Rent your gaming PC's GPU to AI companies on Salad or Vast.ai for passive income

The claim

Rent your gaming PC's GPU to AI companies on Salad or Vast.ai for passive income.

GPU rental marketplaces are actively marketing to home users, and TechRadar covered cheap consumer RTX 5090 rentals on SaladCloud.

How we checked

This is an evidence check, not a hands-on test. We reviewed platform rules and policies, published earnings data, regulator warnings and reporting: 5 sources, listed below.

Costs

Start-up cost: £0 with an existing PC; electricity costs vary
Effort: medium

What the evidence shows

Renting spare GPU time is real, but Salad itself says earnings vary day to day with job demand and advises against buying a GPU or PC just for it. Salad says it has paid out over $7M to users across more than 450,000 GPUs, and pays in PayPal cash, crypto, gift cards and similar rewards. According to Vast.ai's own article, an RTX 5090 typically earns $0.30–$0.60 per GPU-hour, while data-centre H100s and H200s earn $2.15–$4.00+. Vast's hosting docs recommend Ubuntu and say hosts need some Linux knowledge, open router ports and 100% uptime during rentals, and Vast does not offer support for getting a machine working.

Realistic earnings: With a recent gaming GPU you can earn some extra cash, but Salad describes it as 'nice extra cash' with no guaranteed return, and Vast's own earnings article gives gross hourly rates without accounting for electricity.

Limitations

Earnings ranges are typical outcomes for a beginner, drawn from the sources; some people do far better or worse. Platform rules change often, so check the latest policy before you start.

VerdictWorks with limits

Works for some, not most.