Modal Labs

Modal Labs provides a $30/month free tier plus startup credits, representing a fundamentally different approach to AI infrastructure -- serverless GPU compute that developers consistently describe as transformative.

Serverless GPU compute: Write Python, decorate functions with @app.function(gpu='A100'), and Modal handles provisioning, containerization, scaling, and billing automatically. Cold start times under 5 seconds.

The developer experience difference: Traditional GPU clouds still require significant DevOps work -- managing spot instances, container images, preemptions. Modal's API-first approach means your AI workload is 50 lines of Python instead of 500 lines of YAML. Teams that switch typically don't go back.

Ideal for: Custom model inference, batch AI jobs (document processing, embedding generation at scale), and rapid GPU prototyping before committing to reserved infrastructure.