Linode (Akamai) vs Modal Pricing | Costbench
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25 seats

Linode (Akamai) vs Modal

Cloud Infrastructure pricing comparison · 2026

Linode (Akamai) pricing ranges from $5–$1152/month, while Modal ranges from $0–$250/month. These products use different pricing models ( vs Per-seat subscription), so a direct price comparison isn't meaningful — costs depend on usage volume and mix.

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See pricing on each vendor's site
Above-the-fold path — each link opens the vendor's pricing page in a new tab.
Visit Linode pricing
Free plan limits → Discount programs →
Visit Modal pricing
Free plan limits → Discount programs →
Compare
2 products · Cloud Infrastructure
Side-by-side · live
Linode (Akamai)
Linode, now part of Akamai Technologies, offers public flat-rate cloud compute pricing sta
verified 17d ago
$240 $683
View pricing →
Modal
Modal pricing starts at $0/month on the Starter plan, where you pay only for the GPU and C
verified 6w ago
$240 $683
View pricing →
Recorded annual contract medians
Linode median is $443 less than Modal · different customer contracts; not a quote
Cheapest $240
Spread 65%
Estimated license cost
at 25 seats
List price × seats. Click a tier below to lock it.
Linode 2 GB (Shared CPU)
$3.6K/yr
year 1 license · $12/seat
Team
$75K/yr
year 1 license · $250/seat
What buyers actually pay
median, annual
Vendr deal-flow data. The real benchmark, not list price.
↓ Lowest median
Median annual
$240/yr
Vendr · n=3 · limited data
Median annual
$683/yr
Vendr · n=110
REF · 01

Sources & confidence

Every dollar amount and contract clause below traces back to a sourced fact. We don't manufacture composite scores.

Where this data comes from
Vendr · TrustRadius · Reddit · BBB · official docs
Sources 14 sourced facts
9 hidden-cost · 2 contract · Vendr median · 2 review platforms
Last verified 2w ago
Confidence Medium confidence
Sources 12 sourced facts
10 hidden-cost · 1 contract · Vendr median
Last verified 1mo ago
Confidence Limited confidence
REF · 02

Plans at a glance

Every tier per product. Lock one to drive the cost row above and reveal a tier-specific outbound CTA.

Tier ladder
Click a tier to lock the cost row to it. Locking surfaces a tier-specific Visit CTA.
REF · 03

Hidden costs

Each cost is severity-ranked, with the dollar range quoted from its source (Vendr, Reddit, TrustRadius, BBB, official docs) — never our estimate.

Beyond the sticker
Severity-ranked, sourced
5 documented
  • Data Transfer Overage Charges
    $5/TB over included transfer
    1 source
  • Account Activation Denials and Onboarding Friction
    0-10% of users denied, time cost variable
    3 sources
  • Billing Continues After Resource Deletion Confusion
    Variable — full monthly rate continues until resource destroyed
    2 sources
  • Unplanned Maintenance and Server Migrations
    5-10% of license costs in downtime impact
    1 source
  • Price Premium vs. Competing VPS Providers
    20-50% higher than lowest-cost alternatives
    2 sources
5 documented
  • Critical Cost Multipliers
    $1,768.50
    1 source
  • Sandbox Pricing Premium
    $685 monthly
    1 source
  • Unpredictable Usage Costs
    $400
    1 source
  • Developer Hours for AI Projects
    1 source
  • Data Preparation Costs for AI Projects
    15-35% of project costs
    1 source
REF · 04

Contract terms

The fine print, surfaced. Green = buyer-friendly. Each clause backed by a quoted source.

Linode
Modal
Auto-renewal
Yes
Yes
Cancellation
Any time — hourly billing stops when resource is destroyed
—
Commitment
None — pay-as-you-go hourly billing
—
Price escalation
No published price escalation schedule found in sources
—
Can downgrade
✓ Yes
—
Based on 3 verified sources (Vendr · TrustRadius · BBB)
REF · 05

What users say

Aggregated, with sample sizes. We use whichever review platform has data.

