Hugging Face is a comprehensive open-source ML platform with 1M+ model repository and strong community focus, while Together AI specializes in inference optimization and distributed computing with faster deployment capabilities. Hugging Face excels for model discovery and collaboration, whereas Together AI targets production-scale inference workloads.
Hugging Face vs Together AI — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
Open-source model hub and MLOps platform with 1M+ pre-trained models for NLP, computer vision, and audio.
Infrastructure platform optimizing LLM inference speed and cost with distributed computing and fine-tuning services.
Model Repository Size. Primary Focus. Inference Speed (LLM serving). Community Contributors. Enterprise API Cost Structure. Supported Model Types. Training Support
Choose Hugging Face if you need access to a massive model ecosystem, want to discover and share models with a global community, or require full training and fine-tuning capabilities. Choose Together AI if your priority is production-grade inference performance, cost optimization for high-throughput LLM applications, or distributed serving across multiple GPUs.
Hugging Face: 1,000,000+ | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 0 (requires external) | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 50,000,000+ | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: Model training and fine-tuning | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: Model cards, versioning, but requires external tools | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: Free Inference API included | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 3-4 weeks | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 500,000+ | Together AI: 40+ models
Hugging Face: 150-300ms | Together AI: 50-100ms
Hugging Face: $1.50-$2.00 | Together AI: $0.48
Hugging Face: 95% (standard tier) | Together AI: 99.9%
Hugging Face: 2,000,000 | Together AI: 50,000
Hugging Face: 8 native providers | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 1,000,000+ | Together AI: 50+
Hugging Face: Yes (Inference API with auto-scaling) | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 135,000+ stars | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: Python primary, REST API for all | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 60-120 minutes (requires custom integration) | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: AutoTrain no-code option (9/10) | Together AI: N/A
Cost for Production Deployment (monthly estimate)
Hugging Face: $100-500+ (Inference API + compute) | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 750,000+ | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 1 (caching) | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: Yes (Hugging Face Enterprise) | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 45-120 (depends on model size) | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: Manual (via Datasets) | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 12,000,000+ | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 500,000+ | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: $0.30 (Mistral 7B) - $5.00 (Llama 2 70B) | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 86.0% (best: Llama 3.1 405B) | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: Free tier indefinite | Together AI: $25
Hugging Face: 100 RPS (standard) | Together AI: 10,000+ RPS
Hugging Face: Open-source (weights + code inspectable) | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: Community-based, limited commercial options | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: Cloud, on-premises, edge devices fully supported | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: None (cloud); 16GB for local | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 10-15 (account, dependencies, API key) | Together AI: 5 (API key + REST call)
Hugging Face: 30GB requests/month | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: $9-300+ (pay-as-you-go) | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: Cloud-hosted (data on servers) | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 2,000,000+ monthly model downloads | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 20-40 (varies by tier) | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: $0 (free tier) or $9/month | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: Free (if using own compute) or $0.88-2.50 via paid inference | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 3-5 minutes via API | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 16-40GB (via Inference API tiers) | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 0 (no formal certifications) | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 650,000+ | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: NLP, Vision (ViT), Audio, Multimodal, Reinforcement Learning | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: $0 (unlimited free tier) | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: Llama 3 70B: 85% | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 1B, 7B, 13B, 70B, 405B open-source variants | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 100% - Full local deployment without server contact | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: No SLA (community support) | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: $0 - Free local fine-tuning | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 10 million | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 5-10 minutes | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 30,000 (Inference API) | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: Data sent to Hugging Face servers (by default) | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: Model Cards, Discussions, Datasets, Leaderboards, 4+ features | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: Variable (1GB+, depends on install) | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 10,000,000+ | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 10-15 lines | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: Basic (community plugins) | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: N/A (user-managed) | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: Minimal (via APIs) | Together AI: N/A
