diff --git a/bin/cli/commands/serve.mjs b/bin/cli/commands/serve.mjs
index 32c898d077..9ba6579c3f 100644
--- a/bin/cli/commands/serve.mjs
+++ b/bin/cli/commands/serve.mjs
@@ -63,6 +63,8 @@ export function registerServe(program) {
 }
 
 export async function runServe(opts = {}) {
+  const startedAt = performance.now();
+
   const { isNativeBinaryCompatible } =
     await import("../../../scripts/build/native-binary-compat.mjs");
   const { getNodeRuntimeSupport, getNodeRuntimeWarning } =
@@ -191,7 +193,15 @@ export async function runServe(opts = {}) {
   }
 
   if (opts.noRecovery) {
-    return runWithoutRecovery(serverJs, env, memoryLimit, dashboardPort, apiPort, noOpen);
+    return runWithoutRecovery(
+      serverJs,
+      env,
+      memoryLimit,
+      dashboardPort,
+      apiPort,
+      noOpen,
+      startedAt
+    );
   }
 
   return runWithSupervisor(
@@ -203,6 +213,7 @@ export async function runServe(opts = {}) {
     noOpen,
     opts.log === true,
     opts.maxRestarts ?? 2,
+    startedAt,
     useTray
   );
 }
@@ -223,7 +234,7 @@ function runDaemon(serverJs, env, memoryLimit, dashboardPort, apiPort) {
   console.log(`  \x1b[1mAPI Base:\x1b[0m   ${urlScheme}://localhost:${apiPort}/v1`);
 }
 
-function runWithoutRecovery(serverJs, env, memoryLimit, dashboardPort, apiPort, noOpen) {
+function runWithoutRecovery(serverJs, env, memoryLimit, dashboardPort, apiPort, noOpen, startedAt) {
   // #5238: skip the explicit CLI --max-old-space-size when the user pinned the
   // heap via NODE_OPTIONS (a CLI arg would shadow/override their value).
   const server = spawn("node", [...buildNodeHeapArgs(process.env, memoryLimit), serverJs], {
@@ -244,7 +255,7 @@ function runWithoutRecovery(serverJs, env, memoryLimit, dashboardPort, apiPort,
       (text.includes("Ready") || text.includes("started") || text.includes("listening"))
     ) {
       started = true;
-      onReady(dashboardPort, apiPort, noOpen);
+      onReady(dashboardPort, apiPort, noOpen, startedAt);
     }
   });
 
@@ -278,7 +289,7 @@ function runWithoutRecovery(serverJs, env, memoryLimit, dashboardPort, apiPort,
   setTimeout(() => {
     if (!started) {
       started = true;
-      onReady(dashboardPort, apiPort, noOpen);
+      onReady(dashboardPort, apiPort, noOpen, startedAt);
     }
   }, 15000);
 }
@@ -292,6 +303,7 @@ async function runWithSupervisor(
   noOpen,
   showLog,
   maxRestarts,
+  startedAt,
   useTray = false
 ) {
   if (showLog) process.env.OMNIROUTE_SHOW_LOG = "1";
@@ -329,7 +341,7 @@ async function runWithSupervisor(
     waitForServer(dashboardPort, 60000).then(async (up) => {
       if (up) {
         if (useTray) await maybeStartTray(dashboardPort, apiPort, supervisor);
-        onReady(dashboardPort, apiPort, noOpen);
+        onReady(dashboardPort, apiPort, noOpen, startedAt);
       }
     });
   }
@@ -374,12 +386,16 @@ async function maybeStartTray(port, apiPort, supervisor) {
   }
 }
 
-async function onReady(dashboardPort, apiPort, noOpen) {
+async function onReady(dashboardPort, apiPort, noOpen, startedAt) {
   const dashboardUrl = `${urlScheme}://localhost:${dashboardPort}`;
   const apiUrl = `${urlScheme}://localhost:${apiPort}`;
+  const elapsed =
+    typeof startedAt === "number" && Number.isFinite(startedAt)
+      ? ((performance.now() - startedAt) / 1000).toFixed(1)
+      : "0.0";
 
   console.log(`
-  \x1b[32m✔ OmniRoute is running!\x1b[0m
+  \x1b[32m✔ OmniRoute is running!\x1b[0m \x1b[2m(started in ${elapsed}s)\x1b[0m
 
   \x1b[1m  Dashboard:\x1b[0m  ${dashboardUrl}
   \x1b[1m  API Base:\x1b[0m   ${apiUrl}/v1
diff --git a/tests/unit/cli-serve-startup-time.test.ts b/tests/unit/cli-serve-startup-time.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2d6c418a55
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/cli-serve-startup-time.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+import test from "node:test";
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+
+const fs = await import("node:fs");
+const path = await import("node:path");
+
+const servePath = path.resolve(import.meta.dirname, "../../bin/cli/commands/serve.mjs");
+const serveSource = fs.readFileSync(servePath, "utf-8");
+
+test("serve startup time uses monotonic performance.now()", () => {
+  assert.match(serveSource, /performance\.now\(\)/);
+  assert.match(serveSource, /typeof startedAt === "number"/);
+});
+
+test("serve startup banner includes started in elapsed time", () => {
+  assert.match(serveSource, /started in/);
+});
+
+test("serve daemon mode does not accept startedAt", () => {
+  assert.match(
+    serveSource,
+    /function\s+runDaemon\s*\(\s*serverJs\s*,\s*env\s*,\s*memoryLimit\s*,\s*dashboardPort\s*,\s*apiPort\s*\)/
+  );
+  assert.ok(
+    !/function\s+runDaemon\s*\(\s*serverJs\s*,\s*env\s*,\s*memoryLimit\s*,\s*dashboardPort\s*,\s*apiPort\s*,\s*startedAt\s*\)/.test(
+      serveSource
+    )
+  );
+});
+
+test("serve runWithSupervisor uses startedAt before defaulted useTray", () => {
+  const signatureRegex =
+    /async\s+function\s+runWithSupervisor\s*\([\s\S]*?startedAt\s*,\s*useTray\s*=\s*false\s*\)/;
+  assert.match(
+    serveSource,
+    signatureRegex,
+    "runWithSupervisor should declare startedAt before the defaulted useTray parameter"
+  );
+
+  const callRegex = /runWithSupervisor\s*\([\s\S]*?startedAt\s*,\s*useTray\s*\)/;
+  assert.match(
+    serveSource,
+    callRegex,
+    "runWithSupervisor should be called with startedAt before useTray"
+  );
+});