Lilac vs Spider Cloud

Side-by-side comparison of features, pricing, and ratings

Analysis reviewed Live tool data as of 2026-10-18
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At a glance

DimensionLilacSpider Cloud
CategoryDecentralized GPU compute for inference & batchWeb scraping & crawling API for AI
Core TechKubernetes operator tapping idle GPUs, OpenAI-compatible APIRust engine with AI extraction & browser automation
Target UserGPU suppliers monetizing spare capacity, AI devs seeking low-cost inferenceAI agents, RAG pipelines, developers needing real-time web data
Key IntegrationsKubernetes, OpenAI SDK compatibleLangChain, LlamaIndex, S3, GCS, Supabase, Google Sheets
Latest FeatureSelf-serve API, added GLM 5.1, Gemma 4, cache-read pricing (Apr 2026)Browser AI commands (Act, Extract, Observe) via WebSocket (Mar 2026)

These two tools solve completely different problems. Spider Cloud is essential for any AI pipeline that needs fresh, structured web data at scale — its Rust engine, AI extraction, and catalog of 1,000+ scrapers make it a no-brainer for RAG and agent workflows. Lilac is a specialized compute marketplace for teams that either have idle GPUs to sell or want the cheapest possible inference on frontier models. Choose based on your data bottleneck: fetching external data (Spider Cloud) vs. running models cheaply (Lilac). They can even complement each other.

Try LilacTry Spider Cloud
Lilac
Lilac

Lilac rents idle enterprise GPU clusters on a spot market and runs the racks for the data centers that own them.

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Spider Cloud
Spider Cloud

Spider Cloud is a web scraping, crawling, and search API that streams live pages as markdown or JSON for AI agents and RAG pipelines.

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Pricing
Freemium
Freemium
Plans
$10/mo
$30/mo
$100/mo
$1.00/hr H100; $1.50/hr H200
~$2.00/hr H100
70% of revenue
$1/GB + $0.0001/CPU-min
From $6/mo
From $40/mo
Custom
Popularity
5 views
7.5k views
Skill Level
Intermediate
Intermediate
API Available
Platforms
APIWeb
WebAPIPluginCLIDesktop
Categories
🖥️ GPU Cloud & Model Inference
🌐 Web Scraping & Search APIs🖱️ Browser & Computer-Use Agents
Features
Spot market for idle enterprise GPUs across H100, H200, B200, and B300 clusters
Serverless inference through an OpenAI-compatible API endpoint
Pay-per-token inference pricing with cache-read discounts on repeated context
Batch container jobs billed per second at H100 $1.00/hr and H200 $1.50/hr
Monthly subscription credits worth up to 12x when supply is idle
Dedicated GPU clusters with 1, 6, or 12+ month reservation terms
Lilac Flex auto-monetizes idle windows inside a dedicated reservation
Capacity exchange to relist or transfer eligible GPU commitments
Lilac Kubernetes operator for GPU owners with 70% revenue share
Server burn-in before customer handover plus failed-GPU replacement and vendor RMA handling
Self-serve signup and API keys
Quantization support for FP8, INT4, and NVFP4 to cut memory cost
Serves open models Kimi K2.6, GLM 5.1, Gemma 4, and MiniMax M2.7
Delivery, monitoring, and statement console for cluster operators
Usage records that back invoices, SLA credits, and lender audits
Scrape a single page into markdown, JSON, HTML, raw, or plain text
Crawl entire sites with each page streamed as one JSONL line in order as it finishes
Web search endpoint returns SERP results plus the scraped pages behind them
Custom browser renders like a user: scripts run, lazy images load, infinite scroll reaches the end
Load protected pages through a real browser engine with geo checks, returning a 200
Run full browser sessions over WebSocket with anti-detection and rotating exits
Send AI commands (Act, Extract, Observe) over the Browser API WebSocket
Send a prompt on a scrape or crawl request and get named fields back as JSON
Two-phase AI extraction: a fast model for most pages, a stronger model for complex layouts
Provider router sends scrape and crawl requests to outside providers on your own keys
Data connectors pipe crawl results into S3, GCS, Google Sheets, Azure Blob, or Supabase
Proxy network with 215M+ residential and ISP exits in 199 countries, rotated per request
MCP server at mcp.spider.cloud for Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and Claude Desktop
1,000+ ready-made scraper examples across 32 categories, each with working code
API responses support JSON, JSONL, CSV, and XML; up to 10,000 core API requests per minute by default
Integrations
Kubernetes
Saturn Cloud
Z.ai
Osmosis
LangChain
LlamaIndex
CrewAI
FlowiseAI
Langflow
Dify
Agno
MCP
Claude Code
Codex
Cursor
Claude Desktop
Amazon S3
Google Cloud Storage
Google Sheets

