Contabo
vs
Lightning AI
What's good about each
- Low-cost VPS and dedicated servers
- Offers GPUs and object storage too
- Available in 9 regions around the world
- Billed by the second, interruptible machines 50-80% off
- Studios move between its own cloud, AWS, GCP, Lambda and Nebius
- Owned H100, B200 and GB300 fleet in US datacenters
- Bring your own AWS or GCP account and spend cloud credits
Price comparison
Closest matching configuration on each side, monthly list price in USD.
| Service | Contabo | Lightning AI | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small VM | $6.13 /mo 4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM (Cloud VPS 4) | -- Not listed | |
| Medium VM | $8.36 /mo 6 vCPU, 12 GB RAM (Cloud VPS 6) | -- Not listed | |
| Large VM | $15.61 /mo 8 vCPU, 24 GB RAM (Cloud VPS 8) | -- Not listed | |
| Block storage | -- Not listed | $10.00 /mo 100 GB (Drive) · First 10 GB free | |
| Object storage | $11.11 /mo 1 TB | -- Not listed | |
| Egress allowance | Unlimited, fair usage policy applies 200 Mbit/s to 1 Gbit/s port by plan | -- Not listed | |
| Egress | -- Not listed | Not publicly listed |
Heads up: Figures take each provider's closest plan to a common setup, and vary by region and usage. Hover a service for the reference configuration. Verify before provisioning. More on how we price.
GPUs
Contabo offers 4 GPU models, while Lightning AI offers 8. Cheapest listed price per GPU per hour; GPUs both providers sell come first.
| GPU | Contabo | Lightning AI | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
RTX PRO 6000
2 configs · 4 configs
|
$2.17 /GPU/hr Reserved (1 mo) | $4.63 /GPU/hr On-demand | Different terms |
|
H200
3 configs · 4 configs
|
$2.85 /GPU/hr Reserved (1 mo) | $4.50 /GPU/hr On-demand | Different terms |
|
L40S
2 configs · 3 configs
|
$1.07 /GPU/hr Reserved (1 mo) | $2.97 /GPU/hr On-demand | Different terms |
|
RTX PRO 5000
2 configs
|
$1.07 /GPU/hr Reserved (1 mo) | -- | Contabo only |
|
H100
4 configs
|
-- | $5.45 /GPU/hr On-demand | Lightning AI only |
|
B200
1 config
|
-- | $9.86 /GPU/hr On-demand | Lightning AI only |
|
A100
8 configs
|
-- | $1.55 /GPU/hr On-demand | Lightning AI only |
|
L4
4 configs
|
-- | $0.79 /GPU/hr On-demand | Lightning AI only |
|
T4
2 configs
|
-- | $0.55 /GPU/hr On-demand | Lightning AI only |
Contabo bills reserved (1 months); Lightning AI bills on-demand. The line under each price names the billing type shown.
Services
Managed services each provider offers.
| Service | Contabo | Lightning AI |
|---|---|---|
| Block Storage | ||
| GPU-powered Servers | ||
| Managed Containers | ||
| Object Storage | ||
| Python Notebooks | ||
| Virtual Private Server (VPS) |
Compliance
Frameworks each provider states on its own site, each linked to its source.
| Framework | Contabo | Lightning AI |
|---|---|---|
| SOC 2 | -- | Type II, AWS and GCP clouds only |
| HIPAA | -- | AWS and GCP clouds only |
| GDPR | Yes | Yes |
Heads up: Each entry links to the provider's own statement. An attestation can cover one tier, one region or the platform alone rather than every service. Verify the scope before you rely on it. A dash means we found nothing to link to, not that the provider lacks it.
Company details
| Fact | Contabo | Lightning AI |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2003 | 2019 |
| Headquarters | Germany | USA |
| Locations | 9 | -- |
| Example customers | -- | Nvidia, Cursor, Cisco, Runway, Supercell, Stability AI, Black Forest Labs |
| Website | contabo.com | lightning.ai |
Alternatives to consider
Compare Contabo and Lightning AI against other cloud providers.
Our data for Contabo was last updated on Sept. 18, 2026, and for Lightning AI on Oct. 28, 2026.