diff --git a/.github/workflows/benchmarks.yml b/.github/workflows/benchmarks.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ef049ad85
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/benchmarks.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+name: CI Checks - Benchmarks
+
+on: [push, pull_request]
+
+concurrency:
+  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
+  cancel-in-progress: true
+
+jobs:
+  benchmark:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    env:
+      TOOLCHAIN: stable
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout source code
+        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+      - name: Install Rust toolchain
+        run: |
+          curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh -s -- -y --profile=minimal --default-toolchain stable
+          rustup override set stable
+      - name: Enable caching for bitcoind
+        id: cache-bitcoind
+        uses: actions/cache@v4
+        with:
+          path: bin/bitcoind-${{ runner.os }}-${{ runner.arch }}
+          key: bitcoind-${{ runner.os }}-${{ runner.arch }}
+      - name: Enable caching for electrs
+        id: cache-electrs
+        uses: actions/cache@v4
+        with:
+          path: bin/electrs-${{ runner.os }}-${{ runner.arch }}
+          key: electrs-${{ runner.os }}-${{ runner.arch }}
+      - name: Download bitcoind/electrs
+        if: "(steps.cache-bitcoind.outputs.cache-hit != 'true' || steps.cache-electrs.outputs.cache-hit != 'true')"
+        run: |
+          source ./scripts/download_bitcoind_electrs.sh
+          mkdir bin
+          mv "$BITCOIND_EXE" bin/bitcoind-${{ runner.os }}-${{ runner.arch }}
+          mv "$ELECTRS_EXE" bin/electrs-${{ runner.os }}-${{ runner.arch }}
+      - name: Set bitcoind/electrs environment variables
+        run: |
+          echo "BITCOIND_EXE=$( pwd )/bin/bitcoind-${{ runner.os }}-${{ runner.arch }}" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+          echo "ELECTRS_EXE=$( pwd )/bin/electrs-${{ runner.os }}-${{ runner.arch }}" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+      - name: Run benchmarks
+        run: |
+          cargo bench
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 51b0329c4..701d9ddb3 100755
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -114,6 +114,7 @@ lightning = { version = "0.2.0-rc1", features = ["std", "_test_utils"] }
 #lightning = { path = "../rust-lightning/lightning", features = ["std", "_test_utils"] }
 proptest = "1.0.0"
 regex = "1.5.6"
+criterion = { version = "0.7.0", features = ["async_tokio"] }
 
