Short answer: profit per GPU for a month is the hourly rate times the hours in the month times utilization, minus the marketplace fee, minus power, minus depreciation. Whether Vast.ai hosting is profitable for you depends on those four inputs, and only your own numbers can answer it. Vast.ai itself says host earnings cannot be guaranteed.
1. The formula
For one GPU over one month:
- Earnings = hourly rate × hours in the month × utilization
- Marketplace fee = earnings × fee rate
- Power = GPU watts ÷ 1,000 × hours × price per kWh
- Depreciation = (cost minus salvage value) ÷ useful life in months
- Profit per GPU = earnings minus marketplace fee minus power minus depreciation
Vast.ai's host optimization guide puts the first line the same way: revenue is the product of your price per hour and your occupancy rate, the share of time your machines are rented. A high price with low occupancy can earn less than a moderate price that keeps the GPU busy.
2. A worked example
These are illustrative example numbers for one GPU, chosen to make the arithmetic easy to follow. They are not Vast.ai market rates.
- Hourly rate: $0.40 per GPU hour
- Hours in the month: 720 (30 days)
- Utilization: 60%, so 432 rented hours
- Marketplace fee: 0% (see step 3)
- Average GPU draw: 300 W, for all 720 hours
- Power price: $0.12 per kWh
- GPU cost: $1,800, no salvage value, 36-month useful life
Working it through:
- Earnings: $0.40 × 720 × 60% = $172.80
- Marketplace fee: $172.80 × 0% = $0.00
- Power: 300 ÷ 1,000 × 720 = 216 kWh, and 216 × $0.12 = $25.92
- Depreciation: $1,800 ÷ 36 = $50.00
- Profit per GPU: $172.80 minus $0.00 minus $25.92 minus $50.00 = $96.88 for the month
That is about $0.22 per rented hour, or about $0.13 for every hour in the month. Before depreciation, the cash profit is $146.88.
3. The marketplace fee
Vast.ai's June 2024 product update says hosting fees were removed: it lists "Changed the hosting fees to 0%" and says the prices hosts set will be the prices they earn. Its host earnings calculator says your asking price is the basis for GPU earnings, and that customer-facing prices may also reflect marketplace operations and support. That is why the example uses 0%.
Keep the fee line in your formula anyway. If you also list on another marketplace, or Vast.ai changes its terms, the line is already there. For your own Vast.ai machines, the show earnings API and vastai show earnings give you the actual earnings per machine to check the formula against.
4. Power
Power is usually the biggest running cost per GPU. The simple version above uses one average draw for every hour of the month, because a listed GPU draws some power even when idle. For a closer number, split it: load watts times rented hours, plus idle watts times idle hours. Also add your share of the rest of the server, such as the CPU, fans and power supply losses, and cooling if you pay for it separately. Use the price per kWh on your own bill.
Vast.ai's optimization guide suggests setting your Min Bid Price for interruptible rentals close to your cost of power when the GPU is under load, so you at least cover electricity. Working out power per GPU hour gives you that number: in the example, 300 W at $0.12 per kWh is about $0.036 per hour.
5. Depreciation
Depreciation spreads what the GPU cost over the months you expect it to earn. It does not show up in any payout, which is why it is easy to leave out. The example uses $1,800 over 36 months. Pick your own useful life with your accountant. GPU server depreciation covers useful lives large GPU fleets disclose, the monthly entry, and what to do when cards are swapped or sold.
6. Break-even utilization
Power and depreciation in the example are paid whether the GPU is rented or not. Break-even utilization is those costs divided by what the GPU would earn if it were rented every hour:
- Monthly costs: $25.92 power plus $50.00 depreciation = $75.92
- Full-month earnings: $0.40 × 720 = $288.00
- Break-even: $75.92 ÷ $288.00 = about 26% utilization
At 30% utilization the same GPU earns $86.40 and keeps $10.48 after power and depreciation. At 60% it keeps $96.88. Utilization moves profit more than anything else in the formula, and it is the input you control least. Use your own history, not a guess.
7. What the formula leaves out
- Storage and bandwidth earnings, which Vast.ai pays as separate lines.
- Internet, rack space, rent and repairs. Divide them across the GPUs that share them.
- Taxes. See GPU rental income and taxes for the records hosts keep.
- Time between earning and cash. A month's earnings and the payouts that land in that month are different numbers. See how Vast.ai host payouts work, and how to match them. To see which machine and site each payout came from, see how to track Vast.ai payouts per machine and per site.
Doing it with Flash
Flash is the CFO layer for compute operators, covering Bitcoin miners and GPU and AI compute hosts. The Vast.ai connection is in early access. Flash lists each payout Vast.ai reports. When the money lands, confirm it with the date and reference, and Flash keeps it in your audit history. If you've imported the receipt, Flash suggests the match by reference and amount.
Flash lists Vast.ai payouts per connected Vast.ai account. The per-GPU formula above is one you run with your own numbers. Beyond payouts, Flash brings earnings, site costs and hardware depreciation into a monthly close with profit by site and machine group, as described on Flash for GPU operators. To try the Vast.ai connection, request early access.
Questions
Is Vast.ai hosting profitable?
It depends on your numbers: the hourly rate you get, how many hours your GPUs are rented, what you pay for power and what the hardware cost. Vast.ai says earnings depend on hardware, pricing, uptime, location and demand, and cannot be guaranteed. Run the formula in this guide with your own figures.
How do I calculate GPU hosting profit per GPU?
Take the hourly rate times the hours in the period times utilization. Subtract the marketplace fee, the power cost (GPU watts times hours times your price per kWh) and the month's depreciation for that GPU. What is left is profit per GPU for the period.
Does Vast.ai take a fee from host earnings?
Vast.ai's June 2024 product update changed hosting fees to 0% and says the prices hosts set are the prices they earn. Keep a fee line in your formula anyway, and fill it from your own earnings data if a fee ever shows up there.
How do I work out the power cost of one GPU?
Divide the GPU's average draw in watts by 1,000, multiply by the hours it runs and by your price per kWh. In the example in this guide, 300 W for 720 hours is 216 kWh, which at $0.12 per kWh is $25.92 for the month.
What utilization do I need to break even on a GPU?
Divide your monthly costs for the GPU by what it would earn if it were rented every hour. In the example in this guide, $75.92 of power and depreciation against $288.00 of full-month earnings gives a break-even of about 26% utilization.
Should depreciation be part of profit per GPU?
Look at both. Earnings minus power and running costs tells you whether keeping a GPU listed this month pays. Taking off depreciation as well tells you whether the GPU earns back what it cost.
General information, not financial, accounting or tax advice. Example numbers are illustrative. Flash is the CFO layer for compute operators: Bitcoin miners and GPU hosts. See Flash for GPU operators.