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Fireworks AI vs Dolphin
Fireworks is an established, certified host for 400+ open models. Dolphin is a new API serving one model on a decentralized network of consumer GPUs.
By The Subconscious Team · Updated
Fireworks AI vs Dolphin: key differences
Fireworks serves open models on its own GPU stack, measured at 167 to 174 tokens per second on DeepSeek V4 Pro, with fine-tuning at base-model prices and SOC 2, HIPAA and ISO certifications. Dolphin's API launched in October 2026 with one model, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, at $0.01 in and $0.07 out per million tokens. Requests run on idle consumer GPUs whose owners earn $POD tokens, and validators check outputs to catch nodes swapping in smaller models. Dolphin publishes no speed, context or SLA.
Fireworks fits production traffic that needs speed, compliance and model choice. Dolphin fits cheap background calls where latency and uptime matter little, or products that need uncensored models. Its wallet-and-Telegram signup will not clear most procurement teams.
What Fireworks AI and Dolphin do
Fireworks AI
Fireworks AI was founded in 2022 by former Meta PyTorch engineers led by CEO Lin Qiao, and it sells speed on open models. Its custom serving stack has posted 167 to 174 tokens per second on DeepSeek V4 Pro in third-party measurements, several times what most GPU peers hit on the same model. The catalog holds 400+ models across text, vision, audio and embeddings, served through an OpenAI-compatible API. In July 2026 it raised a $1.505B Series D at a $17.5B valuation, with a reported $1B+ run rate and 40T+ tokens a day.
Example models: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, GLM 5.3, Kimi K3
Full Fireworks AI profile
Dolphin
Dolphin began in 2023 as Eric Hartford's series of open-source, uncensored fine-tunes, trained to drop the refusals and baked-in guidelines of their base models so that the developer sets the rules through the system prompt. Current releases include Dolphin Llama 3.1 8B and Dolphin Mistral 24B Venice Edition, built with Venice, and the project publishes nearly 100 models on Hugging Face. It also runs a chat app, a Telegram bot and a synthetic data service that generates answers to commonly refused prompts.
Example models: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, Dolphin Mistral 24B
Full Dolphin profileShould you choose Fireworks AI or Dolphin?
Fireworks AI
Choose Fireworks AI for
- Production traffic with compliance needs
- Fine-tuning open models
- Measured speed on large open models
Dolphin
Choose Dolphin for
- Very cheap DeepSeek V4.1 Flash calls
- Uncensored models
- Requests nodes cannot log
Fireworks AI vs Dolphin at a glance
| Attribute | Fireworks AI |  Dolphin |
|---|---|---|
| Model access | Open weights | Open weights, uncensored fine-tunes |
| Flagship models | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, GLM 5.3, Kimi K3 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, Dolphin Mistral 24B |
| Speed | 167–174 tok/s on DeepSeek V4 Pro | Unknown |
| Price | Fine-tunes served at base price | $0.01 in, $0.07 out (DeepSeek V4.1 Flash) |
| Customization | SFT, DPO, RFT; Training API | Own uncensored fine-tunes |
| Deployment | Serverless, dedicated GPUs | Decentralized serverless API |
| Long context | Full 1M on DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, GLM 5.3 | Unknown |
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Fireworks AI and Dolphin?
Fireworks is an established, certified host for 400+ open models. Dolphin is a new API serving one model on a decentralized network of consumer GPUs.
When should I choose Fireworks AI over Dolphin?
Production traffic with compliance needs; Fine-tuning open models; Measured speed on large open models.
When should I choose Dolphin over Fireworks AI?
Very cheap DeepSeek V4.1 Flash calls; Uncensored models; Requests nodes cannot log.
Is Fireworks AI or Dolphin cheaper?
Fireworks AI: Fine-tunes served at base price. Dolphin: $0.01 in, $0.07 out (DeepSeek V4.1 Flash). The cheaper choice depends on the model and workload.
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