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ACTIVATE vs The Competition

See how Parallel Works ACTIVATE compares to Rescale, NVIDIA Base Command Manager, Open OnDemand, and Run.ai for cloud HPC.

Platform Comparison

Feature-by-feature comparison across leading HPC platforms

FeatureACTIVATERescaleBase CommandOnDemandRun.ai
Deployment Model
Cloud-native
On-premises
Hybrid multi-cloud
Air-gapped
HPC Capabilities
Cluster provisioning
Auto-scaling
Slurm/PBS support
Workflow orchestration
Visual workflow builder
Governance & Security
IL5 ATO
FedRAMP-aligned
CAC/PIV authentication
Multi-tenant RBAC
Cost management
User Experience
Web-based portal
Interactive sessions
BYOC (Bring Your Own Cloud)
N/AN/AN/A
Pricing
Free tier
*
*
Transparent pricing
N/A

What Sets ACTIVATE Apart

Purpose-built for organizations that need flexibility, compliance, and multi-cloud power

True Multi-Cloud

Deploy to AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI from a single platform. No vendor lock-in, with automatic cost optimization across providers.

Federal Compliance

IL5 ATO and FedRAMP-aligned controls built in. Trusted by government agencies and defense contractors.

Visual Workflow Builder

Drag-and-drop workflow creation with automatic parallelization and scheduling. No coding required.

Hybrid Flexibility

Connect cloud bursting to existing on-premises HPC. Use your current schedulers, tools, and scripts.

Understanding Your Options

Each platform has its strengths—here's where they may fall short

Rescale

Enterprise cloud HPC platform focused on simulation and modeling for engineering teams.

Potential Limitations

  • Primarily engineering/simulation focus
  • Premium pricing model
  • Less flexible for research workloads

NVIDIA Base Command

AI and ML focused infrastructure management, optimized for GPU workloads.

Potential Limitations

  • NVIDIA GPU-centric architecture
  • Less suited for traditional HPC
  • Limited scheduler flexibility

Open OnDemand

Open-source web portal for HPC centers, primarily for existing on-premises clusters.

Potential Limitations

  • Requires existing HPC infrastructure
  • No cloud provisioning
  • DIY approach requires more maintenance

Run.ai

GPU virtualization and orchestration platform focused on AI/ML infrastructure.

Potential Limitations

  • AI/ML workload focus only
  • GPU virtualization specific
  • Not a general HPC solution

See the Difference for Yourself

Get a personalized demo and see how ACTIVATE compares for your specific workloads.