diff --git a/litgpt/api.py b/litgpt/api.py
index c1e61b2a66..5996700a62 100644
--- a/litgpt/api.py
+++ b/litgpt/api.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 # This file implements the LitGPT Python API
 from pathlib import Path
 import sys
+import time
 from typing import Any, List, Literal, Optional, Union
 
 import torch
@@ -228,9 +229,6 @@ def distribute(
         if generate_strategy == "sequential" and accelerator not in ("cuda", "gpu"):
             raise NotImplementedError("generate_strategy='sequential' is only supported for accelerator='cuda'|'gpu.")
 
-        #if generate_strategy == "sequential" and init != "pretrained":
-        #    raise NotImplementedError("generate_strategy='sequential' is only supported for init='pretrained'.")
-
         num_devices = calculate_number_of_devices(devices)
 
         if generate_strategy is None and num_devices > 1:
@@ -353,9 +351,7 @@ def generate(
                 We plan to resolve this in the future.
         """
         assert self.model is not None
-
-        prompt = self.prompt_style.apply(prompt)
-        input_ids = self.preprocessor.encode(prompt)
+        input_ids = self._text_to_token_ids(prompt)
         prompt_length = input_ids.size(0)
         max_returned_tokens = prompt_length + max_new_tokens
 
@@ -389,7 +385,7 @@ def iterator():
                 yield from outputs
             else:
                 for output in outputs:
-                    yield self.preprocessor.tokenizer.decode(output)
+                    yield self.preprocessor.decode(output)
             return
 
         if stream:
@@ -411,7 +407,45 @@ def iterator():
         elif return_as_token_ids:
             return outputs
         else:
-            return self.preprocessor.tokenizer.decode(outputs)
+            return self.preprocessor.decode(outputs)
+
+    def _text_to_token_ids(self, prompt):
+        """Utility method to convert a prompt text to token IDs"""
+        prompt = self.prompt_style.apply(prompt)
+        input_ids = self.preprocessor.encode(prompt)
+        return input_ids
+
+    def benchmark(self, **kwargs):
+        """
+        A wrapper around the .generate() method to calculate runtime performance.
+
+        Arguments:
+        kwargs: Keyword arguments that are passed to the .generate() method.
+        """
+        benchmark_dict = {}
+
+        time_to_first_token = None
+        t0 = time.perf_counter()
+        outputs = self.generate(**kwargs)
+
+        if kwargs.get("stream", False):
+            gen_outputs = []
+            for e in outputs:
+                if time_to_first_token is None:
+                    t1 = time.perf_counter()
+                    time_to_first_token = t1 - t0
+                gen_outputs.append(e)
+            outputs = "".join(gen_outputs)
+        else:
+            outputs = self.generate(**kwargs, )
+        benchmark_dict["Seconds total"] = time.perf_counter() - t0
+        benchmark_dict["Seconds to first token"] = time_to_first_token
+        benchmark_dict["Tokens generated"] = self.preprocessor.encode(outputs).size(0) - self._text_to_token_ids(kwargs.get("prompt")).size(0)
+        benchmark_dict["Inference speed in tokens/sec"] = benchmark_dict["Tokens generated"] / benchmark_dict["Seconds total"]
+        if self.fabric.device.type == "cuda":
+            benchmark_dict["Total GPU memory allocated in GB"] = torch.cuda.max_memory_allocated() / 1e9
+
+        return outputs, benchmark_dict
 
 
 class Preprocessor:
diff --git a/tests/test_api.py b/tests/test_api.py
index 8b968db030..bf43773553 100644
--- a/tests/test_api.py
+++ b/tests/test_api.py
@@ -145,7 +145,6 @@ def test_more_than_1_device_for_sequential_gpu(tmp_path):
     llm.distribute(devices=2, generate_strategy="sequential")
     assert isinstance(llm.generate("What do llamas eat?"), str)
 
-
     with pytest.raises(NotImplementedError, match="Support for multiple devices is currently only implemented for generate_strategy='sequential'."):
         llm.distribute(devices=2)
 
@@ -199,3 +198,15 @@ def test_invalid_accelerator(tmp_path):
     )
     with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="Invalid accelerator"):
         llm.distribute(accelerator="invalid")
+
+
+def test_returned_benchmark_dir(tmp_path):
+    llm = LLM.load(
+        model="EleutherAI/pythia-14m",
+    )
+
+    text, bench_d = llm.benchmark(prompt="hello world")
+    assert isinstance(bench_d["Inference speed in tokens/sec"], float)
+
+    text, bench_d = llm.benchmark(prompt="hello world", stream=True)
+    assert isinstance(bench_d["Inference speed in tokens/sec"], float)
diff --git a/tutorials/python-api.md b/tutorials/python-api.md
index 3944f3c3f6..87860ce34d 100644
--- a/tutorials/python-api.md
+++ b/tutorials/python-api.md
@@ -122,4 +122,35 @@ print(text)
 
 ```
  Llamas are herbivores and their diet consists mainly of grasses, plants, and leaves.
+```
+
+ 
+## Speed and resource estimates
+
+Use the `.benchmark()` method to compare the computational performance of different settings. The `.benchmark()` method takes the same arguments as the `.generate()` method. For example, we can estimate the speed and GPU memory consumption as follows (the resulting numbers were obtained on an A10G GPU):
+
+```python
+from litgpt.api import LLM
+from pprint import pprint
+
+llm = LLM.load(
+    model="microsoft/phi-2",
+    distribute=None
+)
+
+llm.distribute(fixed_kv_cache_size=500)
+
+text, bench_d = llm.benchmark(prompt="What do llamas eat?", top_k=1, stream=True)
+print(text)
+pprint(bench_d)
+
+
+# Llamas are herbivores and primarily eat grass, leaves, and shrubs. They have a specialized 
+# digestive system that allows them to efficiently extract nutrients from plant material.
+
+# {'Inference speed in tokens/sec': 15.687777681894985,
+#  'Seconds to first token': 0.5756612900004257,
+#  'Seconds total': 1.5935972900006163,
+#  'Tokens generated': 25,
+#  'Total GPU memory allocated in GB': 11.534106624}
 ```
\ No newline at end of file