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SkyPilot

Run AI workloads on any cloud with automatic cost optimization

open sourceupdated Aug 16, 2026

SkyPilot is an open-source framework for running LLMs, AI, and batch jobs on any cloud with automatic cost optimization. It supports AWS, GCP, Azure, Lambda Cloud, and more, automatically selecting the cheapest available GPUs and managing spot instance preemption. Features include multi-cloud job scheduling, managed spot jobs with automatic recovery, and cluster autoscaling with 6,000+ GitHub stars.

SkyPilot abstracts away cloud-specific complexity to let AI teams run workloads on whichever cloud offers the best price and availability at any given moment. With over 6,000 GitHub stars, it provides a unified interface for launching training jobs, serving endpoints, and batch inference across AWS, GCP, Azure, Lambda Cloud, RunPod, and other GPU providers. Teams define their resource requirements — GPU type, count, memory — and SkyPilot's optimizer automatically selects the cheapest region and instance type that meets the specification.

The managed spot instance feature is particularly valuable for GPU-heavy AI workloads where costs can be substantial. SkyPilot automatically provisions spot or preemptible instances at 50-70% cost savings, handles preemption by checkpointing and relaunching on available capacity, and supports failover across multiple clouds and regions. The cluster management system handles autoscaling, SSH access, file sync, and job queuing, providing a serverless-like experience while giving teams full control over their compute environment.

SkyPilot is open-source under Apache 2.0, developed primarily at UC Berkeley's Sky Computing Lab. It integrates with popular ML tools including vLLM for model serving, Hugging Face for model downloads, and supports Kubernetes clusters alongside cloud providers. For organizations running significant GPU workloads, SkyPilot provides the multi-cloud orchestration layer that prevents vendor lock-in and captures cost savings that are difficult to achieve with single-cloud deployments.

Pricing

Free and open-source (Apache 2.0)

Platforms

Python CLI — AWS, GCP, Azure, Lambda, RunPod, K8s

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Comparisons

SkyPilot vs CAST AI: GPU Routing or Kubernetes Optimization?

SkyPilot and CAST AI can both reduce infrastructure waste, but they optimize different objects. SkyPilot is an open-source system for launching AI jobs, services, and clusters across clouds, Kubernetes, and other compute, choosing available resources within a declared search space and supporting spot recovery, autostop, and cost caps. CAST AI is a commercial Kubernetes automation platform focused on rightsizing, bin packing, autoscaling, spot use, and continuous cluster optimization. For AI teams selecting where GPU jobs should run, SkyPilot is the stronger default. CAST AI is the better fit when the target is an existing Kubernetes estate that needs closed-loop optimization.

SkyPilotCAST AI

FAQ

What is SkyPilot?

SkyPilot is an open-source framework for running LLMs, AI, and batch jobs on any cloud with automatic cost optimization. It supports AWS, GCP, Azure, Lambda Cloud, and more, automatically selecting the cheapest available GPUs and managing spot instance preemption. Features include multi-cloud job scheduling, managed spot jobs with automatic recovery, and cluster autoscaling with 6,000+ GitHub stars.

Is SkyPilot free?

Yes — SkyPilot is open source and free to use. Free and open-source (Apache 2.0)

Is SkyPilot open source?

Yes — SkyPilot is open source.

What are the best SkyPilot alternatives?

The top editor-verified SkyPilot alternatives are RunPod, Replicate.