diff --git a/metrics_api/Gemfile b/metrics_api/Gemfile
index 1868cf7f2..a1e53ddc5 100644
--- a/metrics_api/Gemfile
+++ b/metrics_api/Gemfile
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ eval_gemfile '../contrib/Gemfile.shared'
 
 group :test, :development do
   gem 'opentelemetry-api', path: '../api', require: false
+  gem 'opentelemetry-metrics-sdk', path: '../metrics_sdk', require: false
   gem 'pry'
   gem 'pry-byebug' unless RUBY_ENGINE == 'jruby'
 end
diff --git a/metrics_api/Rakefile b/metrics_api/Rakefile
index d202bf4c4..a6ac35404 100644
--- a/metrics_api/Rakefile
+++ b/metrics_api/Rakefile
@@ -29,3 +29,18 @@ default_tasks =
   end
 
 task default: default_tasks
+
+namespace :bench do
+  bench_files = FileList['benchmarks/*_bench.rb']
+
+  bench_files.each do |file|
+    name = File.basename(file, '_bench.rb')
+    desc "Run #{name} benchmarks"
+    task name do
+      sh "bundle exec ruby #{file}"
+    end
+  end
+
+  desc 'Run all benchmarks'
+  task all: bench_files.map { |f| File.basename(f, '_bench.rb') }
+end
diff --git a/metrics_api/benchmarks/README.md b/metrics_api/benchmarks/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f07b8e3b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/metrics_api/benchmarks/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,137 @@
+# Metrics API Benchmarks
+
+This directory contains [benchmark-ips](https://github.com/evanphx/benchmark-ips) benchmarks for the OpenTelemetry Ruby Metrics API and SDK. They cover no-op API recording, SDK instrument recording, attribute cardinality, views, exemplar filters, exemplar reservoirs, and aggregations.
+
+## Running the Benchmarks
+
+Run from the `metrics_api/` directory, adding each sibling gem's `lib/` to the load path:
+
+```bash
+bundle exec ruby benchmarks/aggregation_bench.rb
+bundle exec ruby benchmarks/attributes_bench.rb
+bundle exec ruby benchmarks/exemplar_filter_bench.rb
+bundle exec ruby benchmarks/exemplar_reservoir_bench.rb
+bundle exec ruby benchmarks/instrument_bench.rb
+bundle exec ruby benchmarks/noop_instrument_bench.rb
+bundle exec ruby benchmarks/view_bench.rb
+```
+
+## Benchmark Files
+
+| File | What it measures |
+| ---- | --------------- |
+| `instrument_bench.rb` | Real SDK instruments — all synchronous types (counter, histogram, gauge, up-down counter) |
+| `noop_instrument_bench.rb` | No-op API instruments only — micro-benchmark of the lightest possible instrumentation layer |
+| `attributes_bench.rb` | How attribute set size (0 / 1 / 3 / 8 keys) affects SDK counter throughput |
+| `view_bench.rb` | Impact of zero, one matching, one non-matching, and three matching registered views |
+| `exemplar_filter_bench.rb` | Exemplar filter cost (`AlwaysOff` / `AlwaysOn` / `TraceBased`) on SDK counter |
+| `exemplar_reservoir_bench.rb` | Exemplar reservoir cost (`Noop` / `SimpleFixedSize` / `AlignedHistogramBucket`) with `AlwaysOn` filter |
+| `aggregation_bench.rb` | Histogram recording throughput across all five aggregations (`Drop`, `Sum`, `LastValue`, `ExplicitBucketHistogram`, `ExponentialBucketHistogram`) |
+
+## Sample Run
+
+### System Specifications
+
+**OS Information:**
+
+- Distribution: Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS (Noble Numbat)
