Paperspace vs Shadow PC (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Paperspace and Shadow PC share a 1.8 GPA, neither has a free plan, and Paperspace starts cheaper, at $22 a month against $29.99 a month.
Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Paperspace grades higher on features. Shadow PC grades higher on ease of use. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Paperspace
Cloud desktops and GPU machines you rent by the hour or month
Shadow PC
A full Windows PC in the cloud for gaming and creative work
Which one is for you
Pick Paperspace if
- Fits if you need a GPU machine for design, video or machine learning
- Works for people who prefer paying by the hour
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you want a monthly desktop: Air is $22 and Pro is $120
- Watch out: hourly machines add a monthly storage fee, and its amount isn't on the pricing page
- Watch out: the pricing page lists no refunds, and exceptions go through a support ticket
- Watch out: the Gradient plan shows both $8 and $12 for Pro on the same page
- Tight if you want the wider GPU range, as the site points to DigitalOcean for it
Pick Shadow PC if
- Fits if you want a Windows gaming PC on a laptop or phone
- Works for monthly use with no long commitment
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you play often, since the cheapest plan is $29.99 and Lite caps at 120 hours a month
- Skip it if you want a trial first, as none is listed
- Watch out: peak-hour queue priority depends on your tier, from Lite to Premium
- Watch out: the vendor notes that not every game or app will run
- Watch out: businesses use a separate Cloud Workstations line with its own pricing
How we grade them
| 1.8GPAPaperspaceWeak | 1.8GPAShadow PCWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DAir desktop is $22 a month, above the category's $18 dearer-quarter line, rising to $120 for Pro. Hourly machines start at $0.0045 an hour. | D$29.99 a month for the cheapest plan, just under the $30 line where the category's dearest tenth begins. Neo Pro is $44.99 and Power Pro $59.99. |
| Free plan and trial | FNo free plan and no trial is listed for the desktops on the pricing page. | FNo free plan and no trial is listed anywhere on the vendor pages. |
| Features | BBrowser and desktop-app access, hourly or monthly billing, GPU machines, team management and an API are listed. | CA full Windows PC streamed to many devices, with team management on Pro. Monthly playtime and resolution limits apply, with 120 hours on Lite. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. You pick a machine type, billing mode and storage before you start. | BNo store rating on record. You install the client, sign in and stream, with nothing to set up. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, Windows, Mac and Linux are listed, with an API and Jupyter Notebooks. No phone apps are listed. | BWeb, Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone and Android clients, with Steam, Epic and Battle.net. No API is listed. |
| Best for | cloud desktops and GPU machines by the hour or month | a full Windows gaming PC streamed to your devices |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Paperspace and Shadow PC. How we grade
Price against what you get
Paperspace starts at $22 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Shadow PC starts at $29.99 a month and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and Paperspace starts $7.99 a month lower. Of the other remote desktop apps on the chart, 5 score higher than Paperspace for less, and 5 score higher than Shadow PC for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
At a glance
| Paperspace | Shadow PC | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| Starts at | $22 per month for the Air desktop; hourly machines from $0.0045 per hour | $29.99 per month, no commitment |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Paperspace (DigitalOcean) | Shadow |
| Price read from | paperspace.com | shadow.tech |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Paperspace
- The pricing page lists no refunds and says exceptional cases go through a support ticket.
- Hourly machines add a monthly storage fee on top of the running time; the fee amount is not on the pricing page.
- The Gradient machine-learning platform has its own plans, and its Pro plan shows both $8 and $12 per month on the same page.
- Paperspace is now part of DigitalOcean, and the site points to DigitalOcean for its wider GPU range.
Shadow PC
- Playtime is a fair-use cap that resets on the 1st of each month; Lite allows 120 hours.
- Peak-hour queue priority depends on the tier, from Lite to Premium.
- The vendor notes that not every game or app will run, flagged with an asterisk on its page.
- A separate Cloud Workstations line for businesses has its own pricing page.
Key features
Paperspace
- Browser and desktop-app access
- The vendor says its streaming technology works directly in a web browser, and Core also has a desktop app for Windows, Mac and Linux.
- Hourly or monthly billing
- Hourly machines pay a flat monthly fee for storage and access plus a per-hour rate while running. Monthly machines are a flat rate.
- GPU machines
- Machine types range from a P4000 at $0.51 per hour to an H100 at $3.09 per hour, with dedicated monthly GPU options listed.
- Team management
- Core for teams has user management, shared drives, private networking and IPsec VPN, with SAML SSO and consolidated billing listed for business.
- API
- A full API gives programmatic access to machines for scripted or larger workloads.
Shadow PC
- A full Windows PC
- Install games from Steam, Epic or Battle.net, plus mods and your own software, instead of picking from a fixed library.
- Stream to many devices
- The download page lists apps for Windows, macOS, iOS and Android, and the site also offers a browser version and Android TV and Apple TV.
- Monthly playtime and session caps
- Lite plans allow 120 hours a month in sessions of up to 4 hours. Other plans list 210 hours, sessions of 6 to 8 hours and an Always On option.
- Resolution and monitor limits
- The comparison table shows 1440p at 60 Hz on the lightest tier and up to 5K at 240 Hz on the others, with 1 to 3 monitors.
- Team management on Pro
- Pro plans include a subscriptions and users manager, and a team suite adds roles, fleet management, IAM and centralized billing.
Plans
Paperspace
Air desktop$22
per month, flat rate for unlimited access
2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, 512 MB GPU and 50 GB SSD, with a Windows license included.
Standard desktop$35
per month, flat rate for unlimited access
4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM, 512 MB GPU and 50 GB SSD, for office work and browsing. Windows license included.
Advanced desktop$65
per month, flat rate for unlimited access
6 vCPU, 16 GB RAM, 2 GB GPU and 50 GB SSD, for mid-range apps and 2D CAD. Windows license included.
Pro desktop$120
per month, flat rate for unlimited access
8 vCPU, 32 GB RAM, 4 GB GPU and 50 GB SSD, for 3D CAD and Photoshop. Windows license included.
Shadow PC
Neo Lite$29.99
per month, no commitment
Up to 120 hours of playtime a month, sessions up to 4 hours, streaming in 1440p, 256 GB storage.
Neo$37.99
per month, no commitment
Streaming up to 1440p, multi-screen and ultrawide support, RTX and DLSS. The comparison table lists 210 hours a month.
Power Lite$43.99
per month, no commitment
Up to 50% more GPU power than Neo, 28 GB RAM and 20 GB VRAM, 120 hours a month, 4-hour sessions.
Neo Pro$44.99
per month, no commitment
For 3D and rendering: priority access, longer sessions and a subscriptions and users manager.
Power$54.99
per month, no commitment
Up to 50% more GPU power, 28 GB RAM and 20 GB VRAM, streaming up to 5K.
Power Pro$59.99
per month, no commitment
Power hardware with priority access, longer sessions, a users manager and installs of CUDA and RTX workflows.
Ways to pay less
Paperspace
- Education
Education discount for Core
The Core page lists an education discount among its affordability points; the terms were not stated on the page.
Shadow PC
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Paperspace or Shadow PC?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Paperspace is cheaper to start with: $22 a month, against $29.99 a month for Shadow PC. Paperspace starts at $22 per month for the Air desktop; hourly machines from $0.0045 per hour, and Shadow PC starts at $29.99 per month, no commitment.
Which has a free plan, Paperspace or Shadow PC?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither Paperspace nor Shadow PC has a free plan.
Which platforms do Paperspace and Shadow PC run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Shadow PC lists iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app and macOS, Windows and Linux apps. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.