diff --git a/app/api/notifications.py b/app/api/notifications.py
index 7927b255..8b14eafb 100644
--- a/app/api/notifications.py
+++ b/app/api/notifications.py
@@ -452,17 +452,16 @@ async def update_preferences(
             )
 
     try:
+        # Pre-fetch existing preferences for this user to avoid N+1 queries
+        existing_prefs = (
+            db.query(UserNotificationPreference).filter(UserNotificationPreference.owner_id == owner_id).all()
+        )
+
+        # Build a fast lookup dictionary keyed by (event_type, channel_type, target_id)
+        prefs_dict = {(pref.event_type, pref.channel_type, pref.target_id): pref for pref in existing_prefs}
+
         for item in body.preferences:
-            existing = (
-                db.query(UserNotificationPreference)
-                .filter(
-                    UserNotificationPreference.owner_id == owner_id,
-                    UserNotificationPreference.event_type == item.event_type,
-                    UserNotificationPreference.channel_type == item.channel_type,
-                    UserNotificationPreference.target_id == item.target_id,
-                )
-                .first()
-            )
+            existing = prefs_dict.get((item.event_type, item.channel_type, item.target_id))
             if existing:
                 existing.is_enabled = item.is_enabled
             else:
diff --git a/benchmark_notifications.py b/benchmark_notifications.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..dec8b535
--- /dev/null
+++ b/benchmark_notifications.py
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+import json
+import time
+import pytest
+from app.database import get_db
+from app.models import UserNotificationTarget, UserNotificationPreference
+from app.main import app
+from tests.test_notifications_api import _make_client, _OWNER, _cleanup
+import statistics
+
+def run_benchmark(notif_engine, notif_session, client, items_count, iterations=5):
+    # Setup
+    target = UserNotificationTarget(
+        owner_id=_OWNER,
+        channel_type="webhook",
+        name="My Webhook",
+        config=json.dumps({"url": "https://x.com"}),
+    )
+    notif_session.add(target)
+    notif_session.commit()
+    notif_session.refresh(target)
+
+    # Generate big payload
+    preferences = []
+    for i in range(items_count):
+        preferences.append({
+            "event_type": f"event.type.{i}",
+            "channel_type": "webhook",
+            "is_enabled": True,
+            "target_id": target.id,
+        })
+
+    payload = {"preferences": preferences}
+
+    # Warm up
+    client.put("/api/user-notifications/preferences", json=payload)
+
+    times = []
+    for _ in range(iterations):
+        # Alter the values a bit so it's a real update
+        for p in payload["preferences"]:
+            p["is_enabled"] = not p["is_enabled"]
+
+        start = time.time()
+        resp = client.put("/api/user-notifications/preferences", json=payload)
+        end = time.time()
+
+        assert resp.status_code == 200
+        times.append(end - start)
+
+    return statistics.mean(times)
diff --git a/tests/test_notifications_api.py b/tests/test_notifications_api.py
index 32bf94f4..98c56348 100644
--- a/tests/test_notifications_api.py
+++ b/tests/test_notifications_api.py
@@ -830,3 +830,54 @@ class TestUserNotificationService:
 
         result = _send_email_notification({"smtp_host": "smtp.example.com"}, "Title", "Body")
         assert result is False
+
+class TestBenchmark:
+    @pytest.mark.unit
+    def test_update_preferences_benchmark(self, notif_engine, notif_session):
+        import time
+        import statistics
+        from app.main import app
+
+        target = UserNotificationTarget(
+            owner_id=_OWNER,
+            channel_type="webhook",
+            name="My Webhook",
+            config=json.dumps({"url": "https://x.com"}),
+        )
+        notif_session.add(target)
+        notif_session.commit()
+        notif_session.refresh(target)
+
+        client = _make_client(notif_engine, _OWNER)
+        try:
+            items_count = 100
+            preferences = []
+            for i in range(items_count):
+                preferences.append({
+                    "event_type": f"event.type.{i}",
+                    "channel_type": "webhook",
+                    "is_enabled": True,
+                    "target_id": target.id,
+                })
+
+            payload = {"preferences": preferences}
+
+            # Warm up
+            client.put("/api/user-notifications/preferences", json=payload)
+
+            times = []
+            for _ in range(5):
+                # Alter the values a bit so it's a real update
+                for p in payload["preferences"]:
+                    p["is_enabled"] = not p["is_enabled"]
+
+                start = time.time()
+                resp = client.put("/api/user-notifications/preferences", json=payload)
+                end = time.time()
+
+                assert resp.status_code == 200
+                times.append(end - start)
+
+            print(f"\nAverage time: {statistics.mean(times):.4f}s")
+        finally:
+            _cleanup(app)