SAVRN Model Hub · Comparisons
t5-base vs t5-small
T5-base has 223M parameters and t5-small has 61M parameters; both are released under Apache License 2.0; at 16-bit, t5-base needs about 0.5 GB (1x MI300X from $1.85 an hour) and t5-small about 0.1 GB (1x MI300X from $1.85 an hour).
| Field | t5-base google-t5/t5-base | t5-small google-t5/t5-small |
|---|---|---|
| Publisher | T5 community | T5 community |
| Task | Translation | Translation |
| Modality | Text | Text |
| Parameters, as reported | 223M parameters | 61M parameters |
| Architecture | T5ForConditionalGeneration | T5ForConditionalGeneration |
| Library | transformers | transformers |
| Context length | Not stated | Not stated |
| Repository size | 4.5 GB | 2.2 GB |
| Artifact formats | safetensors, pytorch, jax, rust, tf | safetensors, onnx, pytorch, jax, rust, tf |
| License | apache-2.0 | apache-2.0 |
| Access | Open weights, no gate | Open weights, no gate |
| Memory at 16-bit (weights and margin) | 0.5 GB | 0.1 GB |
| Cheapest GPUs at 16-bit, per hour | 1x MI300X, $1.85 | 1x MI300X, $1.85 |
| Memory at 4-bit (weights and margin) | 0.1 GB | 0 GB |
| Cheapest GPUs at 4-bit, per hour | 1x MI300X, $1.85 | 1x MI300X, $1.85 |
| Revision viewed | a9723ea7f1b3 | df1b051c4962 |
| Downloads reported by the hub | 2.6M | 25M |
| Last observed | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
An evaluation row appears only where at least two of these models report the same benchmark with the same stated configuration, metric, unit and setup. Different evaluators stay named in each cell. Values are shown as reported: no unit conversion, no ranking.
Questions
Which is larger, t5-base or t5-small?
t5-base (223M parameters) is larger than t5-small (61M parameters), by the parameter counts their publishers report.
Which is cheaper to run, t5-base or t5-small?
At 4-bit, t5-base fits on 1x MI300X from $1.85 an hour and t5-small on 1x MI300X from $1.85 an hour, at the lowest on-demand prices the SAVRN Index lists.
Can I use t5-base commercially?
Yes. t5-base is released under Apache License 2.0. The Apache License 2.0 is a permissive open-source license. It permits commercial use, modification and redistribution. It requires keeping the license and copyright notices and any NOTICE file, stating significant changes, and it includes an express patent grant from contributors.
Can I use t5-small commercially?
Yes. t5-small is released under Apache License 2.0. The Apache License 2.0 is a permissive open-source license. It permits commercial use, modification and redistribution. It requires keeping the license and copyright notices and any NOTICE file, stating significant changes, and it includes an express patent grant from contributors.