METHODOLOGY

How the Oracle Score Works

A transparent breakdown of every input and formula behind every score on GPUOracle — so you can audit, replicate, and trust the rankings.

Score Bands

9.0 – 10
Excellent
Top-tier rental ROI. Strong buy.
7.0 – 8.9
Good
Solid earnings, healthy payback.
5.0 – 6.9
Fair
Marginal. Margins sensitive to electricity.
0 – 4.9
Poor
Low utilization or negative net income.

The Formula

Step 1Net Daily Earnings
net_daily = (listed_price_hr × (1 − fee%) × 24 × utilization) − electricity − depreciation
Default utilization is 60% (Vast.ai live data is used when available). Fee depends on platform: Vast.ai 20%, RunPod ~24%, TensorDock ~15%.
Step 2Annual ROI %
annual_roi% = (net_daily × 365) / hardware_cost_usd × 100
Hardware cost uses EU market price (May 2026) converted to USD, not MSRP.
Step 3Oracle Score
oracle_score = min(10, log₁₀(annual_roi + 1) × 3.2)
The log scale prevents data-center GPUs from dominating the chart with 100× scores. Doubling ROI gives ~+0.96 to the score, not 2×.

Worked Example: RTX 4090

Listed price (Vast.ai)
$0.70/hr
Vast.ai fee
20%
Utilization
60%
Hardware cost
$3,564
Electricity (650W @ €0.22/kWh)
~$3.43/day
Depreciation (3y)
~$3.25/day
  1. 1Gross daily = 0.70 × 0.80 × 24 × 0.60 = $8.06
  2. 2Net daily = 8.06 − 3.43 − 3.25 ≈ $1.38 (worst case) … realistic ~$3.50/day with higher utilization
  3. 3Annual net (high-util) = 3.50 × 365 ≈ $1,278
  4. 4Annual ROI = 1,278 / 3,564 × 100 ≈ 35.9%
  5. 5Oracle Score = log₁₀(36.9) × 3.2 = 1.567 × 3.2 ≈ 5.0

Inputs & Data Sources

Listed Price/hr
Median of all available listings per GPU. Multi-GPU node prices divided by GPU count.
Vast.ai (5min), RunPod (20min), TensorDock (20min)
Utilization
Rented machines / total listed machines, per GPU model. Defaults to 60% if data is missing.
Vast.ai public API
Electricity
GPU TDP × 1.44× system overhead × 24h × €/kWh. Default €0.22/kWh (EU average).
User-configurable in calculator
Depreciation
Hardware cost / (depreciation years × 365). Default 3 years.
Configurable
Hardware Cost
EU market price (Amazon.de, Alternate.de). Not MSRP.
Manually verified monthly
Platform Fee
Vast.ai 20%, RunPod ~24%, TensorDock ~15%.
Platform documentation

Why a Log Scale?

GPU rental ROIs span a huge range — from negative (cheap consumer cards in high-electricity markets) to over 200% annually (top data-center cards in low-electricity markets). On a linear scale, an H100 would score 50× higher than a 4090, and consumer GPUs would all clump near zero.

The log₁₀ scaling compresses that range into a human-friendly 0–10 score. A doubling of ROI adds roughly +0.96 points. The 3.2 multiplier is calibrated so a healthy 100% annual ROI lands at exactly 10/10 (the cap).

Run the math on your own setup
Enter your electricity cost, GPU and utilization for a personalized Oracle Score.
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