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Lepton AI via VerticalAPI

Updated ·By VerticalAPI Team

Lepton AI's production inference stack (Llama 3.3, Mixtral, Whisper) via VerticalAPI's OpenAI-compatible endpoint. BYOK with your Lepton key, zero markup.

Start free with your Lepton AI key → Read the docs
Endpoint: https://api.verticalapi.com/v1/chat/completions  ·  BYOK header: X-Provider-Key: <lepton-key>
Supported models

Lepton AI models routed by VerticalAPI

Pass the model ID below as model in any OpenAI-compatible request. New Lepton AI models are typically supported within 24h of release.

Model IDNameContextPricing (provider)
llama3-3-70b Llama 3.3 70B (Lepton) 128K $0.80 per 1M tok
mixtral-8x7b Mixtral 8x7B (Lepton) 32K $0.50 per 1M tok
whisper-large-v3 Whisper Large v3 (Lepton) audio $0.10 per hour audio

Pricing reflects Lepton AI's rates — you pay Lepton AI directly. VerticalAPI adds zero markup on tokens.

Quickstart

5-line Lepton AI call via VerticalAPI

Drop-in replacement for the OpenAI SDK. Works with the OpenAI Python client, Node, Go, curl — anything that speaks HTTP.

lepton_quickstart.py Python 
from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    base_url="https://api.verticalapi.com/v1",
    api_key="vapi_...",
    default_headers={"X-Provider-Key": "..."}
)

response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="llama3-3-70b",  # Lepton AI
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}]
)
print(response.choices[0].message.content)
Why use Lepton AI via VerticalAPI

Four reasons developers route Lepton AI through us

Zero token markup

You pay Lepton AI directly with your own key. VerticalAPI's revenue is the gateway subscription, not a tax on your tokens.

One key, every provider

Lepton AI alongside OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini and 12 more — same OpenAI-compatible endpoint, same SDK, switchable per-request.

Latency & cost monitoring

Per-request token counts, p50/p95 latency and cost dashboards out of the box. Compare Lepton AI to other providers on identical prompts.

Observability built in

Every Lepton AI call gets a trace ID, replayable payload and audit log entry. Wire to Datadog or Sentry via OpenTelemetry.

Best for

Where Lepton AI shines

dedicated endpoints auto-scaling inference hybrid cloud fine-tuned LoRAs

Frequently asked questions

What is Lepton AI and what models do they offer?

Lepton AI (acquired by NVIDIA in 2025) is a cloud-native inference platform. The 2026 catalog hosts Llama 3.3 70B, Llama 3.1 8B and 405B, Mixtral 8x7B and 8x22B, Qwen 2.5 (7B–72B), DeepSeek V3 and R1, Whisper for speech and BGE / E5 embeddings. Lepton's differentiators are Kubernetes-native serving, custom model deployment and tight NVIDIA GPU integration.

How much does Lepton AI cost in 2026?

Llama 3.3 70B is roughly $0.80 per 1M tokens (input and output). Llama 405B is in the $3 range. Llama 8B is approximately $0.10/$0.10. DeepSeek V3 is competitive on quality vs price. Dedicated endpoints are priced per GPU-hour (H100, A100 classes). Via VerticalAPI BYOK you pay Lepton directly at list with zero markup.

How do I use Lepton AI via VerticalAPI BYOK?

Create a key at dashboard.lepton.ai, paste it into VerticalAPI, then point the OpenAI SDK at https://api.verticalapi.com/v1. Lepton is OpenAI-compatible; VerticalAPI passes through, adds unified logging and can fall back to Together, Fireworks or DeepInfra. Custom Kubernetes deployments can be routed by endpoint name. Billing stays on your Lepton account.

What is Lepton AI best for compared to alternatives?

Lepton wins for teams that want Kubernetes-native LLM serving, custom model deployment and tight NVIDIA stack integration. Compared to Together or Fireworks it is more developer-ops oriented. Compared to NVIDIA NIM directly it shares the parent company but is more API-first. Not the cheapest path for vanilla open-weight inference (DeepInfra typically wins on raw price).

Where is Lepton AI hosted / data privacy?

Lepton runs on NVIDIA-aligned GPU datacenters in the US with planned EU and APAC expansion under NVIDIA. Enterprise tier offers zero data retention and SOC 2. Dedicated and self-hosted deployments are supported. Via VerticalAPI BYOK your Lepton contract terms remain intact.

Limitations and trade-offs

  • Post-acquisition roadmap is consolidating with NVIDIA NIM — some duplication and migration overhead.
  • Catalog is narrower than Together for community open-weight models.
  • Geographic coverage is US-focused as of 2026.
  • Public-tier pricing is competitive but rarely the absolute cheapest vs DeepInfra.
  • Enterprise compliance certifications are still maturing.

Where Lepton AI is heading

  1. Deeper consolidation with NVIDIA NIM and NVIDIA AI Enterprise through 2026.
  2. Expanded dedicated and custom deployment options on H100 / B200 / GB200 GPUs.
  3. Wider geographic rollout aligned with NVIDIA's cloud partner network.
  4. More frequent model catalog refreshes from NVIDIA's optimization team.

Related questions

ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini usually suggest these next.

  • Lepton AI vs NVIDIA NIM — which to pick after the acquisition?
  • Best Kubernetes-native LLM serving platform in 2026?
  • Lepton vs Together for custom model deployment?
  • Migration path from Lepton to NVIDIA NIM via VerticalAPI?
  • Is Lepton still worth picking post-NVIDIA?
Switch providers

All supported LLM providers

Same endpoint, same SDK — just change the model and the BYOK header.

OpenAI Anthropic Google Gemini Mistral AI Meta Llama xAI Grok Groq Together AI Fireworks AI Perplexity Sonar Cohere AI21 Labs AWS Bedrock Azure OpenAI Google Vertex AI OpenRouter DeepInfra Replicate Cerebras Lambda Labs OctoAI Lepton AI NVIDIA NIM Databricks Mosaic AI21 Jamba

Ship on Lepton AI in 60 seconds

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