Render Network

Render Network is a market for GPU power that runs on Solana. Artists, studios and AI teams send it 3D rendering or AI jobs. People with spare graphics cards do the work and earn the RENDER token. OTOY, the firm behind the OctaneRender software, started the network on Ethereum and moved it to Solana in late 2023. It now has three parts: the rendering service, an AI compute service called Dispersed, and Salad, a network of gaming PCs that is moving its payments onto RENDER.

What is Render Network used for?

Render Network is used to turn 3D scenes into finished images and video. It is also used more and more for AI image, video and model work. You upload a scene, the network splits it into frames, and many GPUs work on it at once.

The point is speed without owning the hardware. In October 2026 the network shared an example from the artist TheDizzyViper. One of his pieces would have taken about 63 days on his home machine. On Render Network it took a couple of hours.

The Render Network website lists three render engines: OctaneRender, Redshift and Blender Cycles. It also offers C4D Wizard, a tool for Cinema 4D users. AI models from Runway, Black Forest Labs, Luma Labs and Stability AI sit in the same app. Pricing is on demand, with no minimum spend.

How does Render Network work? Burn-mint equilibrium (BME)

Render Network uses a model called burn-mint equilibrium, or BME. When you pay for a job, your tokens are destroyed ("burned"). Node operators are paid separately, from a fixed schedule of new tokens.

Here is how a job flows, per the BME documentation. You pay in fiat money or RENDER. The payment is turned into RENDER and burned when the work is done. The network logs each burn. Those records decide how the new tokens are shared out at the end of each Render reward epoch, which usually lasts a week. (This is Render's own epoch, separate from Solana's.)

The schedule of new tokens shrinks over time and is set by holder votes. RNP-022 set the third year, which runs to December 2026:

So when usage grows, more RENDER is burned each week while new supply stays on schedule. When usage falls, new tokens still go out. The network dashboard shows burns and rewards for each epoch.

Render Network pricing tiers and OctaneBench

Render Network prices work in OctaneBench, a score for how fast a GPU renders. Each RENDER credit buys a set amount of OctaneBench work per hour, so the price follows how much rendering you get.

The render tiers page lists three tiers:

• Trusted Partners: arranged by contacting the team, not picked in the app.
• Priority: more GPUs per node and up to 32 GB of video memory.
• Economy: fewer GPUs and up to 11 GB of video memory, for lighter scenes.

The pricing guide shows that the same credit buys twice as much work on Economy as on Priority. Check your scene's memory needs first, though. The tiers page warns that frames can fail when a node runs out of memory, so heavy scenes may need Priority.

Dispersed: Render Network's AI compute subnet

Dispersed is Render Network's separate service for AI work. It runs AI models, training jobs and video tasks on GPUs spread around the world, much as the main service runs renders.

The Render Network Foundation launched Dispersed in December 2025, around Solana's Breakpoint conference. Its first test users were OTOY Studio and Scrypted Network. It began life as the Render Compute Network, which an earlier holder vote, RNP-019, opened to consumer GPUs.

A later vote, RNP-021, opened Dispersed to the big chips used in data centers. They include:

• NVIDIA H100, H200, A100, L40, L4 and T4
• AMD Instinct MI300 series
• Intel Data Center GPU Max series

Dispersed takes home GPUs too. Its node FAQ accepts recent NVIDIA RTX cards, from the RTX 3050 up to the RTX 5090, running Docker. Dispersed claims "90% savings potential vs. incumbent compute". You reach it through a web console or a sales demo.

Salad joins Render Network: RNP-023

Salad is a cloud network built on idle gaming PCs. It is moving its payments and rewards onto RENDER as the network's third arm, next to the rendering service and Dispersed.

Holders approved RNP-023 in April 2026, Salad announced. The proposal says Salad has about 60,000 GPUs checking in each day. It also makes RENDER the only DePIN token Salad works with. (DePIN means a crypto network that runs real-world hardware.) Salad's GPU owners, called Chefs, can take their rewards in RENDER. The rate comes from a 24-hour average price on Jupiter JUP$0.260+5.3%.

Salad said in July 2026 that two of its three steps were live. Customers can now fund their accounts in RENDER, and Chefs can cash out to a Solana wallet. The last step, moving all of Salad's payments onto BME, was still being built.

Render Network mining: how to run a node and earn RENDER

"Mining" RENDER means running a GPU node that renders other people's jobs. You then earn RENDER from the node reward pool. Unlike Bitcoin mining, the work your GPU does is real rendering or AI jobs.

You join by applying. The node operator guide asks you to fill in a form and wait in a queue. For rendering, it asks for:

• an NVIDIA GPU that supports CUDA, with at least 6 GB of video memory (8 GB or more preferred)
• 32 GB or more of system memory
• about 100 GB of free disk space, ideally on an SSD, and a strong internet link

Dispersed has its own waitlist, with higher memory and storage needs.

Set your hopes before you buy anything. The Dispersed FAQ says "there are no guarantees about the amount of work that will be assigned". It strongly advises against buying new hardware for it. You are also paid in RENDER, so your income in dollars moves with the token price.

