Buyer's guide

Best AI Inference Platforms: costs, performance and limits

Choose Novita AI when 200+ models and Agent Sandbox share your stack, Together AI for provisioned-throughput contracts, or DeepInfra for the $0.00054 GPT-OSS 120B request example; OpenRouter adds multi-provider routing.

Updated · 15 sources · Methodology

NeedPickWhy
Lowest example costOpenRouter$0.0004512
Fastest measured outputGroq473 tokens/s3
Shortest measured initial waitTogether AI0.47 s3

Performance

Performance

GPT-OSS 120B · Artificial Analysis (AA) provider snapshot · high reasoning effort · 10,000 input tokens.

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ProviderOutput speed (tokens/s)First-chunk median (s)Endpoint Accuracy Index v1.0
Novita AI3228.9193%
DeepInfra336.7198%
Groq3473.6590%
Together AI3118.4781%
Fireworks AI3No endpoint row in this AA provider snapshot——
OpenRouter3Depends on the selected upstream route——

Capabilities and serving conditions

Capabilities and serving conditions

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ProviderAPI and model IDServing and capacity
Novita AI456https://api.novita.ai/openai200+ models share an account with image, video, audio, Agent Sandbox and GPU products. GPT-OSS 120B has a listed 32K output cap.
DeepInfra78https://api.deepinfra.com/v1/openaiThe standard GPT-OSS 120B endpoint is separate from Turbo. The default limit is 200 concurrent requests per model, rather than 200 requests per minute.
Groq910https://api.groq.com/openai/v1The free GPT-OSS 120B plan lists 30 RPM, 1K RPD, 8K TPM and 200K TPD. Paid Developer limits are different.
Together AI111213https://api.together.xyz/v1Together lists 200+ models and separate provisioned-throughput contracts. Serverless is best-effort and can return 429 or 503 under high demand.
Fireworks AI1415https://api.fireworks.ai/inference/v1GPT-OSS 120B cached input costs $0.015 per 1M tokens. On-demand deployments use dedicated GPUs; account-wide request quotas still apply.
OpenRouter12https://openrouter.ai/api/v1Routing modes include Balanced, Nitro, Floor and Exacto. The lowest listed GPT-OSS 120B route is $0.03/$0.15; top-up fees and route-specific conditions are separate.

Pricing

Prices and request cost

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ProviderInput / 1M tokensOutput / 1M tokens
Novita AI456$0.05$0.25
DeepInfra78$0.037$0.17
Groq910$0.15$0.60
Together AI111213$0.15$0.60
Fireworks AI1415$0.15$0.60
OpenRouter12
Depends on the selected upstream route		$0.03$0.15
Cost example: 10,000 input + 1,000 billed output tokens
Novita AI$0.00075
DeepInfra$0.00054
Groq$0.00210
Together AI$0.00210
Fireworks AI$0.00210
OpenRouter$0.00045

Options, strengths and limitations

Options, strengths and limitations

  1. OpenRouter

    A routing platform for applications that choose or switch upstream inference providers.

    Input / 1M tokens
    $0.03
    Output / 1M tokens
    $0.15
    Estimated request cost
    $0.00045

    Strengths

    • For the same 10,000-input/1,000-output example, OpenRouter costs $0.00045, compared with Novita AI at $0.00075.12

    Limitations

    • OpenRouter adds a routing layer rather than a GPU deployment contract; its $0.03/$0.15 floor depends on the upstream selected for GPT-OSS 120B.

    Sources:12 · OpenRouter Alternatives

  2. DeepInfra

    A low-cost direct inference option with standard and Turbo endpoints priced separately.

    Input / 1M tokens
    $0.037
    Output / 1M tokens
    $0.17
    Estimated request cost
    $0.00054

    Strengths

    • For the same 10,000-input/1,000-output example, DeepInfra costs $0.00054, compared with Novita AI at $0.00075.78

    Limitations

    • DeepInfra’s standard endpoint delivers 36 tokens/s at $0.037/$0.17. Turbo has separate pricing and performance, so the cheaper standard rates do not describe the faster service.3

    Sources:78 · Novita AI vs DeepInfra

  3. Novita AI

    An inference platform for agents that need model APIs and sandbox execution in one account.

