How the pulse
gets measured.

Where the prices come from

We review publicly available pricing from retailers, resellers, marketplaces, and cloud providers, along with relevant historical records. We check the GPU model, condition, and what is included, and account for duplicate listings and differences between offers.

Purchase prices

New and used or refurbished hardware have separate estimates. A price may cover a card or a complete computer; system prices are labeled with the number of GPUs included. When there is too little information for an estimate, we may show a clearly labeled reference price or leave the price unavailable.

Reading the purchase history

Solid lines show our standard purchase estimates. Dashed lines show approximate history, where information is more limited. These earlier estimates draw on available historical prices and broader GPU price trends, and connect to the better-supported history where it begins.

Approximate history helps show the direction of the market. It is less certain than the solid line and may change as more information becomes available.

Rental prices

Overall estimates the typical on-demand rental rate across the market. We account for differences between providers and services so a change in the available offers does not automatically look like a price change.

You can also choose a category: Community marketplace for hosts selling through a marketplace, Managed GPU cloud for dedicated GPU cloud services, or Large cloud provider for broad cloud platforms. Rates are shown for one GPU for one hour. An actual bill may include a minimum number of GPUs or additional services.

Where only one provider’s quote is available, we label it as such. It can help with a comparison, but does not represent the whole rental market.

Ranges, estimates, and gaps

Dotted lines above and below an estimate show its estimated range. A wider range means the price is less certain. It is a guide to the limits of the estimate, rather than a guarantee that a quote will fall inside it.

Some rental dates have observed prices; others are estimated between observations or shortly after the latest update. The chart details tell you which applies. Earlier estimates can be revised using later information. Where support is too limited, we leave a gap or omit the range.

Rental-equivalent hours

This is how many hours of renting would equal the purchase price, using the same number of GPUs and prices from the same date. For example, a $3,000 GPU rented at $1 an hour has 3,000 rental-equivalent hours.

A falling number means buying has become cheaper relative to renting; a rising number means renting has become cheaper relative to buying. This comparison leaves out electricity, repairs, financing, and resale value. GPU Rent or Buy includes those costs and your expected use.

Whole-market trends

The homepage compares purchase prices, rental rates, and rental-equivalent hours for the same set of GPUs. Each trend starts at 100 for the selected period: 110 means a 10% rise, and 90 means a 10% fall.

We compare the same hardware from one date to the next, so adding a more expensive GPU does not itself make the market look more expensive. Movers highlights the largest changes where prices are available at both ends of the selected period. A current price alone is not enough to establish a trend.

Dates and updates

Purchase and rental prices can update at different times, so each has its own date. New information and corrections can change the current charts, including earlier estimates. Saved editions preserve the view published at the time.