# Run Blender Cycles

Renders your existing Blender scenes on a fast card instead of your laptop. Ready in about 90 seconds on an RTX 5090, from $0.69/hr. No install, no code.

## What it does

This is not an AI model. It is Blender, running headless on a GPU, rendering the scene file you send it.

The point is time. A frame that takes twelve minutes on a laptop takes under a minute here, and you can run many frames at once instead of leaving your machine tied up overnight.

You upload a .blend file, choose the frame range and the sample count, and collect the finished frames.

## Your setup

We run Blender Cycles on an RTX 5090 with 32GB of memory, at $0.69 per hour, billed by the minute. It takes about 45 seconds per frame.

Cycles renders with ray tracing, and the RTX 5090 has dedicated ray tracing hardware that older data center cards do not prioritise. For this specific workload it beats cards that cost three times as much per hour. The 32GB of memory also matters, because a scene that does not fit in card memory falls back to system memory and renders roughly ten times slower.

## What it costs

240 frames takes about 3 hours of GPU time, which is about $2.07.

## Two ways to run it

- **Open the app.** A file browser and a render form. Watch frames appear as they finish.
- **Run a batch job.** The normal way to use this. Upload the scene, set the range, collect the frames, GPU shuts off.

## Model facts

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Parameters | Not applicable |
| License | GPL-3.0 (Blender itself) |
| Memory required | Depends on your scene. 32GB covers most. |
| Base model | Blender 4.2 LTS, Cycles X |
| Publisher | Blender Foundation |
| Recommended hardware | RTX 5090, 32GB |
| Category | [3D and rendering](https://gpuvault.io/working-on/3d-and-rendering/) |

## Questions people ask

### Do I need to change my .blend file before uploading?

Usually not. Pack your external textures into the file first, using File then External Data then Pack Resources, or the render will come back with pink surfaces where the textures should be. Everything else, including your render settings, carries across as-is.

### Do I need to install anything to use Blender Cycles?

No. We start a machine with Blender Cycles already loaded and hand you a link. Everything runs in your browser, there is nothing to download, and nothing is left on your computer afterwards. It works the same on a Mac, a Windows laptop, or a Chromebook. A workspace is usually ready in about 90 seconds.

### How much does it cost to run 240 frames?

About $2.07. Blender Cycles takes about 45 seconds per frame on the RTX 5090 we recommend, so 240 frames is roughly 3 hours of GPU time at $0.69 per hour. Billing is by the minute, and a batch job shuts the GPU off the moment the last item finishes. The calculator above works this out for your own numbers.

### Can I run Blender Cycles on a cheaper card?

Sometimes, and the calculator will not always make it look worth it. Cycles renders with ray tracing, and the RTX 5090 has dedicated ray tracing hardware that older data center cards do not prioritise. For this specific workload it beats cards that cost three times as much per hour. The 32GB of memory also matters, because a scene that does not fit in card memory falls back to system memory and renders roughly ten times slower. If you want to try a different card anyway, the advanced catalog lets you pick one and shows the estimated time before you commit.

### What are the license restrictions on Blender Cycles?

Blender Cycles is released under the GPL-3.0 (Blender itself). That is not a permissive license, so read it before you use the output in paid work. We show the license on every model page precisely because this catches people out, and there is usually a permissively licensed alternative in the same category.

### What happens to my files after I stop?

Anything you save into your workspace folder stays in your account and is there when you come back. Everything else is destroyed: the machine is terminated and its disk is wiped. Batch job inputs and outputs are deleted from our storage 24 hours after you download them. We do not read your files or use them to train anything.

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*Source: https://gpuvault.io/model/blender-cycles/ — GPUVault, GPU rental by the minute.*