 [target.'cfg(not(no_download))'.dev-dependencies]
 electrsd = { version = "0.36.1", default-features = false, features = ["legacy", "esplora_a33e97e1", "corepc-node_27_2"] }
@@ -148,3 +149,7 @@ check-cfg = [
 	"cfg(cln_test)",
 	"cfg(lnd_test)",
 ]
+
+[[bench]]
+name = "payments"
+harness = false
diff --git a/benches/payments.rs b/benches/payments.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..75b7f0513
--- /dev/null
+++ b/benches/payments.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,195 @@
+#[path = "../tests/common/mod.rs"]
+mod common;
+
+use std::time::Instant;
+use std::{sync::Arc, time::Duration};
+
+use bitcoin::hex::DisplayHex;
+use bitcoin::Amount;
+use common::{
+	expect_channel_ready_event, generate_blocks_and_wait, premine_and_distribute_funds,
+	setup_bitcoind_and_electrsd, setup_two_nodes_with_store, TestChainSource,
+};
+use criterion::{criterion_group, criterion_main, Criterion};
+use ldk_node::{Event, Node};
+use lightning_types::payment::{PaymentHash, PaymentPreimage};
+use rand::RngCore;
+use tokio::task::{self};
+
+use crate::common::open_channel_push_amt;
+
+fn spawn_payment(node_a: Arc<Node>, node_b: Arc<Node>, amount_msat: u64) {
+	let mut preimage_bytes = [0u8; 32];
+	rand::thread_rng().fill_bytes(&mut preimage_bytes);
+	let preimage = PaymentPreimage(preimage_bytes);
+	let payment_hash: PaymentHash = preimage.into();
+
+	// Spawn each payment as a separate async task
+	task::spawn(async move {
+		println!("{}: Starting payment", payment_hash.0.as_hex());
+
+		loop {
+			// Pre-check the HTLC slots to try to avoid the performance impact of a failed payment.
+			while node_a.list_channels()[0].next_outbound_htlc_limit_msat == 0 {
+				println!("{}: Waiting for HTLC slots to free up", payment_hash.0.as_hex());
+				tokio::time::sleep(std::time::Duration::from_millis(100)).await;
+			}
+
+			let payment_id = node_a.spontaneous_payment().send_with_preimage(
+				amount_msat,
+				node_b.node_id(),
+				preimage,
+				None,
+			);
+
+			match payment_id {
+				Ok(payment_id) => {
+					println!(
+						"{}: Awaiting payment with id {}",
+						payment_hash.0.as_hex(),
+						payment_id
+					);
+					break;
+				},
+				Err(e) => {
+					println!("{}: Payment attempt failed: {:?}", payment_hash.0.as_hex(), e);
+
+					tokio::time::sleep(std::time::Duration::from_millis(100)).await;
+				},
+			}
+		}
+	});
+}
+
+async fn send_payments(node_a: Arc<Node>, node_b: Arc<Node>) -> std::time::Duration {
+	let start = Instant::now();
+
+	let total_payments = 1000;
+	let amount_msat = 10_000_000;
+
+	let mut success_count = 0;
+	for _ in 0..total_payments {
+		spawn_payment(node_a.clone(), node_b.clone(), amount_msat);
+	}
+
+	while success_count < total_payments {
+		match node_a.next_event_async().await {
+			Event::PaymentSuccessful { payment_id, payment_hash, .. } => {
+				if let Some(id) = payment_id {
+					success_count += 1;
+					println!("{}: Payment with id {:?} completed", payment_hash.0.as_hex(), id);
+				} else {
+					println!("Payment completed (no payment_id)");
+				}
+			},
+			Event::PaymentFailed { payment_id, payment_hash, .. } => {
+				println!("{}: Payment {:?} failed", payment_hash.unwrap().0.as_hex(), payment_id);
+
+				// The payment failed, so we need to respawn it.
+				spawn_payment(node_a.clone(), node_b.clone(), amount_msat);
+			},
+			ref e => {
+				println!("Received non-payment event: {:?}", e);
+			},
+		}
+
+		node_a.event_handled().unwrap();
+	}
+
+	let duration = start.elapsed();
+	println!("Time elapsed: {:?}", duration);
+
+	// Send back the money for the next iteration.
+	let mut preimage_bytes = [0u8; 32];
+	rand::thread_rng().fill_bytes(&mut preimage_bytes);
+	node_b
+		.spontaneous_payment()
+		.send_with_preimage(
+			amount_msat * total_payments,
+			node_a.node_id(),
+			PaymentPreimage(preimage_bytes),
+			None,
+		)
+		.ok()
+		.unwrap();
+
+	duration
+}
+
+fn payment_benchmark(c: &mut Criterion) {
+	// Set up two nodes. Because this is slow, we reuse the same nodes for each sample.
+	let (bitcoind, electrsd) = setup_bitcoind_and_electrsd();
+	let chain_source = TestChainSource::Esplora(&electrsd);
+
+	let (node_a, node_b) = setup_two_nodes_with_store(
+		&chain_source,
+		false,
+		true,
+		false,
+		common::TestStoreType::Sqlite,
+	);
+
+	let runtime =
+		tokio::runtime::Builder::new_multi_thread().worker_threads(4).enable_all().build().unwrap();
+
+	let node_a = Arc::new(node_a);
+	let node_b = Arc::new(node_b);
+
+	// Fund the nodes and setup a channel between them. The criterion function cannot be async, so we need to execute
+	// the setup using a runtime.
+	let node_a_cloned = Arc::clone(&node_a);
+	let node_b_cloned = Arc::clone(&node_b);
+	runtime.block_on(async move {
+		let address_a = node_a_cloned.onchain_payment().new_address().unwrap();
+		let premine_sat = 25_000_000;
+		premine_and_distribute_funds(
+			&bitcoind.client,
+			&electrsd.client,
+			vec![address_a],
+			Amount::from_sat(premine_sat),
+		)
+		.await;
+		node_a_cloned.sync_wallets().unwrap();
+		node_b_cloned.sync_wallets().unwrap();
+		open_channel_push_amt(
+			&node_a_cloned,
+			&node_b_cloned,
+			16_000_000,
+			Some(1_000_000_000),
+			false,
+			&electrsd,
+		)
+		.await;
+		generate_blocks_and_wait(&bitcoind.client, &electrsd.client, 6).await;
+		node_a_cloned.sync_wallets().unwrap();
+		node_b_cloned.sync_wallets().unwrap();
+		expect_channel_ready_event!(node_a_cloned, node_b_cloned.node_id());
+		expect_channel_ready_event!(node_b_cloned, node_a_cloned.node_id());
+	});
+
+	let mut group = c.benchmark_group("payments");
+	group.sample_size(10);
+
+	group.bench_function("payments", |b| {
+		// Use custom timing so that sending back the money at the end of each iteration isn't included in the
+		// measurement.
+		b.to_async(&runtime).iter_custom(|iter| {
+			let node_a = Arc::clone(&node_a);
+			let node_b = Arc::clone(&node_b);
+
+			async move {
+				let mut total = Duration::ZERO;
+				for _i in 0..iter {
+					let node_a = Arc::clone(&node_a);
+					let node_b = Arc::clone(&node_b);
+
+					total += send_payments(node_a, node_b).await;
+				}
+				total
+			}
+		});
+	});
+}
+
+criterion_group!(benches, payment_benchmark);
+criterion_main!(benches);
diff --git a/tests/common/mod.rs b/tests/common/mod.rs
index 058a8df19..dd680488c 100644
--- a/tests/common/mod.rs
+++ b/tests/common/mod.rs
@@ -262,10 +262,23 @@ pub(crate) enum TestChainSource<'a> {
 	BitcoindRestSync(&'a BitcoinD),
 }
 
