diff --git a/pkg/streamingpromql/benchmarks/comparison_test.go b/pkg/streamingpromql/benchmarks/comparison_test.go
index 68ac6e63c3c..7d7d7e4dfa0 100644
--- a/pkg/streamingpromql/benchmarks/comparison_test.go
+++ b/pkg/streamingpromql/benchmarks/comparison_test.go
@@ -43,14 +43,14 @@ func BenchmarkQuery(b *testing.B) {
 	cases := TestCases(MetricSizes)
 
 	opts := streamingpromql.NewTestEngineOpts()
-	standardEngine := promql.NewEngine(opts)
+	prometheusEngine := promql.NewEngine(opts)
 	streamingEngine, err := streamingpromql.NewEngine(opts)
 	require.NoError(b, err)
 
 	// Important: the names below must remain in sync with the names used in tools/benchmark-query-engine.
 	engines := map[string]promql.QueryEngine{
-		"standard":  standardEngine,
-		"streaming": streamingEngine,
+		"Prometheus": prometheusEngine,
+		"streaming":  streamingEngine,
 	}
 
 	ctx := user.InjectOrgID(context.Background(), UserID)
@@ -65,12 +65,12 @@ func BenchmarkQuery(b *testing.B) {
 		b.Run(c.Name(), func(b *testing.B) {
 			if !skipCompareResults {
 				// Check both engines produce the same result before running the benchmark.
-				standardResult, standardClose := c.Run(ctx, b, start, end, interval, standardEngine, q)
+				prometheusResult, prometheusClose := c.Run(ctx, b, start, end, interval, prometheusEngine, q)
 				streamingResult, streamingClose := c.Run(ctx, b, start, end, interval, streamingEngine, q)
 
-				requireEqualResults(b, standardResult, streamingResult)
+				requireEqualResults(b, prometheusResult, streamingResult)
 
-				standardClose()
+				prometheusClose()
 				streamingClose()
 			}
 
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ func TestBothEnginesReturnSameResultsForBenchmarkQueries(t *testing.T) {
 	cases := TestCases(metricSizes)
 
 	opts := streamingpromql.NewTestEngineOpts()
-	standardEngine := promql.NewEngine(opts)
+	prometheusEngine := promql.NewEngine(opts)
 	streamingEngine, err := streamingpromql.NewEngine(opts)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
@@ -106,12 +106,12 @@ func TestBothEnginesReturnSameResultsForBenchmarkQueries(t *testing.T) {
 			start := time.Unix(int64((NumIntervals-c.Steps)*intervalSeconds), 0)
 			end := time.Unix(int64(NumIntervals*intervalSeconds), 0)
 
-			standardResult, standardClose := c.Run(ctx, t, start, end, interval, standardEngine, q)
+			prometheusResult, prometheusClose := c.Run(ctx, t, start, end, interval, prometheusEngine, q)
 			streamingResult, streamingClose := c.Run(ctx, t, start, end, interval, streamingEngine, q)
 
-			requireEqualResults(t, standardResult, streamingResult)
+			requireEqualResults(t, prometheusResult, streamingResult)
 
-			standardClose()
+			prometheusClose()
 			streamingClose()
 		})
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/streamingpromql/compare.sh b/pkg/streamingpromql/compare.sh
index 63f2ba6854d..5c7cbbf345d 100755
--- a/pkg/streamingpromql/compare.sh
+++ b/pkg/streamingpromql/compare.sh
@@ -4,14 +4,14 @@
 
 set -euo pipefail
 
-RESULTS_FILE="$1" # Should be the path to a file produced by a command like `go test -run=XXX -bench="BenchmarkQuery" -count=6 -benchmem -timeout=1h .`
+RESULTS_FILE="$1" # Should be the path to a file produced by a command like `go run ./tools/benchmark-query-engine -count=6 | tee output.txt`
 
-STANDARD_RESULTS_FILE=$(mktemp /tmp/standard.XXXX)
+PROMETHEUS_RESULTS_FILE=$(mktemp /tmp/prometheus.XXXX)
 STREAMING_RESULTS_FILE=$(mktemp /tmp/streaming.XXXX)
 
-grep --invert-match "streaming-" "$RESULTS_FILE" | sed -E 's#/standard-[0-9]+##g' > "$STANDARD_RESULTS_FILE"
-grep --invert-match "standard-" "$RESULTS_FILE" | sed -E 's#/streaming-[0-9]+##g' > "$STREAMING_RESULTS_FILE"
+grep --invert-match "streaming-" "$RESULTS_FILE" | sed -E 's#/Prometheus-[0-9]+##g' > "$PROMETHEUS_RESULTS_FILE"
+grep --invert-match "Prometheus-" "$RESULTS_FILE" | sed -E 's#/streaming-[0-9]+##g' > "$STREAMING_RESULTS_FILE"
 
-benchstat "$STANDARD_RESULTS_FILE" "$STREAMING_RESULTS_FILE" | sed "s#$STANDARD_RESULTS_FILE#     standard     #g" | sed "s#$STREAMING_RESULTS_FILE#     streaming     #g"
+benchstat "$PROMETHEUS_RESULTS_FILE" "$STREAMING_RESULTS_FILE" | sed "s#$PROMETHEUS_RESULTS_FILE#     Prometheus     #g" | sed "s#$STREAMING_RESULTS_FILE#     streaming     #g"
 