+- Kernel: Linux 6.14.0-1018-aws
+- Architecture: x86_64
+
+**Memory:**
+
+- Total: ~3.91 GB (4,006,000 kB)
+- Available: ~3.40 GB (3,470,496 kB)
+- Free: ~3.13 GB (3,195,972 kB)
+
+**CPU:**
+
+- Processor: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2686 v4 @ 2.30GHz
+- Cores: 2
+- Threads: 2
+- Virtualization: Xen (Full)
+- Cache: L1d 64 KiB × 2 | L1i 64 KiB × 2 | L2 512 KiB × 2 | L3 45 MiB
+
+**Runtime:**
+
+- Ruby: 3.4.0dev (2024-12-25 master f450108330) +PRISM [x86_64-linux]
+
+### Benchmark Results
+
+#### Aggregation Benchmarks
+
+`bundle exec ruby benchmarks/aggregation_bench.rb`
+
+| Aggregation Type | Throughput | Time/Op | Relative Performance |
+| --- | --- | --- | --- |
+| Sum | 172,228.5 i/s | 5.81 μs/i | **Fastest** |
+| Drop | 163,185.4 i/s | 6.13 μs/i | 1.06x slower |
+| LastValue | 155,601.6 i/s | 6.43 μs/i | 1.11x slower |
+| ExplicitBucketHistogram | 153,229.4 i/s | 6.53 μs/i | 1.12x slower |
+| ExponentialBucketHistogram | 83,628.0 i/s | 11.96 μs/i | 2.06x slower |
+
+#### Attribute Cardinality (SDK Counter)
+
+`bundle exec ruby benchmarks/attributes_bench.rb`
+
+| Attribute Count | Throughput | Time/Op | Relative Performance |
+| --- | --- | --- | --- |
+| No attrs (0) | 235,949.5 i/s | 4.24 μs/i | **Fastest** |
+| Small attrs (1) | 223,849.7 i/s | 4.47 μs/i | 1.05x slower |
+| Medium attrs (3) | 216,702.4 i/s | 4.61 μs/i | 1.09x slower |
+| Large attrs (8) | 197,824.3 i/s | 5.05 μs/i | 1.19x slower |
+
+#### Exemplar Filters
+
+`bundle exec ruby benchmarks/exemplar_filter_bench.rb`
+
+| Filter Type | Throughput | Time/Op | Relative Performance |
+| --- | --- | --- | --- |
+| AlwaysOff | 227,492.0 i/s | 4.40 μs/i | **Fastest** |
+| TraceBased | 211,242.6 i/s | 4.73 μs/i | 1.08x slower |
+| AlwaysOn | 133,263.6 i/s | 7.50 μs/i | 1.71x slower |
+
+#### Exemplar Reservoirs
+
+`bundle exec ruby benchmarks/exemplar_reservoir_bench.rb`
+
+| Instrument | Reservoir Type | Throughput | Time/Op | Relative Performance |
+| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
+| Counter | SimpleFixedSize | 126,669.7 i/s | 7.89 μs/i | **Fastest** |
+| Histogram | SimpleFixedSize | 118,602.8 i/s | 8.43 μs/i | 1.07x slower |
+| Histogram | AlignedHistogramBucket | 113,535.5 i/s | 8.81 μs/i | 1.12x slower |
+| Counter | Noop | 25,391.0 i/s | 39.38 μs/i | 4.99x slower |
+| Histogram | Noop | 25,329.6 i/s | 39.48 μs/i | 5.00x slower |
+
+#### Synchronous Instruments (SDK)
+
+`bundle exec ruby benchmarks/instrument_bench.rb`
+
+| Instrument | Throughput | Time/Op | Relative Performance |
+| --- | --- | --- | --- |
+| up_down_counter#add | 225,684.1 i/s | 4.43 μs/i | **Fastest** |
+| counter#add | 222,590.0 i/s | 4.49 μs/i | ~Same |
+| gauge#record | 202,016.1 i/s | 4.95 μs/i | 1.12x slower |
+| histogram#record | 199,490.0 i/s | 5.01 μs/i | 1.13x slower |
+
+#### No-Op Instruments (API)
+
+`bundle exec ruby benchmarks/noop_instrument_bench.rb`
+
+| Instrument | Throughput | Time/Op | Relative Performance |
+| --- | --- | --- | --- |
+| noop up_down_counter#add | 4,342,256.4 i/s | 230.30 ns/i | **Fastest** |
+| noop counter#add | 4,334,817.2 i/s | 230.69 ns/i | ~Same |
+| noop gauge#record | 4,331,789.5 i/s | 230.85 ns/i | ~Same |
+| noop histogram#record | 4,329,196.6 i/s | 230.99 ns/i | ~Same |
