# Fireworks AI vs Inference.net

> Inference.net sells cheap batch on spare GPUs and a trace-to-custom-model loop. Fireworks sells fast real-time serving and hands-on fine-tuning tools.

Canonical: https://www.subconscious.dev/compare/fireworks-vs-inference-net · By The Subconscious Team · Updated September 30, 2026

## How they compare

Each company helps teams move off closed APIs with fine-tuned open models, but they start from different places. Inference.net began by buying idle GPU time, and its Batch API still reflects that: up to 1M requests per file, completion windows from 24 hours to 7 days, priced off discounted spare capacity. Its newer loop routes live traffic through Inference Gateway, captures it, turns it into training data and deploys a distilled model on a dedicated GPU. Fireworks is a real-time host first, with 400+ models and 167 to 174 tokens per second on DeepSeek V4 Pro in third-party tests.

The fine-tuning styles differ. Inference.net does the distillation work for you from captured traces. Fireworks gives you SFT, DPO and RL tools, plus a Training API for running your own RL loop, and serves tuned models at base price. Fireworks also has third-party speed measurements and SOC 2, HIPAA and ISO, while Inference.net has few independent benchmarks, so buyers lean on its own numbers. Extraction, classification and synthetic data at volume fit Inference.net. Latency-sensitive chat, and research teams that want to own their RL, fit Fireworks.

## What each one does

### 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.

### Inference.net

Inference.net started as a buyer of last resort for idle GPU time. Its scheduler aggregates small unused chunks of capacity across data centers and runs models on them, and it passes the steep discounts it gets from those data centers on to customers. That origin still shows in its OpenAI-compatible Batch API, which takes up to 1M requests per file with completion windows from 24 hours to 7 days and far higher headroom than synchronous limits.

## Which is best, and when

### Choose Fireworks AI for

- Latency-sensitive production chat and tool calling
- Running your own RL loop through a Training API
- Buyers who want independent speed benchmarks

### Choose Inference.net for

- Million-request offline batches with day-scale windows
- Distilling a narrow GPT-class workload from captured traffic
- One gateway key across open, closed and custom models

## At a glance

| Attribute | Fireworks AI | Inference.net |
|---|---|---|
| Model access | Open weights | Open, closed and custom |
| Flagship models | DeepSeek V4 Pro, Kimi K3 | Customer fine-tunes |
| Speed | 167–174 tok/s on DeepSeek V4 Pro | Batch windows of 24h to 7 days |
| Price | Fine-tunes served at base price | Discounted spare GPU capacity |
| Customization | SFT, DPO, RFT; Training API | Distill traces into custom models |
| Deployment | Serverless, dedicated GPUs | Batch API, gateway, dedicated GPUs |
| Long context | Full 1M on DeepSeek V4 Pro | Varies by model |

## FAQ

### What is the difference between Fireworks AI and Inference.net?

Inference.net sells cheap batch on spare GPUs and a trace-to-custom-model loop. Fireworks sells fast real-time serving and hands-on fine-tuning tools.

### When should I choose Fireworks AI over Inference.net?

Latency-sensitive production chat and tool calling; Running your own RL loop through a Training API; Buyers who want independent speed benchmarks.

### When should I choose Inference.net over Fireworks AI?

Million-request offline batches with day-scale windows; Distilling a narrow GPT-class workload from captured traffic; One gateway key across open, closed and custom models.

### Is Fireworks AI or Inference.net cheaper?

Fireworks AI: Fine-tunes served at base price. Inference.net: Discounted spare GPU capacity. The cheaper choice depends on the model and workload.

### Which has more context, Fireworks AI or Inference.net?

Fireworks AI: Full 1M on DeepSeek V4 Pro. Inference.net: Varies by model.

## Running long-horizon agents?

If your agents run past 200K tokens, compare both against Subconscious: [Subconscious vs Fireworks AI](https://www.subconscious.dev/compare/subconscious-vs-fireworks.md), [Subconscious vs Inference.net](https://www.subconscious.dev/compare/subconscious-vs-inference-net.md).

Full profiles: [Fireworks AI](https://www.subconscious.dev/providers/fireworks.md), [Inference.net](https://www.subconscious.dev/providers/inference-net.md).