AI API Speed Benchmarks May 2026: 15 Models Tested

Published May 27, 2026 · API Benchmarks

This benchmark measures raw API response speed across 15 models available through a unified OpenAI-compatible endpoint. All tests conducted on May 20, 2026, from us-east-1 (AWS), identical prompts, no caching, cold starts for every request.

Methodology

Each model tested with 3 prompt lengths (50, 500, 2000 tokens) generating 200 tokens output. 100 runs each, discard top/bottom 10, average middle 80. Network latency subtracted.

TTFT Results (milliseconds)

RankModel50-tok500-tok2000-tokAvg
1DeepSeek V4 Flash87142310180
2Qwen3-8B92148325188
3Ga-Standard95155340197
4Hunyuan-Turbo105168355209
5Qwen3-32B110175370218

Output Speed (tokens/second)

RankModeltok/sPrice $/M outSpeed/$
1Qwen3-8B156$0.0115,600
2DeepSeek V4 Flash142$0.25568
3Qwen3-32B128$0.28457

Key Findings

Finding 1: DeepSeek V4 Flash is the speed king. 180ms avg TTFT at $0.25/M — unbeatable for latency-sensitive workloads.

Finding 2: Qwen3-8B has insane speed-per-dollar. 156 tok/s at $0.01/M — batch processing champion.

Finding 3: Ga-Standard routing adds only 17ms overhead. The smart routing layer is essentially free.

All tests via Global API. Raw data available on request.

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