Google Vertex AI Alternative in India | unoblox

Vertex AI is Google Cloud's route into Gemini and a roster of partner models through its Model Garden — a good fit if your stack already lives inside a GCP project. unoblox is built for teams who'd rather skip the project, the service account and the Google-specific SDK: one OpenAI-compatible endpoint, one key, billed in rupees.

Vertex AI, briefly

Model Garden gives a GCP project access to Gemini plus select partner models, wired into IAM roles, service accounts and Google's client libraries. For a team already deep in Google Cloud, that integration is genuinely useful — quota, logging and billing all sit in one place.

The India gap

Two things routinely slow Indian teams down. First, getting started means a GCP project, a service-account key, and IAM roles configured before the first call — non-trivial for a two-person team just trying to ship a feature. Second, Vertex usage settles on your Google Cloud bill internationally, which finance then has to reconcile without a GST invoice built specifically for an AI line item.

What's actually available instead

Gemini itself isn't on unoblox's catalog — worth saying plainly rather than implying otherwise. What is available is a broad, growing set of models that cover similar ground for most applications:

Model	Input ₹ / 1M tokens	Output ₹ / 1M tokens
Claude Sonnet	₹201.6	₹1,008
Llama 4 Maverick	₹20.16	₹80.64
Llama 4 Scout	₹10.08	₹30.24
DeepSeek V3.2	₹26.21	₹38.30
Mistral Small 3.2	see live pricing	see live pricing

Mistral Small's rate isn't fixed in this table on purpose — check its live number on /models before you budget against it.

One SDK change, not a new one

Vertex calls typically go through Google's client libraries and a service-account credential. On unoblox, the same OpenAI SDK you use elsewhere works as-is:

base_url: https://api.unoblox.ai/v1
api_key: ub-gw-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
model: anthropic/claude-sonnet-5

No service-account JSON, no IAM role to attach — the key in the header is the only credential.

Frequently asked questions

Is Gemini available through unoblox? No, not currently — it isn't in the catalog. Check /models for the current model lineup before assuming coverage.

Do I need a GCP project to get started? No. unoblox doesn't require any Google Cloud setup at all.

How does billing actually differ from Vertex AI? unoblox usage is billed in rupees on one monthly GST invoice from an Indian entity. Vertex usage settles through your Google Cloud bill internationally.

Can I reuse the OpenAI SDK code I already have? Yes — point the base URL at https://api.unoblox.ai/v1, swap the model name and key, and the rest of the call shape is unchanged, including streaming and tool calls.

Is data for these models processed in India? No — for models like Claude, Llama or DeepSeek, inference runs on that provider's own infrastructure, the same as calling them directly. The India benefit is billing, invoicing and one endpoint, not residency.

Are there rate limits I should plan around? Limits apply per key and plan and are visible from your dashboard — check there rather than assuming a fixed number.

Get started in rupees → https://unoblox.ai/sign-in