Shadeform Free API Tier (GPU Marketplace)
Source: https://www.shadeform.ai/
Description
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+ 1 Shadeform is a GPU cloud marketplace ("Kayak for GPUs") that exposes 30+ underlying GPU providers (Lambda Labs, Nebius, Crusoe, RunPod, CoreWeave, Vultr, DigitalOcean, Vast.AI, TensorDock, plus limited GCP/Azure access) behind a single unified API and dashboard. The Free API tier lets you explore the marketplace, list providers, query availability/pricing, and launch up to 1 small GPU instance for short evaluations.
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+ 3 Critical: This is NOT free GPU compute. Shadeform itself does not give away GPU hours. The "free" part is the API access tier — you can call the marketplace API at no charge. Any GPU instance you actually launch is billed at the underlying provider's hourly rate plus a 6-12% Shadeform markup, deducted from your prepaid wallet. If you want truly free GPU credits, look at the providers Shadeform aggregates (e.g. RunPod $1K startup credits, Lambda research grants) directly.
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+ 9 This offer is useful for you if:
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+ 10
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+ 11 • You want to evaluate the Shadeform API before committing — write code, query GPU availability across providers, test the SDK, prototype multi-cloud orchestration.
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+ 12 • You need occasional, short-lived GPU bursts across many providers and don't want 30 separate billing relationships.
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+ 13 • You're building tooling on top of GPU marketplaces (e.g. SkyPilot integration, custom orchestration, training pipelines with failover).
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+ 14
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+ 15 It is not for you if:
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+ 16
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+ 17 • You expected free GPU hours. There are none here. Use Lightning AI free tier, Google Colab, Kaggle, or apply to provider-specific grants instead.
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+ 18 • You need long-running training jobs (5-day max instance duration on free tier).
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+ 19 • You want the absolute lowest GPU price — direct provider procurement avoids the 6-12% Shadeform markup.
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+ 25 LimitFree TierPaid Tier
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+ 26 API requests per day10 / dayUnlimited
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+ 27 Concurrent GPU instances1 maxUp to 100
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+ 28 Max instance duration5 daysNo limit
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+ 29 GPU compute costPay-as-you-go (provider rate + 6-12% markup)Pay-as-you-go (same markup)
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+ 30 Wallet top-up required to launchYesYes
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+ 31
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+ 32 Rate limits are per API key, not per account.
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+ 33
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+ 37
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+ 38 1. Go to shadeform.com and click Sign Up.
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+ 39 2. Create an account with email + password (or OAuth, depending on what's offered).
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+ 40 3. Verify email if prompted.
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+ 41 4. Generate an API key in dashboard Settings → API Keys. You can do this for free and start calling read-only API endpoints (list providers, list GPU types, check availability, get pricing) immediately within the 10 req/day cap.
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+ 42 5. To actually launch a GPU instance, you must top up your wallet with a credit card (any amount; charges are deducted per minute as instances run).
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+ 43 6. Use the API or dashboard to launch an instance — Shadeform automatically routes to the cheapest/most available provider matching your spec, or you can pin to a specific provider.
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+ 44 7. Terminate the instance manually when you're done — billing continues by the minute until you stop it.
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+ 45
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+ 46 Important caveats:
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+ 47
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+ 48 • No free GPU hours. Wallet funds you add are spent on real provider billing.
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+ 49 • 5-day cap on the free tier means you cannot run a long fine-tune.
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+ 50 • The 10 req/day API cap burns fast — listing instance types, checking availability, launching, polling status, terminating can easily eat 5-8 calls per single deploy cycle. Plan calls carefully or upgrade.
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+ 51 • 1-minute billing increments (better than most providers' 1-hour minimums).
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+ 52
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+ 56
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+ 57 Billing = underlying provider's hourly rate × time used + Shadeform markup (6-12%), billed by the minute.
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+ 58
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+ 59 Approximate examples (rates fluctuate; check the live marketplace):
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+ 60
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+ 61 GPUDirect ProviderApprox. via Shadeform
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+ 62 RTX 3090~$0.22/hr~$0.24-$0.25/hr
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+ 63 L4~$0.40/hr~$0.44-$0.45/hr
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+ 64 H100 (80GB)~$1.90-$2.50/hr~$2.00-$2.70/hr
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+ 65 H200~$3.00-$3.50/hr~5-8% markup
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+ 66 B200premium~5-8% markup
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+ 67
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+ 68 Markup is higher percentage on cheap GPUs, lower percentage on premium hardware. Shadeform is competitive on convenience, not on raw price — for committed bulk usage (>1,000 hours), direct provider contracts are cheaper.
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+ 73
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+ 74 Confirmed providers on the marketplace include:
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+ 75
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+ 76 • Lambda Labs (H100, A100)
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+ 77 • Nebius (H100, H200, B200)
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+ 78 • Crusoe (H100, B200)
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+ 79 • RunPod (full range, including consumer GPUs)
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+ 80 • CoreWeave (enterprise H100 / H200)
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+ 81 • Vultr
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+ 82 • DigitalOcean
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+ 83 • Vast.AI (cheapest spot consumer GPUs)
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+ 84 • TensorDock
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+ 85 • Limited GCP and Azure access
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+ 86
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+ 87 Plus 20+ smaller niche/regional providers spanning 100+ regions across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
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+ 90
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+ 93 • Automatic provider selection by availability, latency, reliability, cost.
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+ 94 • Failover — if one provider goes down or runs out of capacity, Shadeform can transparently switch.
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+ 95 • Granular 1-minute billing (most underlying providers require 1-hour minimums; Shadeform passes through finer granularity where supported).
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+ 96 • Reserved GPU clusters — multi-GPU clusters up to 64 GPUs available, plus reserved commitments with bulk discounts (paid tier).
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+ 97 • SkyPilot integration — Shadeform is now a native cloud in SkyPilot, so you can use the SkyPilot CLI to launch jobs across all aggregated providers via Shadeform.
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+ 102
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+ 103 If the goal is free GPU hours (not API evaluation), look at:
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+ 104
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+ 105 • Google Colab (free T4 GPU, time-limited sessions)
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+ 106 • Kaggle (30 free GPU hours/week on T4 / P100)
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+ 107 • Lightning AI Studios (free tier with GPU credits)
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+ 108 • Modal ($30/mo recurring credits)
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+ 109 • Akash $100 GPU credits
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+ 110 • Prime Intellect Fast Compute Grants ($500-$100K)
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+ 111 • Lambda Labs research credits
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+ 112 • Direct application to RunPod Startup Program ($1,000 free for pre-Series A)
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+ 113
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+ 115
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+ 117
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+ 118 • Don't expect surprise free credits. Shadeform is upfront that the free tier is API-only; underlying GPU usage is paid from day one.
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+ 119 • The 5-day max duration makes the free tier unsuitable for week-long training runs but fine for short fine-tunes, batch inference, or platform exploration.
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+ 120 • If you hit the 10 req/day cap quickly, batch operations or cache pricing data locally rather than re-querying.
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+ 121 • For production work, the paid tier removes API limits; pricing for the paid plan itself isn't publicly listed (contact sales).
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+ 122
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+ 124
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+ 125 Sources:
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+ 126 • Shadeform Marketplace
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+ 127 • Shadeform Documentation
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+ 128 • Shadeform Quickstart
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+ 129 • Shadeform GPU Pricing 2026 (DeployBase analysis)
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+ 130 • Shadeform on Y Combinator (S23)
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+ 131 • Shadeform on SkyPilot — 20+ GPU providers
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+ 132 • GPU Marketplace Comparison (AIMultiple)
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