Head-to-head comparison
Together AIvsFireworks AI
The two leading open-model inference platforms in 2026. Together AI bet on raw throughput; Fireworks bet on production reliability and JSON-mode quality.
At a glance
| Together AI | Fireworks AI | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Coding | Coding |
| Function | Open-model inference | Open-model inference |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting price | Free credits, then $0.20-$5/M tokens | Free $1 credit, then $0.20-$5/M tokens |
| Released | June 2022 | September 2022 |
Together AI
Pros
- Fastest inference for Llama 4 / Qwen3
- Pricing 60-80% cheaper than frontier closed models
- Strong fine-tuning tooling
Cons
- Only open-weight models — no GPT or Claude
- Closed-source models still better at some tasks
- Some bleeding-edge models added late
Fireworks AI
Pros
- Best open-model function calling
- JSON mode genuinely reliable
- Strong enterprise reliability
Cons
- Slightly slower than Together AI on raw throughput
- Smaller model catalog than OpenRouter
- Pricing parity with Together — not the cheapest
Which one should you pick?
Pick Together AI if
You need the fastest possible tokens-per-second on open models like Llama 4, Qwen3, or DeepSeek V3. Together AI is consistently the speed leader.
See Together AI details →Pick Fireworks AI if
You're building agentic workflows and care about function-calling reliability, structured JSON output, and enterprise SLAs.
See Fireworks AI details →Bottom line
Together AI for speed. Fireworks AI for reliability. Pricing is similar; the technical differentiator drives the choice.