-rm "$STANDARD_RESULTS_FILE" "$STREAMING_RESULTS_FILE"
+rm "$PROMETHEUS_RESULTS_FILE" "$STREAMING_RESULTS_FILE"
diff --git a/tools/benchmark-query-engine/README.md b/tools/benchmark-query-engine/README.md
index 2ef48ee89a2..96171d4d8f4 100644
--- a/tools/benchmark-query-engine/README.md
+++ b/tools/benchmark-query-engine/README.md
@@ -13,3 +13,5 @@ Usage:
 - `go run . -bench=abc`: run all benchmarks with names matching regex `abc`
 - `go run . -count=X`: run all benchmarks X times
 - `go run . -bench=abc -count=X`: run all benchmarks with names matching regex `abc` X times
+- `go run . -start-ingester`: start ingester and wait (run no benchmarks)
+- `go run . -use-existing-ingester=localhost:1234`: use existing ingester started with `-start-ingester` to reduce startup time
diff --git a/tools/benchmark-query-engine/main.go b/tools/benchmark-query-engine/main.go
index d6d05ddb60d..2ef52290fa3 100644
--- a/tools/benchmark-query-engine/main.go
+++ b/tools/benchmark-query-engine/main.go
@@ -4,11 +4,13 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
+	"errors"
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
 	"log/slog"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
+	"os/signal"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"slices"
 	"strings"
@@ -38,13 +40,16 @@ type app struct {
 	ingesterAddress     string
 	cleanup             func()
 
-	count      uint
-	testFilter string
-	listTests  bool
+	count           uint
+	testFilter      string
+	listTests       bool
+	justRunIngester bool
 }
 
 func (a *app) run() error {
-	a.parseArgs()
+	if err := a.parseArgs(); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
 
 	// Do this early, to avoid doing a bunch of pointless work if the regex is invalid or doesn't match any tests.
 	filteredNames, err := a.filteredTestCaseNames()
@@ -67,6 +72,23 @@ func (a *app) run() error {
 
 	defer os.RemoveAll(a.tempDir)
 
+	if err := a.startIngesterAndLoadData(); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("starting ingester and loading data failed: %w", err)
+	}
+	defer a.cleanup()
+
+	if a.justRunIngester {
+		return a.waitForExit()
+	}
+
+	if err := a.runBenchmarks(filteredNames); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (a *app) runBenchmarks(filteredNames []string) error {
 	if err := a.buildBinary(); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("building binary failed: %w", err)
 	}
@@ -75,11 +97,6 @@ func (a *app) run() error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("benchmark binary failed validation: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	if err := a.startIngesterAndLoadData(); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("starting ingester and loading data failed: %w", err)
-	}
-	defer a.cleanup()
-
 	haveRunAnyTests := false
 
 	for _, name := range filteredNames {
@@ -92,21 +109,43 @@ func (a *app) run() error {
 		}
 	}
 
-	slog.Info("benchmarks completed successfully, cleaning up...")
+	slog.Info("benchmarks completed successfully")
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (a *app) waitForExit() error {
+	// I know it's a bit weird to use string formatting like this when using structured logging, but this produces the clearest message.
+	slog.Info(fmt.Sprintf("ingester running, run benchmark-query-engine with -use-existing-ingester=%v", a.ingesterAddress))
+	slog.Info("press Ctrl+C to exit")
+
+	done := make(chan os.Signal, 1)
+	signal.Notify(done, syscall.SIGINT, syscall.SIGTERM)
+	<-done
+
+	println()
+	slog.Info("interrupt received, shutting down...")
 
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (a *app) parseArgs() {
+func (a *app) parseArgs() error {
 	flag.UintVar(&a.count, "count", 1, "run each benchmark n times")
 	flag.StringVar(&a.testFilter, "bench", ".", "only run benchmarks matching regexp")
 	flag.BoolVar(&a.listTests, "list", false, "list known benchmarks and exit")
+	flag.BoolVar(&a.justRunIngester, "start-ingester", false, "start ingester and wait, run no benchmarks")
+	flag.StringVar(&a.ingesterAddress, "use-existing-ingester", "", "use existing ingester rather than creating a new one")
 
 	if err := flagext.ParseFlagsWithoutArguments(flag.CommandLine); err != nil {
 		fmt.Printf("%v\n", err)
 		flag.Usage()
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
+
+	if a.justRunIngester && a.ingesterAddress != "" {
+		return errors.New("cannot specify both '-start-ingester' and an existing ingester address with '-use-existing-ingester'")
+	}
+
+	return nil
 }
 
 func (a *app) findBenchmarkPackageDir() error {
@@ -181,6 +220,14 @@ func (a *app) validateBinary() error {
 }
 
 func (a *app) startIngesterAndLoadData() error {
+	if a.ingesterAddress != "" {
+		slog.Warn("using existing ingester; not checking data required for benchmark is present", "address", a.ingesterAddress)
+		a.cleanup = func() {
+			// Nothing to do.
+		}
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	slog.Info("starting ingester and loading data...")
 
 	address, cleanup, err := benchmarks.StartIngesterAndLoadData(a.dataDir, benchmarks.MetricSizes)
@@ -211,7 +258,7 @@ func (a *app) allTestCaseNames() []string {
 
 	for _, c := range cases {
 		names = append(names, benchmarkName+"/"+c.Name()+"/streaming")
-		names = append(names, benchmarkName+"/"+c.Name()+"/standard")
+		names = append(names, benchmarkName+"/"+c.Name()+"/Prometheus")
 	}
 
 	return names