+
+#### View Impact on Performance
+
+`bundle exec ruby benchmarks/view_bench.rb`
+
+| Views | Throughput | Time/Op | Relative Performance |
+| --- | --- | --- | --- |
+| No views | 225,245.4 i/s | 4.44 μs/i | **Fastest** |
+| 1 non-matching | 224,709.9 i/s | 4.45 μs/i | ~Same |
+| 1 matching | 169,952.5 i/s | 5.88 μs/i | 1.33x slower |
+| 3 matching | 62,762.3 i/s | 15.93 μs/i | 3.59x slower |
diff --git a/metrics_api/benchmarks/aggregation_bench.rb b/metrics_api/benchmarks/aggregation_bench.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4614772bd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/metrics_api/benchmarks/aggregation_bench.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+# Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+require_relative 'bench_helper'
+
+def histogram_with_agg(aggregation)
+  provider = OpenTelemetry::SDK::Metrics::MeterProvider.new
+  provider.add_view('bench.agg.histogram', aggregation: aggregation)
+  provider.add_metric_reader(new_reader)
+  provider.meter('bench').create_histogram('bench.agg.histogram')
+end
+
+explicit_hist    = histogram_with_agg(Agg::ExplicitBucketHistogram.new)
+exponential_hist = histogram_with_agg(Agg::ExponentialBucketHistogram.new)
+sum_hist         = histogram_with_agg(Agg::Sum.new)
+last_value_hist  = histogram_with_agg(Agg::LastValue.new)
+drop_hist        = histogram_with_agg(Agg::Drop.new)
+
+Benchmark.ips do |x|
+  x.report('histogram ExplicitBucketHistogram')    { explicit_hist.record(42) }
+  x.report('histogram ExponentialBucketHistogram') { exponential_hist.record(42) }
+  x.report('histogram Sum aggregation')            { sum_hist.record(42) }
+  x.report('histogram LastValue aggregation')      { last_value_hist.record(42) }
+  x.report('histogram Drop aggregation')           { drop_hist.record(42) }
+  x.compare!
+end
diff --git a/metrics_api/benchmarks/attributes_bench.rb b/metrics_api/benchmarks/attributes_bench.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bac355df2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/metrics_api/benchmarks/attributes_bench.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+# Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+require_relative 'bench_helper'
+
+ATTRS_NONE   = {}.freeze
+ATTRS_SMALL  = { 'env' => 'prod' }.freeze
+ATTRS_MEDIUM = { 'http.method' => 'GET', 'http.status_code' => 200, 'http.route' => '/api/users' }.freeze
+ATTRS_LARGE  = {
+  'http.method' => 'GET',
+  'http.status_code' => 200,
+  'http.route' => '/api/users',
+  'net.host.name' => 'example.com',
+  'net.host.port' => 443,
+  'http.scheme' => 'https',
+  'http.flavor' => '1.1',
+  'http.user_agent' => 'Ruby/3.3'
+}.freeze
+
+puts "\n#{'=' * 60}"
+puts '= Attribute cardinality (SDK counter)'
+puts '=' * 60
+
+card_counter = build_sdk_meter.create_counter('bench.cardinality.counter')
+
+Benchmark.ips do |x|
+  x.report('counter#add (no attrs)')     { card_counter.add(1, attributes: ATTRS_NONE) }
+  x.report('counter#add (small attrs)')  { card_counter.add(1, attributes: ATTRS_SMALL) }
+  x.report('counter#add (medium attrs)') { card_counter.add(1, attributes: ATTRS_MEDIUM) }
+  x.report('counter#add (large attrs)')  { card_counter.add(1, attributes: ATTRS_LARGE) }
+  x.compare!
