# Modal vs Serverless Framework

**Leader by Vioscale score:** Serverless Framework

| Attribute | Modal | Serverless Framework |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 55.2 (74% (medium)) | 64 (75% (high)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | - | 50 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | - | 12,543 |
| adoption.github_stars | - | 46,917 |
| adoption.package_downloads_weekly | - | 1,478,820 |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | 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. | Infrastructure-as-code framework for defining and deploying serverless applications to AWS Lambda and related services. |
| features.capabilities | `{"hosting":"cloud","triggers":"HTTP, cron/scheduled, events","languages":"Python","cold_start":"low","cli_and_iac":true,"http_trigger":true,"durable_state":true,"scale_to_zero":true,"custom_runtime":true,"scheduled_cron":true,"edge_distributed":true,"runtime_substrate":"container","observability_builtin":true}` | `{"hosting":"both","triggers":"HTTP, scheduled tasks, SQS workers","languages":"Node.js, Python","cli_and_iac":true,"http_trigger":true,"scale_to_zero":true,"scheduled_cron":true,"observability_builtin":true}` |
| integrations.count | 2 | 5 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"AWS Marketplace"},{"name":"GCP Marketplace"}]` | `[{"name":"AWS Lambda"},{"name":"AWS DynamoDB"},{"name":"AWS S3"},{"name":"AWS API Gateway"},{"name":"AWS SQS"}]` |
| language.primary | - | JavaScript |
| market.availability | `{"hqCountry":"US","primaryMarkets":["US"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | - |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"usage","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Starter","summary":"$0 base + usage, $30/month compute credit","features":["Up to 3 workspace seats","100 containers","10 GPU concurrency","200 deployed apps","Limited Scheduled and Web Functions","Real-time metrics and logs","Region selection","1-day log retention","5 deployed cron jobs","3 version deployment rollbacks"],"minSeats":1,"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"fixed","note":"free monthly compute credit","amount":30,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"containers":"100","deployed_apps":"200","gpu_concurrency":"10","log_retention_days":"1"}},{"free":false,"name":"Team","summary":"$250/month base + usage + $100/month compute credit","features":["Unlimited workspace seats","5000 containers","50 GPU concurrency","1000 deployed apps","Unlimited Scheduled Functions","Custom domains","Static IP proxy","Deployment rollbacks with custom versions","Environment-level budgets","30-day log retention","Unlimited cron jobs"],"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":250,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},{"kind":"fixed","note":"free monthly compute credit","amount":100,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"containers":"5000","deployed_apps":"1000","gpu_concurrency":"50","log_retention_days":"30"}},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise","summary":"Custom pricing with volume discounts and compliance features","features":["Unlimited seats","Volume-based pricing discounts","Custom GPU concurrency limits","Embedded ML engineering services","Environment-level budgets","Private Slack support","Audit logs","Okta SSO","HIPAA Business Associate Agreement","Custom log retention"],"commitment":"annual","description":"For organizations prioritizing security, support, and compliance","contactSales":true,"includedLimits":{"gpu_concurrency":"custom","log_retention_days":"custom"}}],"summary":"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.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://modal.com/pricing","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T09:18:19.521Z","startingPrice":{"amount":100,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month"]}` | `{"type":"hybrid","plans":[{"free":false,"name":"Pay-As-You-Go","summary":"$4 per Credit","commitment":"monthly","components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"credit"},"kind":"metered","amount":4,"currency":"USD"}],"description":"Pay for credits monthly as you use them","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Reserved Credits","summary":"From $1 per Credit with annual commitment","features":["Up to 74% off with 1 year commitment","Up to 77% off with 2 year commitment","Up to 80% off with 3 year commitment","Additional 10% off if pay upfront","Additional 35% off for small business (<$5M revenue, <30 employees, <$5M raised)"],"commitment":"annual","components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"credit"},"kind":"metered","amount":1,"currency":"USD"}],"description":"Reserve monthly credits through annual contracts for discounts","contactSales":false}],"summary":"Free for individuals and small teams. Pay-as-you-go at $4/credit or reserved annual plans from $1/credit.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.serverless.com/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-01T15:41:05.833Z","startingPrice":{"amount":1,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month","year"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | high | low |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| release.cadence_days | - | 8 |
