The Compatibility Score, Explained
When you run the RigHost compatibility checker, you get a number between 0 and 100 and a status badge: Ready to Host, Needs Some Work, or Not Ready Yet. The score is a snapshot of how close your rig is to the Vast.ai host minimums, weighted by how much each category actually affects whether rentals happen.
This article lays out the full rubric so you can read your result with confidence and know which category to fix first if you land short.
The rubric
Six categories, 100 points total. The weights reflect how heavily each factor drives real-world rental demand:
| Category | Weight | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| GPU | 30 | NVIDIA vendor + VRAM amount |
| Internet | 25 | Upload and download speeds |
| Storage | 15 | Available free storage in GB |
| CPU / RAM | 10 | Logical CPU cores and system RAM |
| Operating System | 10 | Ubuntu 22.04 preferred, others partial |
| Docker | 10 | Docker installed and working |
GPU (30 pts)
- 30 pts — NVIDIA GPU with 6 GB or more VRAM
- 18 pts — NVIDIA GPU with 4–5 GB VRAM
- 10 pts — NVIDIA GPU detected but VRAM not specified
- 0 pts — AMD, Intel, or no GPU entered (Vast.ai is NVIDIA-only)
Internet (25 pts)
Scored on the lower of your upload and download speeds — both directions matter because renters upload datasets and download results.
- 25 pts — 500 Mbps or higher, both directions
- 18 pts — 200–499 Mbps
- 12 pts — 100–199 Mbps
- 5 pts — 50–99 Mbps
- 0 pts — below 50 Mbps
If only one direction is provided, you get a partial score but the category is flagged as a warning.
Storage (15 pts)
- 15 pts — 500 GB or more free
- 10 pts — 100–499 GB free
- 3 pts — under 100 GB but more than zero
CPU / RAM (10 pts)
- 10 pts — 8+ logical cores AND 16+ GB RAM
- 7 pts — 4+ cores AND 8+ GB RAM
- 2 pts — below that
Operating System (10 pts)
- 10 pts — Ubuntu 22.04
- 9 pts — Ubuntu 20.04
- 6 pts — Other Linux
- 0 pts — Windows or macOS (Vast.ai requires Linux)
Docker (10 pts)
- 10 pts — Docker confirmed installed
- 0 pts — not installed or unconfirmed
If you don't have Docker set up yet, see our Docker + NVIDIA setup guide.
The score thresholds
A worked example
Let's score a realistic mid-tier rig:
- GPU: NVIDIA RTX 3090, 24 GB VRAM
- Internet: 800 Mbps down, 800 Mbps up (symmetrical fiber)
- Storage: 1 TB NVMe free
- CPU: 12 logical cores
- RAM: 32 GB
- OS: Ubuntu 22.04
- Docker: Installed
Scoring:
| Category | Result | Points |
|---|---|---|
| GPU | NVIDIA, 24 GB VRAM | 30 / 30 |
| Internet | min(800, 800) = 800 Mbps | 25 / 25 |
| Storage | 1000 GB free | 15 / 15 |
| CPU / RAM | 12 cores, 32 GB | 10 / 10 |
| Operating System | Ubuntu 22.04 | 10 / 10 |
| Docker | Installed | 10 / 10 |
| Total | 100 / 100 |
That rig scores 100 and lands in Ready to Host. Drop the internet to 150 Mbps and the total becomes 87 — still in Ready, but now with a recommendation to upgrade bandwidth for better utilization. Drop storage to 50 GB and the total becomes 75 — Needs Some Work, and the recommendation will tell you to free up or add disk.
Reading a "Needs Some Work" result
The recommendations panel at the bottom of the results is the actionable part. It tells you exactly what to change to move up a tier. Common patterns:
- 87/100 with yellow on GPU: usually VRAM under 6 GB — a hardware fix.
- 72/100 with yellow on Internet: usually a residential cable connection. Either upgrade your service or accept lower utilization.
- 65/100 with fail on OS: you're on Windows. Dual-booting Ubuntu is the path forward.
- 80/100 with fail on Docker: the easiest fix of all — install it, re-run the check.
CLI vs browser wizard
The browser wizard and the CLI script (curl -sSL https://www.righost.com/check.sh | bash) use the exact same scoring rubric — the only difference is how inputs are collected. The CLI auto-detects values directly from the server, which is usually more accurate than browser self-reporting (browsers cap RAM detection at 8 GB for privacy and can't measure network speed). If you have shell access, prefer the CLI.
Ready to check your score?
Run the checker in-browser or pipe the CLI into your Linux server. No sign-up, no data collected.
Run the Compatibility Checker →