I Tested 4 LLM APIs for Coding Work — All 20 Runs Passed, But Speed Varies 10x

Four different large language model (LLM) API providers were tested for coding work, with all 20 runs passing on the first attempt. The variety in pricing and speed shows the shifting landscape of free LLM API options in 2026. Three free-tier providers and one paid Claude plan were used, with the results revealing significant variations in speed and cost.

OpenRouter's MiniMax M3 model, when accessed via their free tier, emerged as the fastest option with a mean wall time of 2.9 seconds. This speed makes it suitable for interactive coding-agent work. In contrast, the Cline API, which is essentially a single-billed aggregator routing to Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google, provided the fastest performance among paid options with a mean time of 7.4 seconds. The higher cost of the Claude plan did not seem justified when compared to the more affordable OpenRouter option.

Groq stood out for its highest sustained throughput, achieving 511 tokens per second during generation. However, this performance came with a trade-off of a longer time-to-first-token (TTFT) of 5.8 seconds, likely due to one long-thinking block. NVIDIA's NIM, on the other hand, provided the slowest free-tier performance with a mean wall time of 27 seconds and a TTFT of 23 seconds. This model's heavy reliance on thinking tokens made it less suitable for interactive use.

The test revealed a significant difference in speed, ranging from 1.8x to 9x faster among the various providers. For interactive coding agents, a response time of 3 seconds is considered responsive, while 27 seconds feels broken. This speed gap is more critical than the price difference for small teams or individual users, as the $0 vs. ~$0.012 per task price gap is negligible at a personal scale.

In conclusion, for personal coding tasks where latency is crucial, OpenRouter and Groq emerge as the best choices due to their fast response times. For those seeking the best overall quality and willing to pay a premium, the Cline API is a strong recommendation. This test highlights the evolving landscape of free LLM API options and the importance of considering both cost and speed when selecting an appropriate provider for coding work.