| release.history | - | `[{"url":"https://github.com/serverless/serverless/releases/tag/sf-core%404.41.0","date":"2026-08-10T15:17:40Z","type":"stable","version":"sf-core@4.41.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/serverless/serverless/releases/tag/sf-core%404.40.0","date":"2026-07-22T14:18:48Z","type":"stable","version":"sf-core@4.40.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/serverless/serverless/releases/tag/sf-core%404.39.0","date":"2026-07-08T16:18:42Z","type":"stable","version":"sf-core@4.39.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/serverless/serverless/releases/tag/sf-core%404.38.1","date":"2026-06-19T20:00:32Z","type":"stable","version":"sf-core@4.38.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/serverless/serverless/releases/tag/sf-core%404.38.0","date":"2026-06-17T19:10:39Z","type":"stable","version":"sf-core@4.38.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/serverless/serverless/releases/tag/sf-core%404.37.0","date":"2026-05-27T19:41:48Z","type":"stable","version":"sf-core@4.37.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/serverless/serverless/releases/tag/sf-core%404.36.1","date":"2026-05-14T15:55:17Z","type":"stable","version":"sf-core@4.36.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/serverless/serverless/releases/tag/sf-core%404.36.0","date":"2026-05-12T16:00:45Z","type":"stable","version":"sf-core@4.36.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/serverless/serverless/releases/tag/sf-core%404.35.1","date":"2026-05-06T18:35:06Z","type":"stable","version":"sf-core@4.35.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/serverless/serverless/releases/tag/sf-core%404.35.0","date":"2026-04-30T15:37:15Z","type":"stable","version":"sf-core@4.35.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/serverless/serverless/releases/tag/sf-core%404.34.0","date":"2026-04-10T16:56:01Z","type":"stable","version":"sf-core@4.34.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/serverless/serverless/releases/tag/sf-core%404.33.3","date":"2026-04-02T16:23:07Z","type":"stable","version":"sf-core@4.33.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/serverless/serverless/releases/tag/sf-core%404.33.2","date":"2026-04-01T00:14:38Z","type":"stable","version":"sf-core@4.33.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/serverless/serverless/releases/tag/sf-core%404.33.1","date":"2026-03-31T19:13:49Z","type":"stable","version":"sf-core@4.33.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/serverless/serverless/releases/tag/sf-core%404.33.0","date":"2026-02-19T21:18:33Z","type":"stable","version":"sf-core@4.33.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/serverless/serverless/releases/tag/sf-core%404.32.0","date":"2026-02-12T18:27:01Z","type":"stable","version":"sf-core@4.32.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/serverless/serverless/releases/tag/sf-core%404.31.2","date":"2026-01-27T21:03:37Z","type":"stable","version":"sf-core@4.31.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/serverless/serverless/releases/tag/sf-core%404.31.1","date":"2026-01-27T17:44:24Z","type":"stable","version":"sf-core@4.31.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/serverless/serverless/releases/tag/sf-core%404.31.0","date":"2026-01-15T16:21:13Z","type":"stable","version":"sf-core@4.31.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/serverless/serverless/releases/tag/sf-core%404.30.0","date":"2026-01-08T20:11:05Z","type":"stable","version":"sf-core@4.30.0"}]` |
| reliability.status_page | yes | yes |
| security.disclosure_policy | - | yes |
| security.gdpr | - | yes |
| security.hipaa | yes | - |
| security.scorecard | - | 6.2 |
| security.soc2 | yes | yes |
| security.vulnerabilities | - | `{"count":1,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=serverless&per_page=100","last_12m":1,"max_severity":"HIGH"}` |

## Capabilities (Serverless & Edge Platforms)

| Capability | Modal | Serverless Framework |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Execution substrate | Container | - |
| Language / runtime breadth | Python | Node.js, Python |
| **Reach** |  |  |
| Runs at global edge PoPs | ✓ | - |
| **Scale** |  |  |
| Scale to zero | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Performance** |  |  |
| Cold-start profile | Low | - |
| **Limits** |  |  |
| Max execution duration | - | - |
| **Integration** |  |  |
| Event source breadth | HTTP, cron/scheduled, events | HTTP, scheduled tasks, SQS workers |
| HTTP endpoint trigger | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cron / scheduled invocations | ✓ | ✓ |
| **State** |  |  |
| Durable state / workflow primitive | ✓ | - |
| **Flexibility** |  |  |
| Bring-your-own runtime / container | ✓ | - |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Hosting | Cloud only | Cloud + self-hosted |
| **Ops** |  |  |
| Built-in logs / metrics / tracing | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Extensibility** |  |  |
| CLI + IaC / framework support | ✓ | ✓ |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T15:55:38.425Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*