
Claude Code is one of the most capable agentic AI tools for software development – but it comes with a practical constraint: usage limits and spend. It's easy to run into daily or weekly quotas, and API costs can add up quickly.

Fortunately, there's a workaround.

### Ralph Loop: Running an Open-Source Coding Agent on Vast.ai

Instead of relying on API-limited services or local hardware, you can run open-source coding agents on Vast.ai for about **$1.50 per hour** – even continuously overnight! One example of this is Ralph, an agentic coding loop designed to implement software projects from a Product Requirements Document (PRD).

Ralph picks a user story, writes the code, runs tests, fixes any failures, and moves on to the next story. This process repeats until the project is complete and everything passes.

To jump straight in, follow our [Overnight Ralph Loop guide](https://docs.vast.ai/examples/ai-agents/overnight-ralph-loop) to get started. Otherwise, let's explore some more about what you can accomplish with Ralph and why.

### Why Run the Ralph Loop on Vast.ai?

There are several practical reasons to run the Ralph loop on a self-hosted model using our dedicated GPU infrastructure.

First, cost becomes more manageable. On Vast.ai, you pay for GPU time directly, at cost-effective rates that make overnight runs both predictable and affordable. Ralph is built for sustained workflows, so you can run it continuously without the usage caps of API-based tools like Claude Code.

Running Ralph on Vast.ai also gives you direct control over your development environment and supports stricter security and [compliance](https://vast.ai/compliance) needs. At the same time, you can match model size and GPU compute to the complexity of the task, ensuring your resources scale up only when the workload requires it.

### The Ralph Loop in Practice: Model & Use Cases

On Vast.ai, you can run the Ralph loop on Qwen3-Coder-Next, a large Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) model trained specifically for agentic coding tools like Claude Code, Aider, and Cline. It boasts a 256K context length and strong performance across multi-step coding tasks involving large codebases.

Once deployed, Ralph operates continuously and autonomously on real software projects, making it well suited for overnight development workflows. Common use cases include:

- Building a full CLI application
- Implementing REST APIs with authentication and validation
- Generating complete test suites for existing codebases
- Creating a web scraper with multiple site adapters, rate limiting, and data export

You simply define the requirements and allow the agent to carry out the work unattended.

### Getting Started with the Overnight Ralph Loop

With Vast.ai, a typical setup using Qwen3-Coder-Next on a 4x RTX 4090 instance costs approximately $1.50 per hour, with an overnight run often coming in **under $18** .

Our [Overnight Ralph Loop guide](https://docs.vast.ai/examples/ai-agents/overnight-ralph-loop) walks you through deploying the model, connecting the agent, and running the Ralph loop on Vast.ai. Start your first overnight run today!


Run autonomous coding agents on Vast.ai for about $1.50/hour with the Ralph Loop workflow.

Affordable Claude Code Alternative: Run Autonomous Coding Agents on Vast.ai


### Introducing the Vast.ai Startup Program: AI Infrastructure Without the Burn Rate

Startups can now get [$2,500 in free GPU credits](https://vast.ai/startup) when they move workloads to Vast.ai.

To apply, get in touch with our team to share a bit about your project and compute needs. From there, we'll finalize your credit offer, help you configure the right setup, and get you up and running quickly. You'll also have access to **24/7 priority support** throughout the credit period.

Compute credits apply across Vast.ai's global GPU marketplace, with access to everything from consumer-grade cards to high-end accelerators like A100s and H200s.

The Vast.ai Startup Program gives startups an on-ramp to the same platform that teams rely on well beyond the early stage. That's because Vast.ai is designed to scale alongside you - without long-term commitments or runaway costs.

### Built for Real AI Workloads

From day one, Vast.ai supports the tools and workflows that teams already use. Launch preconfigured environments with Jupyter, Docker, RAPIDS, and Hugging Face to train deep learning models, run large-scale experiments, and process massive datasets on demand.

We offer a growing selection of ready-to-run AI models in our [Model Library](https://vast.ai/model-library), plus thousands of [templates](https://cloud.vast.ai/templates) to get started immediately - or deploy your own custom model anytime. Your team can even collaborate across departments and campuses, avoiding duplicated infrastructure and fragmented workflows.

Most importantly, with Vast.ai, your team can cut costs without cutting capability. Reduce infrastructure expenses by **up to 81%** compared to major cloud GPU providers, while paying only for what you need, when you need it.

Plus, most startups can migrate existing workloads with minimal changes and begin running jobs shortly after approval.

