Introduction: Serverless cloud for AI, ML, and data applications – built for developers
Added on: Jan 20, 2025
Modal

What is Modal

Modal provides a high-performance, serverless cloud infrastructure designed for AI, machine learning, and data applications. It allows developers to run generative AI models, large-scale batch jobs, job queues, and more without managing the underlying infrastructure. With Modal, you can bring your own code and scale effortlessly, paying only for the resources you use.

How to Use Modal

  1. Sign Up: Create an account on Modal's platform.
  2. Deploy Code: Use Python decorators to deploy your code.
  3. Scale: Scale your applications to hundreds of GPUs or CPUs with a single line of code.
  4. Pay-as-you-go: Only pay for the compute resources you use, by the second.

Use Cases of Modal

Modal is ideal for:

  • Generative AI Inference: Scale AI models with fast cold boots and seamless autoscaling.
  • Fine-tuning and Training: Train models on Nvidia A100 and H100 GPUs without managing infrastructure.
  • Batch Processing: Handle high-volume workloads with serverless pricing and powerful compute primitives.

Features of Modal

  • Flexible Environments

    Bring your own image or build one in Python, scale resources as needed, and leverage state-of-the-art GPUs like H100s & A100s for high-performance computing.

  • Seamless Integrations

    Export function logs to Datadog or any OpenTelemetry-compatible provider, and easily mount cloud storage from major providers (S3, R2 etc.).

  • Data Storage

    Manage data effortlessly with storage solutions (network volumes, key-value stores and queues). Provision storage types and interact with them using familiar Python syntax.

  • Job Scheduling

    Take control of your workloads with powerful scheduling. Set up cron jobs, retries, and timeouts, or use batching to optimize resource usage.

  • Web Endpoints

    Deploy and manage web services with ease. Create custom domains, set up streaming and websockets, and serve functions as secure HTTPS endpoints.

  • Built-In Debugging

    Troubleshoot efficiently with built-in debugging tools. Use the modal shell for interactive debugging and set breakpoints to pinpoint issues quickly.

FAQs from Modal

1

What is Modal?

Modal is a serverless cloud platform designed for AI, machine learning, and data applications, allowing developers to run high-performance workloads without managing infrastructure.
2

How does pricing work?

Modal offers a pay-as-you-go pricing model, where you only pay for the compute resources you use, by the second. There is also a free tier offering $30 of compute per month.
3

Can I bring my own code?

Yes, Modal allows you to bring your own code and deploy it using Python decorators, making it easy to scale and manage your applications.