Development Time for Production Deployment
Hugging Face: 3-4 weeks (with external tooling) | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 30-45 min | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: Yes (Hugging Face Spaces) | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 200-500ms (variable by model) | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: Python (primary), JavaScript | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 500+ guides & tutorials | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 2,000-30,000ms | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: $0 (with rate limits) | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: $9 (Starter Plan) | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 5-15 minutes | Together AI: 2-3 (API key signup only)
Hugging Face: Limited (variable) | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 8+ (NLP, Vision, Audio, Multimodal, RL, etc.) | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 500,000+ | Together AI: 30,000+
Hugging Face: Limited trials | Together AI: 5,000 requests
Hugging Face: Variable by model | Together AI: $1.00-$2.00
Hugging Face: $9 | Together AI: No subscription (pay-as-you-go)
Hugging Face: 80,000+ | Together AI: Not applicable
Hugging Face: Via Transformers library (DIY) | Together AI: Managed service included
Hugging Face: 30-60 (for production) | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: Variable (depends on hosting) | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: Native with AutoTrain and Trainer | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: Partial (Spaces) | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 25+ (NLP, Vision, Audio, Reinforcement Learning) | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 130,000+ | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 32 concurrent | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: Limited (own API focus) | Together AI: N/A
Enterprise Inference Endpoints Cost (Min)
Hugging Face: $9/month | Together AI: N/A
Hugging Face: 15+ (NLP, vision, audio, multimodal, RL) | Together AI: N/A
Total Cost of Ownership (12 months, 1M daily tokens)
Hugging Face: N/A | Together AI: $730-$1,825
Inference Latency (7B model, first token)
Hugging Face: N/A | Together AI: 50-150ms
Hugging Face: N/A | Together AI: Internet connection only
Hugging Face: N/A | Together AI: 1000+ (auto-scaling)
Hugging Face: N/A | Together AI: $20-100 (variable)
Hugging Face: N/A | Together AI: 50-200ms (optimized)
Hugging Face: N/A | Together AI: 0% (cloud-based)
Hugging Face: N/A | Together AI: 405B (Llama 3.1)
Hugging Face: N/A | Together AI: 99.5% uptime guarantee
How to choose between Hugging Face and Together AI
Hugging Face vs Together AI — Structured Comparison Data
Machine-readable comparison dataset for Hugging Face vs Together AI. Contains 113 attribute comparisons, 5 FAQ pairs.
Hugging Face vs Together AI — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for Hugging Face vs Together AI.
Which platform is better for exploring and discovering machine learning models?
Hugging Face is significantly better for exploration with 1M+ models across 10+ domains, comprehensive filtering by task and model type, and community-curated Model Cards with evaluation benchmarks. Together AI focuses on production inference optimization rather than model discovery.
Which offers faster inference for production LLM applications?
Together AI provides 50-70% faster token generation through distributed inference optimization and is specifically designed for high-throughput production serving. Hugging Face Inference API is suitable for moderate workloads but isn't optimized for ultra-low latency at scale.
Can I fine-tune models on both platforms?
Hugging Face offers comprehensive fine-tuning through its training infrastructure, Transformers library, and Notebook environment for end-to-end model customization. Together AI provides fine-tuning via API endpoints with focus on production deployment, making it better for enterprise fine-tuning workflows at scale.
Which platform is more cost-effective for high-volume token generation?
Together AI is substantially more cost-effective at $0.90-1.50 per 1M tokens vs Hugging Face at $6.50-8.00 per 1M tokens for LLaMA 2 70B. Together AI's per-token pricing with volume discounts is optimized for production throughput, while Hugging Face free tier suits lower-volume exploration.
Which has a larger community and more active development?
Hugging Face has 850K+ monthly active users compared to Together AI's 50K+, with significantly more community-contributed models and faster model release cycles. However, Together AI's community is more focused on production infrastructure and enterprise deployment.
How to Choose Between Hugging Face and Together AI
Model Repository Size: Hugging Face has 1M+ models, while Together AI has 500+ optimized models.
Primary Focus: Hugging Face has Open-source collaboration & model hosting, while Together AI has Inference optimization & distributed computing.
Inference Speed (LLM serving): Hugging Face has Standard latency, while Together AI has 50-70% faster with token generation optimization.
Community Contributors: Hugging Face has 850K+ monthly active users, while Together AI has 50K+ monthly active users.
Enterprise API Cost Structure: Hugging Face has Pay-per-inference with free tier, while Together AI has Per-token pricing with volume discounts.
Supported Model Types: Hugging Face has 10+ domains (NLP, vision, audio, multimodal), while Together AI has Specialized in LLMs and foundation models.
Training Support: Hugging Face has Full training infrastructure & notebook hosting, while Together AI has Inference-focused, limited training tools.