### Secure, Compliant, and Production-Ready

Vast.ai is **SOC 2 Type II** certified and designed to support all of your [security and compliance](https://vast.ai/compliance) needs from the start.

Run workloads in isolated instances with end-to-end encryption and full control over compute environments to keep your sensitive data protected. Our [Secure Cloud](https://cloud.vast.ai/?secure_cloud=true) option lets you filter for GPUs from our vetted datacenter partners for even higher security needs.

Notably, these safeguards support reproducible research via consistent environments, as well as compliance-friendly configurations aligned with GDPR and HIPAA requirements.

With [Vast.ai Serverless](https://vast.ai/article/vast-ai-serverless-automated-gpu-scaling), moving from development to production is even easier. Inference workloads run through a fully serverless API that automatically routes to the most cost-effective GPUs available, according to your performance requirements. This eliminates manual instance management and capacity planning - so you can leverage our distributed GPU fleet with minimal overhead.

### Get Started with Vast.ai Today

For early-stage teams, access to affordable GPU compute is crucial. But there's more to it than that. You also want infrastructure that scales as you grow and supports evolving security and compliance needs - all without locking you into long-term contracts.

The Vast.ai Startup Program helps you get there faster.

[Apply today](https://vast.ai/startup) to get up to 2,500 free compute hours and start building on Vast.ai on your own terms.


Startups can get up to $2,500 in free GPU credits when moving workloads to Vast.ai, with priority support and production-ready infrastructure.

Introducing the Vast.ai Startup Program


dstack is an open-source GPU orchestration platform that automates instance provisioning and lifecycle management across cloud providers. This guide walks through using dstack with Vast.ai as the backend, combining declarative infrastructure with competitive GPU marketplace pricing.

## What Makes dstack Special?

Key features include:
- **Infrastructure as Code**: Define GPU requirements, pricing limits, and workloads in YAML
- **Automatic Provisioning**: dstack finds and provisions the best available instances
- **Cost Controls**: Set `max_price` to cap hourly costs automatically
- **Built-in Proxy**: Access services through dstack's authenticated endpoint

## What's in the New Guide

Our latest documentation walks you through deploying language models with dstack and vLLM on Vast.ai.

**Complete Setup Instructions**
- Installing and configuring dstack with your Vast.ai API key
- Starting the dstack server and CLI
- Creating service configurations for vLLM deployments

**Working Service Configurations**
- Ready-to-use YAML for deploying Qwen3-30B-A3B
- GPU memory and pricing parameters
- Real deployment outputs showing what to expect

**API Integration Examples**
- Python code using the OpenAI SDK
- cURL examples for testing
- Streaming response implementations

## Why dstack + Vast.ai?

The combination gives you orchestration on top of a GPU marketplace:

- **Simplified Workflow**: No manual instance hunting or environment setup
- **Cost Optimization**: dstack finds the cheapest instance meeting your requirements
- **Flexible Pricing**: Access Vast.ai's competitive rates with automatic cost caps
- **Production-Ready API**: vLLM provides OpenAI-compatible endpoints

The guide demonstrates deploying Qwen3-30B-A3B on an H100 80GB—provisioned with a single command.

## Who Should Use This Guide?

This deployment guide is perfect for:
- **Teams** wanting reproducible, version-controlled GPU deployments
- **Developers** building LLM applications who want simple infrastructure management
- **Anyone** tired of manually provisioning and configuring GPU instances

## Get Started

The complete guide is now available in our documentation:

**[Read: Deploy LLMs with dstack and vLLM on Vast.ai →](https://docs.vast.ai/examples/serving-infrastructure/dstack-vllm)**

Whether you're new to GPU orchestration or looking for a better way to manage LLM deployments, this guide provides everything you need to get started with dstack on Vast.ai.

Ready to try it? [Sign up for Vast.ai](https://vast.ai) and follow the guide to deploy your first model.


Learn how to deploy language models with dstack and vLLM on Vast.ai, combining declarative infrastructure with competitive GPU marketplace pricing.

Deploy LLMs with dstack on Vast.ai


At **Vast.ai**, we believe privacy and security are inextricably woven into our mission to equip customers worldwide with accessible, scalable GPUs. In honor of this commitment, we are pleased to announce that we have achieved **SOC 2 Type II certification** – an independent assurance that with us, your data is secure, reliably available, and continuously protected.

Vast.ai’s Enduring Security Commitment

Earlier this year, our [SOC 2 Type I audit](https://vast.ai/article/vast-ai-achieves-soc-2-type-1-certication) confirmed we have the right internal controls in place to meet trust services criteria for data security, integrity, and privacy. The Type II audit put those controls to the test, evaluating their operational effectiveness over an extended period.

