Managed vs Self-Hosted | Sarvam API Docs

Sarvam offers the same models two ways. Most teams start on the Managed API and move some or all workloads to self-hosted when data residency, scale, or cost make it worthwhile.

At a glance

	Managed (`api.sarvam.ai`)	Self-Hosted (SageMaker)
Where it runs	Sarvam’s cloud	Your AWS account and VPC
Where your data goes	Sent to Sarvam over HTTPS	Never leaves your cloud
Pricing	Per request / per unit	AWS instance-hours (software fee + infra)
Setup	API key, one request	Subscribe, deploy an endpoint
Scaling	Managed for you	You size and autoscale the endpoint
Best for	Getting started, spiky/low volume	Data-residency needs, steady high volume, air-gapped or in-VPC apps

Choose the Managed API if…

You want to ship today

Grab an API key and make your first call in minutes — no infrastructure to manage.

Your volume is low or spiky

Pay only for what you use, with no idle instance cost between bursts.

Start here: Sarvam API Quickstart.

Choose self-hosted if…

Data cannot leave your cloud

Compliance, contractual, or regulatory requirements (BFSI, healthcare, government) mean audio and documents must stay in your VPC.

You run steady, high volume

At sustained throughput, dedicated instance-hours are more predictable — and often cheaper — than per-call pricing.

You need in-network latency

Keep inference next to your application, with no public-internet hop.

You deploy into restricted networks

Endpoints run with network isolation — no outbound internet from the model container.

Start here: Get started on SageMaker.

You don’t have to pick one. A common pattern is the Managed API for development and low-volume traffic, and self-hosted endpoints for production workloads that carry sensitive data or high steady volume.