# Baseten vs Particle.AI

> Particle.AI is an early startup selling cheap Flash-class models through Vercel AI Gateway. Baseten is an established host with the lowest measured first token.

Canonical: https://www.subconscious.dev/compare/baseten-vs-particle-ai · By The Subconscious Team · Updated September 30, 2026

## How they compare

Particle.AI is barely public. It serves a few Flash-class open models through Vercel AI Gateway, all with 1M context: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash at $0.25 in and $1 out, GLM 5.3 Flash at $0.10 in and $0.40 out, and DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 at $0.14 in and $0.28 out, with cache reads at $0.03 per million. Those are low prices. Latency is the weak spot, with 3.5 seconds on its DeepSeek V4.1 Flash listing. Baseten's 0.49 seconds to first token was the lowest Artificial Analysis measured in August 2026, and its catalog reaches larger models like Kimi K3 and DeepSeek V4.

The two also differ in how you buy. Particle is reachable through a gateway with no new contract, which makes it an easy fallback or price-optimized route. Baseten is a direct platform with Truss deployments, HIPAA, data residency, self-hosting and a 99.99% SLA. Particle has little public track record and a tiny catalog. For cheap, high-volume Flash calls where a few seconds do not matter, Particle is worth routing to. For anything user-facing or regulated, Baseten is the safer primary.

## What each one does

### Baseten

Baseten runs two products. Model APIs serve a curated set of 13 open models, including DeepSeek V4, GLM 5.2, Kimi K3 and gpt-oss 120B, over endpoints that speak both the OpenAI Chat Completions shape and the Anthropic Messages shape. That dual compatibility means an existing OpenAI or Claude SDK, or a coding agent, points at Baseten with a base URL change. Dedicated deployments take any model you package with the open-source Truss CLI and bill per GPU minute, with an H100 at about $6.50 an hour.

### Particle.AI

Particle AI is an early San Francisco infrastructure startup with a mission to make intelligence as cheap and abundant as electricity. The team works on post-training, inference optimization and distributed systems, all aimed at pushing down cost per unit of intelligence. It is still hiring its founding team and works fully in person. Public detail about funding and founders is thin as of this writing.

## Which is best, and when

### Choose Baseten for

- User-facing turns where first-token latency matters
- Larger open models and custom deployments
- Buyers needing HIPAA and a written SLA

### Choose Particle.AI for

- Cheap Flash-class calls with 1M context
- A low-cost fallback route in Vercel AI Gateway
- Trying new Flash models soon after release

## At a glance

| Attribute | Baseten | Particle.AI |
|---|---|---|
| Model access | Open weights, 13 curated | Open weights |
| Flagship models | GLM 5.2, DeepSeek V4, Kimi K3, gpt-oss 120B | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, GLM 5.3 Flash |
| Speed | 0.49s TTFT, lowest measured | ~157 tok/s on DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| Price | H100 about $6.50/hr dedicated | $0.10 in, $0.40 out (GLM 5.3 Flash) |
| Customization | Deploy any model with Truss | - |
| Deployment | Model APIs, dedicated, self-host | Via Vercel AI Gateway |
| Long context | Varies by model | 1M |

## FAQ

### What is the difference between Baseten and Particle.AI?

Particle.AI is an early startup selling cheap Flash-class models through Vercel AI Gateway. Baseten is an established host with the lowest measured first token.

### When should I choose Baseten over Particle.AI?

User-facing turns where first-token latency matters; Larger open models and custom deployments; Buyers needing HIPAA and a written SLA.

### When should I choose Particle.AI over Baseten?

Cheap Flash-class calls with 1M context; A low-cost fallback route in Vercel AI Gateway; Trying new Flash models soon after release.

### Is Baseten or Particle.AI cheaper?

Baseten: H100 about $6.50/hr dedicated. Particle.AI: $0.10 in, $0.40 out (GLM 5.3 Flash). The cheaper choice depends on the model and workload.

### Which has more context, Baseten or Particle.AI?

Baseten: Varies by model. Particle.AI: 1M.

## Running long-horizon agents?

If your agents run past 200K tokens, compare both against Subconscious: [Subconscious vs Baseten](https://www.subconscious.dev/compare/subconscious-vs-baseten.md), [Subconscious vs Particle.AI](https://www.subconscious.dev/compare/subconscious-vs-particle-ai.md).

Full profiles: [Baseten](https://www.subconscious.dev/providers/baseten.md), [Particle.AI](https://www.subconscious.dev/providers/particle-ai.md).