On your hardware
Free
Free local fine-tuning with the open-source package.
- Cost
- $0 with no account or card required
- Training
- LoRA tuning with frozen base and 4-bit exports on your hardware
Finding the possibilities
Cactus Compute
● Identity checkedCode · Vendor site 2026-10-04
Cactus Compute builds automation foundation models for tiny on-device targets such as phones, wearables, robots, and microcontrollers. Its Needle models run locally in small 8–29 MB footprints with tool-calling and structured extraction, plus hosted fine-tuning on Cactus GPUs.
- Category
- Code
- Free access
- Local fine-tuning with the open-source package is free at $0 with no account required.
- API access
- Not confirmed as a public HTTP API; offering centers on open-source CLI and hosted fine-tuning platform access.
Is Cactus Compute right for you?
A good fit for
Edge and embedded teams that need compact local models and optional hosted fine-tuning for Needle on device constraints.
Before you choose
Lowest paid monthly hosted tier is Pro at $99/month billed monthly on Needle fine-tuning pricing.
Foundation models for tiny devices
Cactus positions Needle as a compact automation foundation model family for on-device tool calls and extraction, with optional hosted fine-tuning tiers.
What it can do
Features & capabilities
Unknown is different from unavailable. Each fact carries its own evidence.
| Capability | Value | Evidence | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Model size | Homepage cites 2-bit, 8–29 MB Needle models running locally up to about 4k tokens/sec decode. | Facts sourced | 2026-10-04 |
| Device targets | Marketing lists mobile, wearables, AR glasses, smart home, robots, cars, PCs, consoles, TVs, and microcontrollers. | Facts sourced | 2026-10-04 |
| Hosted fine-tuning | Needle pricing offers hosted Starter ($19 once) and Pro ($99/month) GPU fine-tuning plans. | Facts sourced | 2026-10-04 |
Understand the total cost
Cactus Compute pricing & plans
Pro
$99.00 /mo
$99/month billed monthly on hosted Pro fine-tuning.
- Runs
- 10 fine-tuning runs per period on hosted GPUs
- Data generation
- 10,000 generated examples per period
- Storage
- 10 GB platform storage included
Alternatives to Cactus Compute
View all ↗
CosineCosine, hosted at cosine.sh, is a sovereign AI lab training specialized coding agents and models for secure environments. It offers Lumen Scout, Outpost, and Sovereign models plus CLI and cloud surfaces with transparent credit-based plans for developers and regulated teams.
Explore tool
Code Snippets AIIt supports local and cloud LLMs, codebase indexing on paid tiers, and a free Basic plan with your own API keys.
Explore tool
AmikaAmika provides multiplayer cloud workstations where developers and coding agents share VMs loaded with their preferred agents. Customers bring their own LLM keys and pay for platform access plus sandbox compute credits with concurrent sandbox limits per tier.
Explore toolThe practical questions
Frequently asked questions
What is Cactus Compute used for?
Cactus Compute builds automation foundation models for tiny on-device targets such as phones, wearables, robots, and microcontrollers. Its Needle models run locally in small 8–29 MB footprints with tool-calling and structured extraction, plus hosted fine-tuning on Cactus GPUs.
Does Cactus Compute have a free plan?
Local fine-tuning with the open-source package is free at $0 with no account required.. This record lists ongoing free access; check the plan limits before starting.
How much does Cactus Compute cost?
The listed monthly price is $99.00 USD at monthly billing. See the plan cards for entitlements, billing commitments and seat minimums.
Can I use Cactus Compute through an API?
Not confirmed as a public HTTP API; offering centers on open-source CLI and hosted fine-tuning platform access.. API access and subscription access may have different terms; consult the linked sources.
What should I check before choosing it?
Lowest paid monthly hosted tier is Pro at $99/month billed monthly on Needle fine-tuning pricing.
Price history
No retained pricing changes yet. A current price alone does not establish a historical trend.
How this profile is supported
Identity and profile
Reviewed vendor source
Read original source ↗Facts apply to the named version and check date. Send a sourced correction if something changed.