Cloud GPU providers are leading the race of AI innovation. Large-scale model training and deployment are growing in complexity, so developers, researchers and enterprises are seeking alternatives to traditional cloud giants like AWS and GCP. And one of the most popular altenratives is Lambda Labs.
In this Lambda Labs Review, we explore the platform’s features, performance, pricing and more so you can understand if Lambda Labs is the right fit for your workloads.
What is Lambda Labs?
Founded in 2012, Lambda Labs is a San Francisco-based technology company that builds deep learning hardware and provides GPU cloud services. The company originally made a name for itself by selling high-performance deep learning workstations and servers. Over time, Lambda expanded into cloud GPU infrastructure, offering access to powerful NVIDIA GPUs on demand or through reserved capacity.
Lambda’s cloud services are purpose-built for AI and machine learning. They offer an environment where models can be trained, fine-tuned or deployed without dealing with the generic complexity of other cloud platforms.
Key Features of Lambda Labs
The key features of Lambda Labs include :
1. GPU Cloud Instances
Lambda offers a range of on-demand and reserved GPU instances that are optimised for training large-scale AI models. The setup is easy and powerful, ideal for users who know exactly what they need.
On Lambda Labs, you get
- Support for NVIDIA A100, H100, A6000, and V100 GPUs
- Multi-GPU and NVLink support
- SSD-backed storage and fast network throughput
- Bare metal or containerised environments
You can choose from Lambda’s own pre-configured deep learning images or set up your own stack from scratch.
2. Lambda Echelon
Lambda Echelon is an integrated GPU cluster solution built by Lambda to streamline machine learning infrastructure. It brings together compute, storage, networking, power, and support in one pre-configured system, making it easier to deploy and manage large-scale AI workloads. Echelon clusters are highly scalable, ranging from a single rack with 40 GPUs to multi-rack setups housing thousands of GPUs.
3. Deep Learning Images
Lambda offers custom-built deep learning images preloaded with PyTorch, TensorFlow, CUDA, cuDNN, and other dependencies. These are regularly updated, saving users the time and headache of environment configuration.
You can :
- Start training immediately on preconfigured environments
- Avoid package conflicts and dependency issues
- Choose between PyTorch, TensorFlow, or generic CUDA images
4. Lambda Stack
Lambda Stack is a pre-configured suite of machine learning and deep learning tools that saves you the hassle of managing dependencies or compatibility issues. Every package is tested to work seamlessly across all Lambda systems, including the latest NVIDIA HGX B200 and H200 SXM GPUs, so you can focus on building and training models, not troubleshooting your environment.
Lambda Labs User Experience
Lambda takes a developer-first approach to its cloud offering. The interface is clean and built for users who are comfortable working with SSH, containers and code.
So you can :
- Spin up and manage instances quickly
- Monitor usage and billing in real-time
- Pre-configured SSH access keys
- Fast start/stop functionality
Lambda Labs Performance and Reliability
You can try the Lambda Cloud Metrics Dashboard to monitor your GPU workloads in real-time, without the need to build or manage your monitoring setup. Once you install the Lambda-guest-agent on your On-Demand instances or 1-Click Clusters, you can view essential system metrics right from your Lambda Cloud dashboard. It’s a quick, intuitive way to track performance, spot bottlenecks, and make smarter decisions about your workloads.
Metrics available on the dashboard include :
- Average GPU utilisation
- Average VRAM utilisation across GPUs
- CPU utilisation
- Memory utilisation
- Ethernet bandwidth
- InfiniBand bandwidth
Lambda Labs Pricing
Lambda offers competitive hourly rates and significant discounts for long-term reservations. For On-Demand instances, you only pay by the minute for what you use.
| GPU Name | Price |
| On-demand 8× NVIDIA H100 SXM | $2.99 |
| On-demand 8× NVIDIA A100 SXM (80 GB) | $1.79 |
| On-demand 8× NVIDIA A100 SXM (40 GB) | $1.29 |
| On-demand 8× NVIDIA Tesla V100 | $0.55 |
Lambda also provides reserved pricing and private cloud pricing for dedicated, single-tenant caged clusters designed for large-scale AI deployments. These are available on 1-, 2 or 3-year contracts. These clusters support 1,000 to 64,000 GPUs with 3.2 Tb/s high-speed networking.
Additional costs :
- Storage: SSD-based, billed per GB/month
- Ingress: Free
- Egress: Billed based on volume
Lambda Labs Use Cases
Lambda is purpose-built for AI workloads. It is not a general-purpose cloud platform, which makes it ideal for a very specific audience.
Here’s what it’s ideal for :
- AI/ML researchers needing raw GPU compute
- Startups and teams training large-scale models
- Universities and labs running long-term AI experiments
- MLOps engineers who want to control the stack
Here’s what it’s not ideal for :
- Users unfamiliar with SSH or CLI tools
- Teams that prefer GUI-based workflows
- Lightweight applications like website hosting or simple scripting
Community and Support
Lambda Labs provides support through :
- Ticketing system. You can submit a request here.
- Comprehensive documentation
- An active community forum to ask a question and get tips from Lambda experts.
While there’s no live chat or phone support, the overall responsiveness is reliable.
Is Lambda Labs Worth It?
If you’re serious about deep learning and don’t mind working in a terminal-driven environment, Lambda Labs is one of the best cloud GPU providers available today. Its pricing, performance, and infrastructure are hard to beat, especially for users training LLMs, computer vision models, or custom deep learning systems.
However, it’s not built for beginners or general-purpose users. For seasoned ML developers who prefer control and speed, Lambda Labs offers an excellent value proposition.
FAQs
1. What types of GPUs does Lambda Labs offer?
Lambda Labs offers NVIDIA H100, A100, A6000, and V100 GPUs, with multi-GPU and NVLink support.
2. Does Lambda Labs support long-term GPU reservations?
Yes, Lambda offers reserved pricing and private clusters on 1-, 2-, or 3-year contracts.
3. Is there a free tier available on Lambda Labs?
No, Lambda Labs does not offer a free tier and billing starts from minute one.
4. Can I use Lambda Labs without coding experience?
Lambda is best suited for users comfortable with command-line tools and coding.
5. Does Lambda Labs offer pre-installed environments?
Yes, Lambda provides pre-configured deep learning images and Lambda Stack for quick setup.
6. Is customer support available 24/7?
While there’s no live chat or phone support, their ticket system and community forum are active and responsive.
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