GPUBank

- H100 SXM at $1.85 per GPU-hour, against $3.20
- GPUs attached to the VM, not over the network
- Per-second billing, and a stopped instance costs only its disk
- Paris, Frankfurt, Ashburn and Singapore; Thunder is North America only
- B200, H200, MI300X, RTX 5090 and RTX 4090, which Thunder does not list

## Questions

### Is GPUBank cheaper than Thunder Compute for an H100?

Yes. Thunder Compute lists the H100 SXM at $3.20 per GPU-hour on demand, and $2.95 in sandboxes before vCPU, RAM and disk. GPUBank charges $1.85 per GPU-hour with vCPU, RAM, NVMe, IPv4 and traffic included.

### Are Thunder Compute GPUs real GPUs?

They are physical GPUs, attached to your instance over the network through Thunder's virtualization layer. Its docs list incompatibilities: managed memory, CUDA MPS, FFmpeg GPU acceleration and GPU profilers. GPUBank GPUs are attached to the VM.

### Can I stop a Thunder Compute instance?

No. Instances bill per minute from creation until deletion. To pause, you snapshot the disk at $0.05 per GB-month and delete the instance. On GPUBank a stopped instance costs only its persistent disk, at $0.03 per GB-month.

### Is Thunder Compute cheaper for an A100?

It depends on the size. Thunder lists the A100 80GB at $1.09 per GPU-hour on 1 or 2 GPUs and $1.49 on 4 or 8, with the form factor not published. GPUBank charges $0.95 for an A100 SXM 80GB at any size up to 8 GPUs.

### Does Thunder Compute accept crypto?

No. It takes card auto-pay or preloaded credit, and the credit is non-refundable. GPUBank is paid from a USD balance topped up in Bitcoin, USDT, Ethereum and more than a dozen other coins.

### Are these prices with or without VAT?

Without. Every price on this page excludes VAT and sales tax, for Thunder Compute and for GPUBank, so the two columns compare like for like. Tax is added at checkout according to where the buyer is based.

## Sources

- https://www.thundercompute.com/pricing: Instance, sandbox, storage, reserved prices, FAQ (per-minute billing, egress)
- https://www.thundercompute.com/docs/billing.md: Auto-pay card, preload credit, threshold charges, non-refundable credit
- https://www.thundercompute.com/docs/restrictions.md: Country restrictions, one account per user, crypto mining ban
- https://www.thundercompute.com/docs/technical-specs.md: Location, disk, network, dynamic IP
- https://www.thundercompute.com/docs/guides/stopping-instances.md: No native stop
- https://www.thundercompute.com/docs/compatibility.md: Known incompatibilities
- https://www.thundercompute.com/docs/faq/faq.md: Network-attached GPU pool, EC2 statement
- https://www.thundercompute.com/terms-and-conditions: Legal entity, Delaware, payment, no uptime guarantee
- https://www.thundercompute.com/sub-processors: Azure, Stripe
- https://www.thundercompute.com/products/instances: Snapshots, restore time
- https://www.thundercompute.com/: Series A funding
- https://www.thundercompute.com/mission: Research start 2022, GPU virtualization
- https://status.thundercompute.com: Uptime

Prices change: check both providers before buying. Thunder Compute is a trademark of its owner; GPUBank is not affiliated with Thunder Compute.