RENDER token: the RNDR to RENDER upgrade on Solana

RENDER is the Solana token that pays for jobs and node rewards on Render Network. It replaced RNDR, the Ethereum token the project launched with in 2017.

The move to Solana finished in November 2023, per CoinJar. If you still hold the old Ethereum token, you can swap it one-for-one on the official upgrade portal. The portal uses the Wormhole bridge, and its FAQ says it will stay open indefinitely. The Foundation FAQ says RNDR sent to the bridge is burned.

A smaller Polygon version of RNDR was retired in July 2025, as the risk section below explains. The network dashboard tracks supply and burns. Our token page shows live price and liquidity.

Render Network governance: RNPs and Forth (RNP-024)

RENDER holders run Render Network through votes on Render Network Proposals, or RNPs. Votes take place on the Nation platform. The more tokens you hold, the more your vote counts.

The RNP process starts with a short first vote that has no minimum turnout. A six-day final vote follows. To pass, it needs a majority and a turnout of at least 15% of all RENDER. Proposers check with the Foundation first, which routes each idea to the RNP or grants track. All proposals are tracked on GitHub.

The newest proposal is RNP-024. It brings in Forth, a privacy-focused AI gateway that sends requests to many AI models through one link.

The plan offers up to 650,000 RENDER in usage rewards and marketing over a year. It is paid from existing Foundation funds, and the proposal authorises no new emissions. Work run on Render's own GPUs earns a bonus on top of the normal rate.

The first-round vote closed in late October with every vote in favour, the network said on X. The final vote was due to open on 3 November 2026. To vote, your tokens must sit in a wallet you control before the snapshot.

Who is Render Network for?

Render Network suits freelance 3D artists and small studios that use OctaneRender, Redshift or Blender. It fits best when a job needs far more GPU power than you own, such as a tight deadline or an 8K render.

AI teams can use it through Dispersed if they want cheaper GPU hours and can work with Docker. It is a poorer fit if you need a fixed contract, a set data-center region or a named machine for compliance. Those buyers go through Trusted Partners or a sales call.

For GPU owners, it suits people whose NVIDIA cards already sit idle. It does not suit anyone planning to buy hardware to earn RENDER. The Foundation itself warns that work is not guaranteed.

Is Render Network legit? Risks and limitations

Render Network is a real, working project. OTOY started it in 2017, and its dashboard counted more than 80 million frames rendered by November 2026. Its main weak points are that it is permissioned, that you deal in a token, and that node income is uneven.

Joining is by approval. Node operators apply and wait. The top pricing tier is set up through the team, and the Foundation runs the votes. Jobs and files run on the network's own platform, while Solana handles payments, burns and rewards. So Render is a managed market that pays in a token, and you need the team's say-so to supply GPUs.

The one public security incident came in July 2025. The network reported unauthorized access to an inactive wallet tied to the old Polygon RNDR contracts. About 1.4 million RNDR was at risk, and no funds were lost. The network retired the Polygon token and opened a one-for-one bridge to Solana RENDER.

We could not find a public security audit of Render's Solana programs, or a list of their addresses. So we can't say who is able to change them, or who could mint RENDER outside the set schedule. Treat both as open checks.

The other risks are about money. Creators pay in a token they may not want to hold, though fiat pricing helps. Node operators earn RENDER, so their income moves with its price. Votes are weighted by holdings, so large holders count for more.

Render vs Akash, io.net and Nosana

Render Network is the specialist for 3D rendering, with direct ties to OctaneRender, Redshift and Blender. General GPU clouds suit developers who want to run their own containers.

Akash Network sells general cloud computing, with prices set by open bidding. It was built on its own Cosmos chain. In October 2026 its team picked Solana to replace that chain and put the move to a holder vote. io.net and Nosana are GPU networks on Solana aimed at AI work.

Dispersed puts Render in the same market as those networks for AI work. If your work is Octane or Redshift rendering, Render Network's built-in engine support is its main draw. If it is AI work in containers, compare Dispersed's prices with the others before you commit.

Who is behind Render Network? OTOY, Jules Urbach and the Render Network Foundation

OTOY, led by its chief executive Jules Urbach, founded Render Network in 2017. In 2023 OTOY handed care of the network to the Render Network Foundation, per the Foundation FAQ.

The Foundation is a not-for-profit. It runs votes, grants and growth. OTOY still runs the largest service on the network, at rendernetwork.com. A separate for-profit firm, RenderLabs, was set up in early 2025.

OTOY has well-known advisers. When it named Beeple to its OTOY and RNDR advisory boards in 2021, he joined film director J.J. Abrams, Brave founder Brendan Eich and WME co-founder Ari Emanuel.

Render also uses the art world as a shop window. It held RenderCon in Hollywood in April 2026. During Solana Breakpoint in London, on 16 November, it is staging BEYOND THE FRAME. The show of 3D art made on the network runs at Frameless London. Our notes on its Breakpoint 2025 keynote cover the Dispersed launch in more depth.