AI compute market signals and learning

ComputeTape Tools

Estimate AI compute costs.

Free calculators for estimating GPU-hour cost, training-run budgets, and model serving cost from your own inputs. Every calculator shows its assumptions and links to the lesson that explains the math.

Estimates are planning tools, not quotes.

Estimate cost

Estimate cost from your own inputs

Three calculators for sizing a budget from scratch. Each runs in your browser and updates as you type.

GPU-Hour Cost Calculator

Estimate AI compute cost from GPU price, runtime, utilization, and overhead.

AI Training Cost Calculator

Estimate a training-run budget using GPU-hours and operating assumptions.

Model Serving Cost Calculator

Estimate recurring inference cost from usage and capacity needs.

Decide between options

Pick between approaches before you spend

Two side-by-side decision tools for the most common AI compute trade-offs. Each one produces a break-even and a recommendation.

API vs Self-Hosted Calculator

Compare API serving cost to a self-hosted GPU cluster, with break-even output volume and utilization sensitivity.

Reserved vs On-Demand Calculator

Compare a GPU reservation to pure on-demand; see break-even GPU-hours and stranded capacity.

Convert infrastructure

Translate physical infrastructure into compute

When a number lands in megawatts, racks, or square feet, this is where you turn it into a GPU range.

Power-to-Compute Translator

Translate an announced megawatt number into a GPU-capacity range using PUE, rack density, and utilization.

Decision guides

Compare your options before you estimate

These lessons walk through the trade-offs behind each number — access terms, utilization, and how to read a quote.

On-demand vs reserved vs spot GPU pricing

Compare access terms, savings, and interruption risk.

How to compare GPU cloud quotes

Compare rate, reliability, network, and completed-workload cost.

How to estimate monthly AI compute burn

Turn training and serving usage into a recurring budget.

What is GPU utilization?

Why paid capacity can cost more when it sits idle.

Compare quotes

Compare two or more provider quotes

GPU cloud quotes are not just rates. The checklist below names the eleven fields to record on every offer so two quotes can be read side by side without confusion. Use it as the column header for your own comparison sheet.

GPU Cloud Quote Comparison Checklist

Eleven fields to record on every quote: GPU generation, effective cost, commitment, region, capacity, networking, storage and egress, SLA, interruption, flexibility, and quote source date.

How to compare GPU cloud quotes

The narrative method behind the checklist.

Start with the basics

New to compute cost? Learn the units first

Compute College explains GPU-hours, utilization, training cost, and serving cost in plain English before you reach for a calculator.

Open Compute College