AllocateWhat is inference latency and TTFT?
Inference latency is how long a model takes to respond. Time to first token (TTFT) measures when output starts appearing; total latency measures when it finishes. Production targets in 2026: under 500ms TTFT for interactive use, with fast models serving complete short answers in under 300ms.
Latency compounds in agent loops: a five-step agent at 900ms per step feels broken, at 250ms it feels instant. That is why routing sends most steps to fast models and reserves slow reasoners for the hard ones.
Median numbers hide tails; watch P95 and P99. A platform’s real quality shows in its worst percentile under load.
Related terms
Allocate is the cloud inference platform for companies that want to train and run their own models.