# StreamLake vs Particle.AI

> A big-company AI cloud with a closed coding model against an early startup serving cheap open Flash models through Vercel AI Gateway.

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

## How they compare

StreamLake and Particle AI differ in almost every way. StreamLake is the AI cloud of Kuaishou, the short-video company behind Kling, and its headline product is KAT-Coder-Pro V2.5, a proprietary agentic coding model sold per token or through a KwaiKAT Coding Plan, with a Claude-protocol proxy for Claude Code. Particle AI is an early San Francisco startup still hiring its founding team. It serves a few open Flash-class models through Vercel AI Gateway, such as GLM 5.3 Flash at $0.10 in and $0.40 out, all with 1M context.

For coding agents, StreamLake offers a specialized model and a subscription. Particle offers low per-token prices on general Flash models, with cache reads at $0.03 per million, and no new contract for teams already on Vercel's gateway. StreamLake's constraints are yuan-first pricing and China data residency. Particle's are a tiny catalog, little track record and slow latency on some listings, like 3.5 seconds on DeepSeek V4.1 Flash. Western teams wanting cheap tokens can try Particle. Teams in China wanting a coding plan fit StreamLake.

## What each one does

### StreamLake

StreamLake is the AI cloud brand of Kuaishou, the Chinese short-video company behind the Kling video models. It sells model-as-a-service inference and bare-metal compute to internet businesses, drawing on the infrastructure Kuaishou built to serve video at massive scale. Its developer site offers APIs, SDKs and integration guides aimed at taking teams from testing to production.

### 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 StreamLake for

- A dedicated agentic coding model on a subscription
- KAT-Coder inside Claude Code
- Chinese businesses that need domestic capacity

### Choose Particle.AI for

- Cheap Flash-class calls with 1M context
- Trying a new route inside Vercel AI Gateway
- High-volume DeepSeek and GLM Flash workloads

## At a glance

| Attribute | StreamLake | Particle.AI |
|---|---|---|
| Model access | Proprietary coding models | Open weights |
| Flagship models | KAT-Coder-Pro V2.5, KAT-Coder-Air | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, GLM 5.3 Flash |
| Speed | - | ~157 tok/s on DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| Price | Per token or KwaiKAT Coding Plan | $0.10 in, $0.40 out (GLM 5.3 Flash) |
| Customization | - | - |
| Deployment | MaaS API, bare metal | Via Vercel AI Gateway |
| Long context | - | 1M |

## FAQ

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

A big-company AI cloud with a closed coding model against an early startup serving cheap open Flash models through Vercel AI Gateway.

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

A dedicated agentic coding model on a subscription; KAT-Coder inside Claude Code; Chinese businesses that need domestic capacity.

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

Cheap Flash-class calls with 1M context; Trying a new route inside Vercel AI Gateway; High-volume DeepSeek and GLM Flash workloads.

### Is StreamLake or Particle.AI cheaper?

StreamLake: Per token or KwaiKAT Coding Plan. Particle.AI: $0.10 in, $0.40 out (GLM 5.3 Flash). The cheaper choice depends on the model and workload.

## Running long-horizon agents?

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

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