Decentralised and community networks

Definition, not a sourced statistic

What it is

A decentralised network pools compute from many independent operators, from data centres to people with idle consumer machines. Software on the network matches work to operators, and payment may run through a network token or credits. Work usually runs as containers so it can move between machines.

Who it suits

Containerised jobs that can be split, retried or moved between machines.
Rendering, batch inference and experiments that can tolerate consumer-grade hardware.
Owners of idle hardware who want to offer it to others.

Common contract shapes

Bid or order book. You state needs and a maximum rate, and operators bid to run the work.
Pay per job or per time in tokens or credits. Payment through the network currency or credits bought for it.
Dedicated tier on contract. Some networks also sell dedicated machines from data centres on ordinary terms.

Providers use their own names for these shapes, so compare what is promised, not what it is called. The contract shapes guide explains each one.

What to ask

Egress and data transfer. Is data transfer charged by the network, by the operator, or not at all?
Service levels. Is there any uptime promise, and who stands behind it when an independent operator goes offline?
Data residency and access. Can you choose the country of the operator, and can operators see your data or model?
Security certifications. Do any certifications apply, and do they cover the operators or only the coordinating company?
Export controls and sanctions. How are operators and users screened for sanctions, and how are export controls on accelerators handled across borders?
Exit. If payment is in a token, how do you convert and account for it, and what are the tax and accounting rules where you are?
How is the result checked, so you know the operator really ran the work?

The full list is on the printable buyer's checklist. For rules on chips and where they can go, see export controls and compute thresholds.

On this site

Entries listed here because their own summary or checked facts on this site fit this type. An entry can fit more than one type, and a provider missing here may still offer it. This is a list, not a ranking, and in name order. We link to providers for prices.

Providers

Aethir: A distributed GPU cloud where providers contribute GPU servers, with one product for AI workloads and another for cloud gaming.
Akash Network: An open compute marketplace where independent providers bid to run containerised workloads.
Bittensor: An open blockchain network in which independent subnets produce digital commodities such as compute, inference and storage. Contributors are paid in the network's TAO token.
Flux (RunOnFlux): A decentralised cloud made of user-operated nodes. It offers general app deployment, AI and edge services, with applications run as Docker containers.
Golem Network: A decentralised marketplace where people sell spare computing capacity and requestors rent it, for work such as rendering and AI models.
io.net: A network that pools GPU capacity from many sources and offers it as on-demand clusters for AI workloads.
Nosana: An open-source GPU cloud with a dashboard for renting GPUs and a route for owners to offer idle GPUs to the network.
Render Network: A distributed GPU network aimed mainly at 3D rendering and generative imaging, where node operators contribute spare GPU capacity.
Salad: A platform that orchestrates GPUs across idle consumer computers worldwide, alongside dedicated data centre options. Workloads are run as containers.

Other offer types: Hyperscale cloud instances · GPU clouds and bare metal · Marketplaces and aggregators · Regional and sovereign clouds · Managed inference and serverless GPU · Chip-maker and accelerator clouds · National and institutional HPC, and free or funded programmes · Colocation, wholesale, powered shell and build-to-suit · On-premises hardware, and leasing or financing it · Capacity brokers, reserved contracts, secondary and spot markets · Edge and telecom sites, and converted sites

Definitions and questions written in our own words, checked on 3 October 2026 and due for review by 3 January 2027. Sourced facts stay on the provider, programme and policy pages this page links to. This is general information to help you ask better questions. It is not legal, tax or procurement advice. For export controls, sanctions and contracts, check the primary rules and talk to a qualified adviser. Something wrong? Tell us.