Google Colab alternative: VRAMfarm compared
Google Colab: Hosted Jupyter notebook service from Google, free tier plus paid compute units. VRAMfarm is per-minute GPU rental from a prepaid euro balance, with 20 NVIDIA models and ready-made AI apps. Below is a side-by-side view, including where Google Colab is the better choice.
Facts about Google Colab from its public pages, checked 11 November 2026. Prices and terms change: check at the source.
| Google Colab | VRAMfarm | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Hosted Jupyter notebook service from Google, free tier plus paid compute units | GPU rental with ready-made AI apps |
| Billing | Compute units: Pay As You Go packs of 100 or 500, Pro 100/month, Pro+ 600/month; units expire after 90 days | Per minute, minimum 15 minutes per launch |
| Currency | Local currency at Google checkout; widely reported US prices $9.99 (Pro) and $49.99 (Pro+) per month | EUR |
| Payment | Card via Google Payments, subscription or one-off packs; units not refundable. Some Google AI plans include Colab benefits | Prepaid balance from €10: card (incl. Apple Pay, Google Pay) or SEPA |
| GPUs in Europe | Paid plans sold in most EU countries (contract with Google Ireland); runtime location is not selectable or stated | Some machines; the country of each one is shown before launch |
| GPU range | T4, L4, A100, H100 and G4 runtimes plus TPUs; type depends on availability and is not guaranteed | 20 models, RTX 3060 12 GB to B200 192 GB |
| Ready-made apps | Notebooks only: Python environment in the browser, no app templates, SSH or own Docker image | ComfyUI with Flux and Wan video, private chat, text to speech; Jupyter, SSH, vLLM, Ollama, own Docker image |
| Data after stop | Runtime VM is deleted when idle or at max lifetime; files must be saved to Google Drive or downloaded | Disk wiped on stop; saved folder €0.03 per GB a month |
| 24 GB card, per hour | — | from €0.30 (RTX 3090) |
| 80 GB card, per hour | — | from €1.46 (A100), €3.90 (H100) |
When Google Colab is the better choice
- Free tier and very low entry price
- Nothing to set up; notebooks stored in Google Drive
- Since 22 Sep 2026 Google AI plan subscribers get Colab benefits
Worth knowing about Google Colab
- No guaranteed GPU type; usage per compute unit is not published per GPU
- Sessions time out when idle; background execution up to 24 h only on Pro+ or Google AI Ultra
- Not suited to long-running servers or web apps
What VRAMfarm does differently
- Billing per minute from a balance in euros, no subscription
- Ready-made apps that open in the browser with the models already downloaded
- Consumer and data-centre cards in one list, from 12 to 192 GB
- The country, driver and CUDA version of each machine shown before launch
What VRAMfarm does not have yet
- VAT invoices and a downloadable DPA (the company registration is in progress)
- Not every machine is in the EU
- No dedicated public IP: SSH and apps go through our address
Frequently asked questions
What is the main difference between Google Colab and VRAMfarm?
Google Colab: Compute units: Pay As You Go packs of 100 or 500, Pro 100/month, Pro+ 600/month; units expire after 90 days, Local currency at Google checkout; widely reported US prices $9.99 (Pro) and $49.99 (Pro+) per month. VRAMfarm bills per minute from a prepaid euro balance and adds ready-made apps for images, video, chat and speech.
Is VRAMfarm cheaper than Google Colab?
It depends on the card and how long you run it. Compare the hourly price for the card you need, then your typical session length: with per-minute billing short sessions cost less than with hourly rounding.
How do I move from Google Colab to VRAMfarm?
Upload your models and data to /workspace on a new server over SSH, or start from your own Docker image. Save the folder on stop and it is there for the next session.
Try it on your own task
Top up from €10 and run the same job you run on Google Colab; compare time and cost.