Inference.net vs Upstage

Inference.net lists 2 models and Upstage 3. 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.

At a glance

Inference.netUpstage
Models listed23
Models with published pricing23
Typical price (median, 3:1 blend per 1M)$0.08$0.26
Cheapest paid modelInference.net: Schematron V2 Turbo ($0.06)Upstage: Solar Mini 4 ($0.09)
Longest contextInference.net: Schematron V2 Small (128K)Upstage: Solar Mini 4 (524K)
Free models00
Newest modelInference.net: Schematron V2 Small (2026-09-12)Upstage: Solar Mini 4 (2026-09-23)
Price changes in the last 90 days02
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What each costs for real workloads

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.netUpstage
Customer-support chatbot
50,000 conversations — each a 6-turn conversation
$5.25 with Inference.net: Schematron V2 Turbo$7.75 with Upstage: Solar Mini 4
RAG search over documents
20,000 questions — each a question answered from ~8 retrieved passages
$5.10 with Inference.net: Schematron V2 Turbo$8.00 with Upstage: Solar Mini 4
Coding / tool-using agent
2,000 tasks — each a multi-step task with tool calls and file context
no suitable model$8.40 with Upstage: Solar Mini 4
Batch summarisation
10,000 documents — each a 6,000-word report summarised to a page
$3.30 with Inference.net: Schematron V2 Turbo$5.20 with Upstage: Solar Mini 4
Long-document analysis
500 documents — each a 150-page contract or codebase read in one pass
$1.65 with Inference.net: Schematron V2 Turbo$2.70 with Upstage: Solar Mini 4

Cheapest model for each capability

You needInference.netUpstage
Any modelInference.net: Schematron V2 Turbo ($0.06)Upstage: Solar Mini 4 ($0.09)
With tool callingnone listedUpstage: Solar Mini 4 ($0.09)
With image inputnone listednone listed
With reasoning modenone listedUpstage: Solar Mini 4 ($0.09)
128K+ contextInference.net: Schematron V2 Turbo ($0.06)Upstage: Solar Mini 4 ($0.09)
1M+ contextnone listednone listed

Line-up by type and price tier

Model typeInference.netUpstage
text->text23
Price per 1M (3:1 blend)Inference.netUpstage
Free00
Under $0.5023
$0.50 – $300
$3 – $1000
$10 and up00

Frequently asked questions

How does Inference.net cost compare with Upstage cost?

Inference.net is cheaper on a typical model: a median of $0.08 per 1M tokens (3:1 input/output) against $0.26 for Upstage. The cheapest paid models are Inference.net: Schematron V2 Turbo at $0.06 and Upstage: Solar Mini 4 at $0.09.

Is Inference.net better than Upstage?

It depends on the job: Upstage offers the broader line-up (2 models vs 3), Inference.net the lower typical price, Upstage the longest context (524K tokens). The workload table above shows which wins for chat, RAG, agents, batch jobs and long documents.

Which has more models, Inference.net or Upstage?

Upstage: Inference.net lists 2 models and Upstage lists 3.

Which provider has the longest context window?

Upstage: Inference.net's longest is Inference.net: Schematron V2 Small at 128K tokens; Upstage's is Upstage: Solar Mini 4 at 524K.

Do Inference.net or Upstage offer free models?

Neither lists a free model; both are pay-per-token.

Which provider has models that can read images?

Inference.net: 0 of 2 models accept images. Upstage: 0 of 3.

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