Modal.com

Modal is what happens when someone decides that managing GPU infrastructure shouldn't be a nightmare. For those of us who need to run inference or heavy data jobs without getting a PhD in Kubernetes or fighting the AWS console, it's a breath of fresh air. You write plain Python, add a decorator, and your function scales in the cloud as easily as a local script. It is the ideal fit for when your project needs serious muscle but you want to keep your team lean and focused on the product.

The catch is the classic trade-off between speed and autonomy. If you have a massive, constant workload that never fluctuates, dedicated instances might still be cheaper in the long run. You are also committing to their specific abstractions and environment. For an indie hacker, giving up some low-level control for extreme shipping speed is usually a no-brainer, but it is a commitment nonetheless.