Inference.net lists 2 models and Nous Research 6. Inference.net is cheaper on a typical model ($0.08 per 1M tokens median). Below: line-up, price tiers, the cheapest model for each capability, and what each costs for five real workloads.
| Inference.net | Nous Research | |
|---|---|---|
| Models listed | 2 | 6 |
| Models with published pricing | 2 | 6 |
| Typical price (median, 3:1 blend per 1M) | $0.08 | $0.70 |
| Cheapest paid model | Inference.net: Schematron V2 Turbo ($0.06) | NousResearch: Hermes 2 Pro - Llama-3 8B ($0.14) |
| Longest context | Inference.net: Schematron V2 Small (128K) | Nous: Hermes 3 405B Instruct (131K) |
| Free models | 0 | 1 |
| Newest model | Inference.net: Schematron V2 Small (2026-09-12) | Nous: Hermes 4 405B (2025-08-26) |
| Price changes in the last 90 days | 0 | 1 |
For each workload: the cheapest model from each provider that can actually do it (fits the context window; tool calling required for the agent), and its monthly cost at list price.
| Workload (per month) | Inference.net | Nous Research |
|---|---|---|
| Customer-support chatbot 50,000 conversations — each a 6-turn conversation | $5.25 with Inference.net: Schematron V2 Turbo | $13.30 with NousResearch: Hermes 2 Pro - Llama-3 8B |
| RAG search over documents 20,000 questions — each a question answered from ~8 retrieved passages | $5.10 with Inference.net: Schematron V2 Turbo | $18.20 with NousResearch: Hermes 2 Pro - Llama-3 8B |
| Coding / tool-using agent 2,000 tasks — each a multi-step task with tool calls and file context | no suitable model | no suitable model |
| Batch summarisation 10,000 documents — each a 6,000-word report summarised to a page | $3.30 with Inference.net: Schematron V2 Turbo | $12.80 with Nous: Hermes 4 70B |
| Long-document analysis 500 documents — each a 150-page contract or codebase read in one pass | $1.65 with Inference.net: Schematron V2 Turbo | $6.90 with Nous: Hermes 4 70B |
| You need | Inference.net | Nous Research |
|---|---|---|
| Any model | Inference.net: Schematron V2 Turbo ($0.06) | NousResearch: Hermes 2 Pro - Llama-3 8B ($0.14) |
| With tool calling | none listed | none listed |
| With image input | none listed | none listed |
| With reasoning mode | none listed | Nous: Hermes 4 70B ($0.20) |
| 128K+ context | Inference.net: Schematron V2 Turbo ($0.06) | Nous: Hermes 4 70B ($0.20) |
| 1M+ context | none listed | none listed |
| Model type | Inference.net | Nous Research |
|---|---|---|
| text->text | 2 | 6 |
| Price per 1M (3:1 blend) | Inference.net | Nous Research |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 0 | 1 |
| Under $0.50 | 2 | 2 |
| $0.50 – $3 | 0 | 3 |
| $3 – $10 | 0 | 0 |
| $10 and up | 0 | 0 |
Inference.net is cheaper on a typical model: a median of $0.08 per 1M tokens (3:1 input/output) against $0.70 for Nous Research. The cheapest paid models are Inference.net: Schematron V2 Turbo at $0.06 and NousResearch: Hermes 2 Pro - Llama-3 8B at $0.14.
It depends on the job: Nous Research offers the broader line-up (2 models vs 6), Inference.net the lower typical price, Nous Research the longest context (131K tokens). The workload table above shows which wins for chat, RAG, agents, batch jobs and long documents.
Nous Research: Inference.net lists 2 models and Nous Research lists 6.
Nous Research: Inference.net's longest is Inference.net: Schematron V2 Small at 128K tokens; Nous Research's is Nous: Hermes 3 405B Instruct at 131K.
Inference.net: none. Nous Research: 1 free model (e.g. Nous: Hermes 3 405B Instruct (free)).
Inference.net: 0 of 2 models accept images. Nous Research: 0 of 6.