Achieving **SOC 2 Type II certification** is independent validation that the security infrastructure we've built over 6+ years of trusted service continues to meet rigorous [compliance standards](https://vast.ai/article/security-and-compliance-at-vast-ai) in day-to-day execution. This achievement strengthens our ability to support the evolving security needs of enterprises, research institutions, and organizations building on our infrastructure.

Here's a quick look at SOC 2 Type II and what it entails.

### What Is SOC 2 Type II?

System and Organization Controls 2 (SOC 2\) audits – developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) – protect customer data by rigorously evaluating an organization’s internal controls across security, confidentiality, privacy, and processing integrity benchmarks.

- **Type I** reports provide a control design snapshot at a single point in time.

- **Type II** reports go further, assessing how those controls perform over months of continuous operation – confirming they're both well-designed and consistently implemented.

Achieving both Type I and Type II certifications means your sensitive data is secure, available, and privately stored across all our systems. This establishes a foundation of enduring excellence aligned with rigorous industry standards for all customers, which we can tailor to your unique data security and regulatory compliance needs to scale infrastructure and further reduce risks.

After completing our initial 3-month Type II audit, we’ve launched a standard 12-month cycle to ensure we have no gaps in coverage. This two-phase strategy lets us move fast on improvements, then settle into an annual rhythm of verification. We are now in the 12-month cycle with continuous coverage year round.

### Vast.ai's Secure Cloud Offering

For customers with stricter security and compliance requirements, our [**Secure Cloud**](https://cloud.vast.ai/?secure_cloud=true) offering provides high-security GPU access through our certified datacenter partners. This environment, already backed by stringent operational and security controls, now benefits from the added assurance of a SOC 2 Type II audit across our platform infrastructure.

Our **[Trust Center](https://trust.vast.ai/?utm_source=blog)** offers a deeper look into our controls, compliance stance, FAQs and Subprocessors, and our other compliance certifications provide additional safeguards.

Why This Matters

Earning our **SOC 2 Type II certification** is another step forward in strengthening our foundation of trust and security that our customers rely on every day. It reflects both our adherence to proven industry practices and our ongoing commitment to transparency.

This achievement isn't the end of our compliance journey – it's part of an ongoing initiative. Vast.ai will undergo SOC 2 Type II audits every 12 months to ensure continual coverage.

Additionally, we've requested an [**SOC 3 report**](https://www.aicpa-cima.com/topic/audit-assurance/audit-and-assurance-greater-than-soc-3), which will provide a publicly available summary of our security posture for those who want to review our controls without accessing the full SOC 2 report.

### Our Ongoing Commitment

Achieving the **SOC 2 Type II certification** is a crucial step in our compliance roadmap as we continue to build trustworthy and dependable GPU infrastructure for our users. Alongside other security and [compliance measures](https://vast.ai/compliance) across cloud and AI services, such as our [SOC 2 Type I certification](https://vast.ai/article/vast-ai-achieves-soc-2-type-1-certication) and [Vulnerability Bounty Program](https://vast.ai/article/announcing-the-vast-ai-vulnerability-bounty-program), we are weaving security and trust throughout our platform for every member of our community.

Through this integrated approach, we’re dedicated to protecting the privacy and integrity of the data entrusted to us by developers, researchers, and enterprise teams around the world. We take this responsibility seriously as a distributed peer-to-peer platform powering global compute, and we look forward to sharing future updates as we continue to advance our security and compliance roadmap.

For more information on Vast.ai's comprehensive security and compliance stance, or to request a copy of our SOC 2 reports, please contact us at [compliance@vast.ai](mailto:compliance@vast.ai).

Thank you to our team at Vast.ai and our audit partners for helping us achieve this milestone.

We’re committed to protecting your data and upholding the trust you place in us, and we’ll keep you updated on our ongoing progress in our mission to provide powerful, dependable GPUs.


Vast.ai has achieved SOC 2 Type II certification, demonstrating our commitment to enterprise-grade security, data protection, and compliance. Learn about our comprehensive security controls, Secure Cloud offering, and ongoing compliance roadmap that ensures your data remains secure and protected.

Posts about: Infrastructure

Affordable Claude Code Alternative: Run Autonomous Coding Agents on Vast.ai

Introducing the Vast.ai Startup Program

Deploy LLMs with dstack on Vast.ai

Vast.ai Achieves SOC 2 Type II Certification