+#[derive(Clone, Copy)]
+pub(crate) enum TestStoreType {
+	TestSyncStore,
+	Sqlite,
+}
+
+impl Default for TestStoreType {
+	fn default() -> Self {
+		TestStoreType::TestSyncStore
+	}
+}
+
 #[derive(Clone, Default)]
 pub(crate) struct TestConfig {
 	pub node_config: Config,
 	pub log_writer: TestLogWriter,
+	pub store_type: TestStoreType,
 }
 
 macro_rules! setup_builder {
@@ -282,13 +295,28 @@ pub(crate) use setup_builder;
 pub(crate) fn setup_two_nodes(
 	chain_source: &TestChainSource, allow_0conf: bool, anchor_channels: bool,
 	anchors_trusted_no_reserve: bool,
+) -> (TestNode, TestNode) {
+	setup_two_nodes_with_store(
+		chain_source,
+		allow_0conf,
+		anchor_channels,
+		anchors_trusted_no_reserve,
+		TestStoreType::TestSyncStore,
+	)
+}
+
+pub(crate) fn setup_two_nodes_with_store(
+	chain_source: &TestChainSource, allow_0conf: bool, anchor_channels: bool,
+	anchors_trusted_no_reserve: bool, store_type: TestStoreType,
 ) -> (TestNode, TestNode) {
 	println!("== Node A ==");
-	let config_a = random_config(anchor_channels);
+	let mut config_a = random_config(anchor_channels);
+	config_a.store_type = store_type;
 	let node_a = setup_node(chain_source, config_a, None);
 
 	println!("\n== Node B ==");
 	let mut config_b = random_config(anchor_channels);
+	config_b.store_type = store_type;
 	if allow_0conf {
 		config_b.node_config.trusted_peers_0conf.push(node_a.node_id());
 	}
@@ -381,8 +409,14 @@ pub(crate) fn setup_node_for_async_payments(
 
 	builder.set_async_payments_role(async_payments_role).unwrap();
 
-	let test_sync_store = Arc::new(TestSyncStore::new(config.node_config.storage_dir_path.into()));
-	let node = builder.build_with_store(test_sync_store).unwrap();
+	let node = match config.store_type {
+		TestStoreType::TestSyncStore => {
+			let kv_store = Arc::new(TestSyncStore::new(config.node_config.storage_dir_path.into()));
+			builder.build_with_store(kv_store).unwrap()
+		},
+		TestStoreType::Sqlite => builder.build().unwrap(),
+	};
+
 	node.start().unwrap();
 	assert!(node.status().is_running);
 	assert!(node.status().latest_fee_rate_cache_update_timestamp.is_some());