> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.cloud.vessl.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Understand Provisioned Throughput

> Reserve guaranteed model-serving capacity in PTUs, with an SLA, on OpenAI- and Anthropic-compatible endpoints.

With **Provisioned Throughput**, you reserve serving capacity for a model in contract units called Provisioned Throughput Units (PTUs). VESSL Cloud serves the model at the throughput you contract, in tokens per minute (TPM), under an SLA, so large, predictable workloads get production-grade latency without you operating any inference infrastructure.

## Why Provisioned Throughput

* **Guaranteed throughput** — the throughput you contract holds even when the fleet is busy. It's a guarantee, not a best-effort target.
* **SLA without operations** — VESSL Cloud operates the serving stack against the SLA in your contract, covering throughput, reliability, and latency, measured as time per output token (TPOT).
* **Lower cost per token** — Provisioned Throughput costs on average about **70%** less than a comparable frontier model, so you spend less to run an LLM. The **Estimate total cost** calculator on each model page works the number out for your own traffic.

## Who it's for

* **Model providers** that need to grow serving capacity in steps as customer demand grows.
* **Enterprises** rolling out AI agents company-wide that want to adopt open-source models and cut internal operating costs.
* **AI service companies** that need to serve growing traffic reliably as the business grows.

## What you get

|                    |                                                                                                                                                          |
| ------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Capacity unit**  | PTU, a normalized unit of serving capacity. See [Understand PTUs and billing](/inference/ptu).                                                           |
| **Price**          | \$0.05 per PTU per minute, the same rate for every model                                                                                                 |
| **PTU quantity**   | Arranged individually with sales                                                                                                                         |
| **Contract term**  | Arranged individually with sales; billed monthly                                                                                                         |
| **Models**         | MiniMax M3, GLM 5.2. See [Browse models](/inference/models).                                                                                             |
| **Model changes**  | Switch to another model in the same family during your contract term. See [Manage your contract](/inference/contracts).                                  |
| **API**            | Compatible with the OpenAI Chat Completions API and the Anthropic Messages API. See [Send your first request](/inference/send-requests).                 |
| **SLA**            | Throughput, reliability, and latency targets set in your contract. See [Understand the SLA](/inference/sla).                                             |
| **Data retention** | Zero data retention by default: prompts and outputs aren't stored unless you opt in to content logging. See [Inference service terms](/legal/inference). |

## How it works

1. **Consultation** — we profile your model, volume, traffic pattern, and target SLA with you.
2. **Contract** — we fix the guaranteed TPM, SLA, and price, and agree on the terms.
3. **Proof of concept (PoC)** — you benchmark your real traffic with a sample API key and confirm performance and cost.
4. **Endpoint and operations** — your OpenAI- and Anthropic-compatible endpoint goes live, you monitor usage and performance on the dashboard, and billing settles monthly.

## Provisioned Throughput vs other service types

Provisioned Throughput sits between serverless and dedicated endpoints: guaranteed capacity for a stock model, without operating hardware yourself. See [Compare inference service types](/inference/vs-service-types).

## Core pages

* **[Browse models](/inference/models)** — the models available under Provisioned Throughput and what the model page shows.
* **[Send your first request](/inference/send-requests)** — base URL, authentication, and an example request.
* **[Monitor inference status](/inference/monitor-usage)** — token usage, cost breakdown, performance, and reliability.
* **[Manage your contract](/inference/contracts)** — reserved PTUs, contract period, model changes, and contract history.

<Card title="Request Provisioned Throughput" icon="bolt" href="/inference/request">
  Tell us about your traffic and we'll scope the capacity with you.
</Card>