User reviews
TrustRadius · Trustpilot · G2
TrustRadius
9out of 5 (5)
Trustpilot
1out of 5 (24)
Best for
Personal projects, low-traffic websites, and development environments
Watch out
Automated account denial/cancellation after submitting credit card details
No public ratings yet
Best for
Small teams and independent developers
Watch out
GPU compute costs escalate very quickly beyond the base plan fee
Decide
Get a quote from each vendor
Each link opens the vendor's pricing page in a new tab.
Visit Linode pricing
Free plan limits → Discount programs →
Visit Modal pricing
Free plan limits → Discount programs →
License cost is computed from publicly listed plans (real math, list price × seats). Median annual cost is from Vendr's deal flow when available — see source badges. Hidden costs and contract terms each cite their own sources. We do not invent composite scores.
Cloud Infrastructure

Linode (Akamai)

$5–$1152
/month
9 plans
Full pricing breakdown →
VS
Cloud Infrastructure

Modal

$0–$250
/month
3 plans · Free tier
Full pricing breakdown →
⚖

Different Pricing Models

Direct price comparison isn't meaningful here — Linode (Akamai) uses pricing while Modal uses Per-seat subscription pricing. Your actual cost will depend on usage volume, team size, or both. Here's each product in its native unit.

Linode (Akamai)

$5–$1152 / month
See full Linode (Akamai) pricing →
vs
Per-seat subscription

Modal

$0–$250 / month
See full Modal pricing →

Plan-by-Plan Pricing

Plan Linode (Akamai) Modal
Nanode 1 GB (Shared CPU) $5 /month Free /user/month
Linode 2 GB (Shared CPU) $12 /month $250 /user/month
Linode 4 GB (Shared CPU) $24 /month Custom
Linode 8 GB (Shared CPU) $48 /month —
G6 Dedicated 4 GB $36 /month —
G7 Dedicated 4 GB $43 /month —
High Memory 24 GB $60 /month —
G8 Dedicated (Premium & General) Custom —
Kubernetes (LKE) $60 /month per cluster (HA control plane) —

Cost at Scale

Total cost of ownership — licenses, implementation, and hidden costs included.

Linode (Akamai)

6 scenarios
$5/month ($60/year)
Small Developer/Hobby Project
$24/month ($288/year)
Small Business Web Application
$36/month ($432/year)
Production Application with Dedicated CPU
See all 6 scenarios →

Modal

2 scenarios
$250/month
Small Team: Periodic GPU Workloads
plan + ~$2/hr per GPU compute
~$72/hr for large model serving
Large Model Serving (70B+ Parameter Models)

Market Intelligence

Linode (Akamai)

Median annual cost
$240
Based on
3 deals

Modal

Median annual cost
$683
Based on
110 deals

Hidden Costs

Beyond the sticker price — what catches buyers off guard.

Linode (Akamai) 5 hidden costs

medium
Data Transfer Overage Charges $5/TB over included transfer
high
Account Activation Denials and Onboarding Friction 0-10% of users denied, time cost variable
high
Billing Continues After Resource Deletion Confusion Variable — full monthly rate continues until resource destroyed
medium
Unplanned Maintenance and Server Migrations 5-10% of license costs in downtime impact
medium
Price Premium vs. Competing VPS Providers 20-50% higher than lowest-cost alternatives
See all Linode (Akamai) hidden costs →

Modal 9 hidden costs

high
Critical Cost Multipliers $1,768.50
medium
Sandbox Pricing Premium $685 monthly
high
Unpredictable Usage Costs $400
high
Developer Hours for AI Projects
high
Data Preparation Costs for AI Projects 15-35% of project costs
See all Modal hidden costs →

Contract Terms

Term Linode (Akamai) Modal
Auto-renewal Yes Yes
Cancellation Any time — hourly billing stops when resource is destroyed —
Minimum commitment None — pay-as-you-go hourly billing —
Price escalation No published price escalation schedule found in sources —
Can downgrade Yes —

Continue researching

Linode (Akamai)

Modal

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