+end
diff --git a/metrics_api/benchmarks/bench_helper.rb b/metrics_api/benchmarks/bench_helper.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3aa407926
--- /dev/null
+++ b/metrics_api/benchmarks/bench_helper.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+# Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+require 'benchmark/ips'
+require 'opentelemetry-metrics-api'
+require 'opentelemetry/sdk/metrics'
+
+OpenTelemetry.logger = Logger.new(File::NULL)
+
+Agg    = OpenTelemetry::SDK::Metrics::Aggregation
+Ex     = OpenTelemetry::SDK::Metrics::Exemplar
+Export = OpenTelemetry::SDK::Metrics::Export
+
+def new_reader
+  Export::InMemoryMetricPullExporter.new
+end
+
+def counter_with(exemplar_filter:, exemplar_reservoir: nil)
+  meter = build_sdk_meter(exemplar_filter: exemplar_filter)
+  meter.create_counter('bench.exemplar.counter', exemplar_reservoir: exemplar_reservoir)
+end
+
+def histogram_with(exemplar_filter:, exemplar_reservoir: nil)
+  meter = build_sdk_meter(exemplar_filter: exemplar_filter)
+  meter.create_histogram('bench.exemplar.histogram', exemplar_reservoir: exemplar_reservoir)
+end
+
+def build_sdk_meter(exemplar_filter: nil, views: [])
+  provider = OpenTelemetry::SDK::Metrics::MeterProvider.new
+  provider.enable_exemplar_filter(exemplar_filter: exemplar_filter) if exemplar_filter
+  views.each { |(name, opts)| provider.add_view(name, **opts) }
+  provider.add_metric_reader(new_reader)
+  provider.meter('bench')
+end
diff --git a/metrics_api/benchmarks/exemplar_filter_bench.rb b/metrics_api/benchmarks/exemplar_filter_bench.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8dd516a3c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/metrics_api/benchmarks/exemplar_filter_bench.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+# Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+require_relative 'bench_helper'
+
+always_off_counter  = counter_with(exemplar_filter: Ex::AlwaysOffExemplarFilter)
+always_on_counter   = counter_with(exemplar_filter: Ex::AlwaysOnExemplarFilter)
+trace_based_counter = counter_with(exemplar_filter: Ex::TraceBasedExemplarFilter)
+
+Benchmark.ips do |x|
+  x.report('counter#add AlwaysOff filter')  { always_off_counter.add(1) }
+  x.report('counter#add AlwaysOn filter')   { always_on_counter.add(1) }
+  x.report('counter#add TraceBased filter') { trace_based_counter.add(1) }
+  x.compare!
+end
diff --git a/metrics_api/benchmarks/exemplar_reservoir_bench.rb b/metrics_api/benchmarks/exemplar_reservoir_bench.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..eb7d1360f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/metrics_api/benchmarks/exemplar_reservoir_bench.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+# Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+require_relative 'bench_helper'
+
+noop_res_counter   = counter_with(exemplar_filter: Ex::AlwaysOnExemplarFilter,
+                                  exemplar_reservoir: Ex::NoopExemplarReservoir.new)
+simple_res_counter = counter_with(exemplar_filter: Ex::AlwaysOnExemplarFilter,
+                                  exemplar_reservoir: Ex::SimpleFixedSizeExemplarReservoir.new)
+
+aligned_histogram = histogram_with(exemplar_filter: Ex::AlwaysOnExemplarFilter,
+                                   exemplar_reservoir: Ex::AlignedHistogramBucketExemplarReservoir.new)
+simple_histogram  = histogram_with(exemplar_filter: Ex::AlwaysOnExemplarFilter,
+                                   exemplar_reservoir: Ex::SimpleFixedSizeExemplarReservoir.new)
+noop_histogram    = histogram_with(exemplar_filter: Ex::AlwaysOnExemplarFilter,
+                                   exemplar_reservoir: Ex::NoopExemplarReservoir.new)
+
+Benchmark.ips do |x|
+  x.report('counter  Noop reservoir')             { noop_res_counter.add(1) }
+  x.report('counter  SimpleFixedSize reservoir')  { simple_res_counter.add(1) }
+  x.report('histogram AlignedHistogramBucket')    { aligned_histogram.record(42) }
+  x.report('histogram SimpleFixedSize reservoir') { simple_histogram.record(42) }
+  x.report('histogram Noop reservoir')            { noop_histogram.record(42) }
+  x.compare!
