5 min read
How not to overpay for GPU rental: stopping, disk and traffic
What is actually billed when renting a GPU per minute: the GPU, the disk while stopped, and traffic. How to stop or delete a server so you do not pay for idle time.
Per-minute rental pays off when a server runs only while you need it. Overpaying usually comes from three things: a GPU you forgot to stop, a disk that is billed all the time, and traffic billed per gigabyte.
What is billed
- The GPU and server are billed per minute while running. The price is fixed at launch.
- The disk is billed while the server runs and while it is stopped.
- Traffic is billed per gigabyte transferred.
- A server that fails to start is not billed.
What to do
- Stop the server as soon as you finish. GPU minutes stop being billed.
- Delete the server when you no longer need it: the disk is deleted with it, so download results first.
- Do not keep large models or caches that you can download again in a few minutes.
- Watch your balance: you get warnings at 24 hours, 3 hours, 1 hour and 15 minutes before it runs out.
About the balance
If the balance cannot cover even one minute, the server is deleted together with its disks. Keep a buffer, and do not let the balance reach zero on a server with important data. Full rules are in the offer and on the pricing page.