Who should pick which

  • RAG pipeline developer
    Pick: Spider Cloud

    Spider Cloud provides real-time web crawling with structured output and direct integrations with LangChain/LlamaIndex, ideal for feeding fresh data into vector databases. Its new Browser AI commands can also extract data from dynamic pages.

  • GPU supplier with idle clusters
    Pick: Lilac

    Lilac's Kubernetes operator lets you monetize idle GPUs while they never leave your infrastructure, earning 70% of revenue. No other tool in this comparison offers supplier monetization.

  • Startup needing cheap model inference
    Pick: Lilac

    Lilac's pay-per-token or subscription credits on idle GPUs can be up to 12x cheaper than standard cloud inference. Supports multiple frontier models via OpenAI-compatible API with no minimums.

  • AI agent building a web research tool
    Pick: Spider Cloud

    The Browser AI commands (Act, Extract, Observe) allow agents to interact with web pages like a human. The scraper catalog provides 1,000+ examples to kickstart development.

Frequently Asked Questions

Lilac vs Spider Cloud: which should you choose?

These two tools solve completely different problems. Spider Cloud is essential for any AI pipeline that needs fresh, structured web data at scale — its Rust engine, AI extraction, and catalog of 1,000+ scrapers make it a no-brainer for RAG and agent workflows. Lilac is a specialized compute marketplace for teams that either have idle GPUs to sell or want the cheapest possible inference on frontier models. Choose based on your data bottleneck: fetching external data (Spider Cloud) vs. running models cheaply (Lilac). They can even complement each other.

How do Spider Cloud and Lilac differ in core purpose?

Spider Cloud is a web scraping/crawling API for extracting data from websites; Lilac is a decentralized GPU network for running AI inference or batch compute. They solve separate problems.

Which is better for a RAG pipeline?

Spider Cloud directly supports RAG by fetching and structuring web content. Lilac can run the embedding or generation model but doesn't handle data collection.

Does Lilac offer a free tier?

No, Lilac is paid only (pay-per-token or subscription). There is no free usage tier.

Does Spider Cloud support self-hosting?

Yes, Spider Cloud has an open-source core available on GitHub for self-hosting. The cloud version adds features like AI Studio and Browser AI.

Can Lilac be used for training models?

Lilac is designed for inference and batch compute, not training. It offers batch container jobs but lacks training-specific infrastructure.

What models does Lilac support?

As of May 2026, Lilac supports MiniMax M2.7, M3, Kimi K2.6, GLM 5.1/5.2, Gemma 4 31B, with more being added.

Does Spider Cloud offer AI extraction?

Yes, Spider Cloud has Silk (custom AI model) and AI extraction fallback (two-phase, fast model then more capable). Also AI Studio for natural language crawling.

Which tool integrates with LangChain?

Spider Cloud integrates directly with LangChain, LlamaIndex, CrewAI, and more. Lilac is OpenAI SDK compatible, so it can be used with LangChain but not natively.

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Explore each tool further

Lilac
View Lilac reviewLilac alternatives
Spider Cloud
View Spider Cloud reviewSpider Cloud alternatives

Browse these categories

Best AI GPU Cloud & Model Inference toolsBest AI Web Scraping & Search APIs toolsBest AI Browser & Computer-Use Agents tools
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Last reviewed: July 3, 2026