vioscale
Comparison

Modal vs OpenFaaS

On the evidence we track, Modal leads this comparison with a composite score of 55/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Modal full profile →OpenFaaS full profile →
Machine formatsJSONMarkdownGraphQLor send Accept: application/json
★Modal55
OpenFaaS41
Score
Vioscale score
Modal55 / 100medium · 74%
OpenFaaS41 / 100low · 42%
Pricing
Free tier
Modal✓
OpenFaaS✓
Model
Modalfreemium
OpenFaaScommercial
Price level
Modalhigh
OpenFaaSlow
Transparent
Modal✓
OpenFaaS✓
Integrations
Count
Modal2
OpenFaaS20
Security
Hipaa
Modal✓
OpenFaaS–
Scorecard
Modal–
OpenFaaS4.3
Soc2
Modal✓
OpenFaaS–
Vulnerabilities
Reliability
Status page
Modal✓
OpenFaaS–
Adoption
Dependent repos
Modal–
OpenFaaS55
Github stars
Modal–
OpenFaaS26,231
Activity
Commits last 30d
Modal–
OpenFaaS0
Release
Cadence days
Modal–
OpenFaaS136
History
Modal–
OpenFaaS5 items
Language
Primary
Modal–
OpenFaaSGo
Market
Availability

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for serverless & edge platforms. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Core
Execution substrate
ModalContainer
OpenFaaS-
Language / runtime breadth
ModalPython
OpenFaaSextensive language support
Reach
Runs at global edge PoPs
Modal✓
OpenFaaS-
Scale
Scale to zero
Modal✓
OpenFaaS-
Performance
Cold-start profile
ModalLow
OpenFaaS-
Limits
Max execution duration
Modal-
OpenFaaSextended execution timeouts
Integration
Event source breadth
ModalHTTP, cron/scheduled, events
OpenFaaS-
HTTP endpoint trigger
Modal✓
OpenFaaS-
Cron / scheduled invocations
Modal✓
OpenFaaS-
State
Durable state / workflow primitive
Modal✓
OpenFaaS-
Flexibility
Bring-your-own runtime / container
Modal✓
OpenFaaS✓
Deployment
Hosting
ModalCloud only
OpenFaaSCloud + self-hosted
Ops
Built-in logs / metrics / tracing
Modal✓
OpenFaaS-
Extensibility
CLI + IaC / framework support
Modal✓
OpenFaaS-

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Modal

Leader

A serverless cloud platform designed for running AI inference, training, batch processing, and interactive development. It automatically scales compute resources on demand, offers integrated logging and metrics, and provides a Python-native SDK for defining infrastructure as code.

Independently observed

OpenFaaS

Open-source serverless framework that abstracts cloud provider differences, allowing you to deploy and run functions across multiple clouds, on-premises, and Kubernetes with extended execution timeouts and support for many programming languages.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Modal

Leader
from $100/moUsage-basedFree tier

Pay-as-you-go based on GPU/CPU seconds and memory used. Starter free tier with $30/month credit; Team at $250/month base; Enterprise custom pricing with compliance options.

  • StarterFree
    • Up to 3 workspace seats
    • 100 containers
    • 10 GPU concurrency
    • 200 deployed apps
    • Limited Scheduled and Web Functions
    • +5 more
  • Team$250/month base + usage + $100/month compute credit
    • Unlimited workspace seats
    • 5000 containers
    • 50 GPU concurrency
    • 1000 deployed apps
    • Unlimited Scheduled Functions
    • +6 more
  • EnterpriseContact sales
    • Unlimited seats
    • Volume-based pricing discounts
    • Custom GPU concurrency limits
    • Embedded ML engineering services
    • Environment-level budgets
    • +5 more
as of verify ↗

OpenFaaS

from $1250/moHybridFree tier14-day trial

Community Edition free; Standard from $1,250/month with 14-day trial; Enterprise custom pricing

  • Community EditionFree
    • 15 functions
    • 1 namespace
    • Public repositories only
    • Basic autoscaling up to 5/5 replicas
    • Basic metrics & observability
    • +3 more
  • OpenFaaS Standard$1,250/month
    • 500 functions
    • 1 namespace
    • Private registries for functions
    • Fine-tuned autoscaling for RPS, Capacity & CPU
    • Scale to Zero
    • +9 more
  • OpenFaaS for EnterprisesContact sales
    • 5000 functions per namespace
    • Unlimited namespaces
    • Multi-tenancy with secure isolation (gVisor)
    • Function Builder API (REST)
    • Dedicated async queues (JetStream)
    • +9 more
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platforms
Web
Modal✓
OpenFaaS✗
Linux
Modal✗
OpenFaaS✓
CLI
Modal✓
OpenFaaS✓
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
Modal✓
OpenFaaS✓
Self-hosted
Modal✗
OpenFaaS✓
On-premise
Modal✗
OpenFaaS✓

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

Modal

Leader
2 total
  • AWS Marketplace
  • GCP Marketplace
Independently observed

OpenFaaS

20 total
  • Apache Kafka
  • AWS SQS
  • AWS SNS
  • GCP Pub/Sub
  • RabbitMQ
  • PostgreSQL
  • MQTT
  • Cron
  • Grafana
  • Istio
  • Linkerd
  • NATS JetStream
  • GitHub
  • Slack
  • Salesforce
  • Zoom
  • Google Docs
  • Gmail
  • DigitalOcean
  • Crunchbase
Independently observed

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.