Head to head

A40 vs L40S

A40 and L40S side by side: published specs, and what each one actually rents for per GPU-hour on the clouds this index tracks.

Prices last collected 2026-10-26 04:30 UTC.

Quick verdict

A40 is currently about $0.1189 per GPU-hour cheaper than L40S — roughly 25% less.

Specifications side by side

Published specifications for A40 and L40S (vendor data)
Attribute A40 L40S
Memory 48 GB 48 GB
Architecture Ampere Ada Lovelace
Memory bandwidth 696 GB/s 864 GB/s
Dense FP16 throughput 150 TFLOPS* 362 TFLOPS*

Vendor-published figures, with sparsity where the vendor states it. Always confirm on the official datasheet before sizing a cluster.

What actually differs

  • Both cards carry 48 GB, so memory size is not what separates them.
  • Higher memory bandwidth: L40S at 864 GB/s.
  • A40 is Ampere-generation silicon, L40S is Ada Lovelace.
  • Cheaper on the price table today: A40 from $0.3500 per GPU-hour.

More head-to-head comparisons

Frequently asked questions

Everything about renting cloud GPUs, affiliate tracking and how we collect pricing data.

How is the cheaper provider decided?

For every GPU model both providers list, we compare the normalised single-GPU hourly price. The average of those unit prices is shown for each side, and the lower one is labelled cheaper. We deliberately exclude models only one of the two offers, because that is not a like-for-like comparison.

Does the cheaper option always make sense?

Not always. Marketplace capacity can be reclaimed at short notice and its hosts vary in network and disk performance, while a dedicated cloud gives more predictable throughput. For multi-node training, interconnect and NVLink support usually matter more than a few cents per hour.

Are spot prices directly comparable between providers?

Only roughly. Each platform defines interruption rules, notice periods and reclaim behaviour differently. Treat spot prices as an indication of the cheapest achievable rate, not as a guaranteed price.

Why do you show per-hour rather than per-month prices?

Most providers bill by the second or the hour, and per-hour figures are the only ones that can be compared without guessing how many hours you will actually run. Use the GPU cost estimator to convert an hourly rate into a monthly budget.

Volume buyers

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  • Useful for reserved clusters, multi-month commitments and data-residency requirements

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