    Input / 1M tokens
    $0.05
    Output / 1M tokens
    $0.25
    Estimated request cost
    $0.00075

    Strengths

    • Novita brings model APIs, Agent Sandbox and GPU products into one account for applications that also execute agent tasks; GPT-OSS 120B has a $0.00075 token-cost example here.456

    Limitations

    • Sharing one account does not remove Novita AI’s 32K output cap. Its 0.91 s first-chunk median is longer than Groq’s 0.65 s.3

    Sources:456

  4. Groq

    A speed-focused direct API for streamed responses from supported models.

    Input / 1M tokens
    $0.15
    Output / 1M tokens
    $0.60
    Estimated request cost
    $0.00210

    Strengths

    • Groq records 473 tokens/s in this AA snapshot; Novita AI costs $0.00075 per fixed-token example.9103

    Limitations

    • Groq’s speed comes at $0.15/$0.60 per 1M input/output tokens, above Novita AI’s $0.05/$0.25. Capacity remains subject to the selected model and plan.

    Sources:910 · Novita AI vs Groq

  5. Together AI

    Serverless and reserved-throughput options for teams choosing between shared and contracted capacity.

    Input / 1M tokens
    $0.15
    Output / 1M tokens
    $0.60
    Estimated request cost
    $0.00210

    Strengths

    • Together has the shortest measured first-chunk median here at 0.47 s; Novita AI costs $0.00075 per example.1112133

    Limitations

    • Together AI’s $0.15/$0.60 per 1M input/output tokens is above Novita AI’s $0.05/$0.25. Model and plan limits remain relevant when choosing serverless capacity.

    Sources:111213 · Novita AI vs Together AI

  6. Fireworks AI

    Serverless inference with cached-input rates, plus a separate path to dedicated GPU deployment.

    Input / 1M tokens
    $0.15
    Output / 1M tokens
    $0.60
    Estimated request cost
    $0.00210

    Strengths

    • Fireworks supports serverless access and dedicated GPU deployments; cached GPT-OSS 120B input is listed at $0.015 per 1M tokens.1415

    Limitations

    • Dedicated GPU capacity still counts toward Fireworks’ account-wide request quotas. Accounts with a payment method and active credits have a maximum 6,000 RPM envelope.

    Sources:1415 · Novita AI vs Fireworks AI

Methodology

Methodology and sources

This shortlist compares six platform options on GPT-OSS 120B. The AA rows describe direct providers at high reasoning, 10,000 input tokens and 72-hour speed/first-chunk medians; the first received chunk may contain reasoning and does not wait for the first answer token. Endpoint Accuracy Index is relative to a reference endpoint, not task pass rate. Those measurements do not describe OpenRouter overhead, and Fireworks has no row in the retained AA snapshot.

The ranking uses the 10,000-input / 1,000-billed-output uncached example, including reasoning, with OpenRouter at its listed route-price floor before credit-purchase fees. The floor is not a fixed provider quote; catalogs and capacity contracts also differ in scope. Tax, retries, discounts and negotiated capacity are excluded. Novita AI supplies a compared service and publishes the page from public sources without a private benchmark.

  1. OpenRouter · GPT-OSS 120B openrouter.ai · Checked 2026-10-15
  2. OpenRouter · FAQ openrouter.ai · Checked 2026-10-15
  3. Artificial Analysis · GPT-OSS 120B Providers artificialanalysis.ai · Checked 2026-10-15
  4. Novita AI · GPT-OSS 120B novita.ai · Checked 2026-10-15
  5. Novita AI · Platform novita.ai · Checked 2026-10-15
  6. Novita AI · Batch docs.novita.ai · Checked 2026-10-15
  7. DeepInfra · GPT-OSS 120B deepinfra.com · Checked 2026-10-15
  8. DeepInfra · Rate Limits deepinfra.com · Checked 2026-10-15
  9. Groq · GPT-OSS 120B console.groq.com · Checked 2026-10-15
  10. Groq · Rate Limits console.groq.com · Checked 2026-10-15
  11. Together AI · GPT-OSS 120B www.together.ai · Checked 2026-10-15
  12. Together AI · Model Library www.together.ai · Checked 2026-10-15
  13. Together AI · Rate Limits docs.together.ai · Checked 2026-10-15
  14. Fireworks AI · GPT-OSS 120B fireworks.ai · Checked 2026-10-15
  15. Fireworks AI · Account Quotas docs.fireworks.ai · Checked 2026-10-15

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