+end
diff --git a/metrics_api/benchmarks/instrument_bench.rb b/metrics_api/benchmarks/instrument_bench.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ac25a5fdf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/metrics_api/benchmarks/instrument_bench.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+# Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+require_relative 'bench_helper'
+
+sdk_meter     = build_sdk_meter
+sdk_counter   = sdk_meter.create_counter('bench.sdk.counter')
+sdk_histogram = sdk_meter.create_histogram('bench.sdk.histogram')
+sdk_gauge     = sdk_meter.create_gauge('bench.sdk.gauge')
+sdk_updown    = sdk_meter.create_up_down_counter('bench.sdk.updown')
+
+Benchmark.ips do |x|
+  x.report('SDK counter#add')                 { sdk_counter.add(1) }
+  x.report('SDK histogram#record')            { sdk_histogram.record(1) }
+  x.report('SDK gauge#record')                { sdk_gauge.record(1) }
+  x.report('SDK up_down_counter#add')         { sdk_updown.add(1) }
+  x.compare!
+end
diff --git a/metrics_api/benchmarks/noop_instrument_bench.rb b/metrics_api/benchmarks/noop_instrument_bench.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e574f2fca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/metrics_api/benchmarks/noop_instrument_bench.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+# Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+require_relative 'bench_helper'
+
+noop_meter     = OpenTelemetry::Metrics::Meter.new
+noop_counter   = noop_meter.create_counter('bench.noop.counter')
+noop_histogram = noop_meter.create_histogram('bench.noop.histogram')
+noop_gauge     = noop_meter.create_gauge('bench.noop.gauge')
+noop_updown    = noop_meter.create_up_down_counter('bench.noop.updown')
+
+Benchmark.ips do |x|
+  x.report('noop counter#add')                 { noop_counter.add(1) }
+  x.report('noop histogram#record')            { noop_histogram.record(1) }
+  x.report('noop gauge#record')                { noop_gauge.record(1) }
+  x.report('noop up_down_counter#add')         { noop_updown.add(1) }
+  x.compare!
+end
diff --git a/metrics_api/benchmarks/view_bench.rb b/metrics_api/benchmarks/view_bench.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e454438e8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/metrics_api/benchmarks/view_bench.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+# Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+require_relative 'bench_helper'
+
+# No view registered
+no_view_counter = build_sdk_meter.create_counter('bench.view.counter')
+
+# One matching view
+match_counter = build_sdk_meter(
+  views: [['bench.view.counter', { aggregation: Agg::Sum.new }]]
+).create_counter('bench.view.counter')
+
+# One non-matching view (different instrument name)
+nomatch_counter = build_sdk_meter(
+  views: [['other.counter', { aggregation: Agg::Sum.new }]]
+).create_counter('bench.view.counter')
+
+# Three matching views
+multi_provider = OpenTelemetry::SDK::Metrics::MeterProvider.new
+3.times { multi_provider.add_view('bench.view.counter', aggregation: Agg::Sum.new) }
+multi_provider.add_metric_reader(new_reader)
+multi_counter = multi_provider.meter('bench').create_counter('bench.view.counter')
+
+Benchmark.ips do |x|
+  x.report('counter#add (no view registered)')  { no_view_counter.add(1) }
+  x.report('counter#add (1 non-matching view)') { nomatch_counter.add(1) }
+  x.report('counter#add (1 matching view)')     { match_counter.add(1) }
+  x.report('counter#add (3 matching views)')    { multi_counter.add(1) }
+  x.compare!
+end
diff --git a/metrics_api/opentelemetry-metrics-api.gemspec b/metrics_api/opentelemetry-metrics-api.gemspec
index 04766ca4a..71bb44cc0 100644
--- a/metrics_api/opentelemetry-metrics-api.gemspec
+++ b/metrics_api/opentelemetry-metrics-api.gemspec
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |spec|
 
   spec.add_dependency 'opentelemetry-api', '~> 1.0'
 
+  spec.add_development_dependency 'benchmark-ips', '~> 2.14.0'
   spec.add_development_dependency 'minitest', '~> 5.0'
   spec.add_development_dependency 'opentelemetry-test-helpers', '~> 0.3.0'
   spec.add_development_dependency 'rake', '~> 13.3'