Groq
Inference cloud that serves open LLMs, speech and TTS models at very high speed through an OpenAI-compatible API
Updated · AppBreakup editorial · Web
Is Groq free?
Free plan, plus paid plans
- GPT OSS 20B price:
- $0.075 per 1M input tokens
- Free plan:
- Yes (Free tier)
Checked on Groq's site Nov 8, 2026
Full Groq pricing and plansSwitch from Groq to
All 4
Together AIPaid
Fireworks AIStarting price: From $0.05 per 1M input tokens
ReplicateH100 GPU price: $5.49 per hour
- Verified facts
- 5 of 5
- Alternatives ranked
- 4
- Approved reviews
- 0
- Visits sent from here
- 0
About Groq
Groq runs AI models on its own inference chips, which it calls LPUs, and sells access to them as a cloud API. Developers use it when response speed matters: chat apps, voice agents and coding tools that need tokens back quickly. The catalogue focuses on open-weight models such as OpenAI's GPT OSS family, Llama, Qwen and Whisper for speech-to-text, plus text-to-speech and moderation models. The API follows the OpenAI format, so most existing code only needs a new base URL and key. There is a free tier with low rate limits for trying things out, and a pay-as-you-go Developer tier that raises limits and adds batch processing, flex processing and spend limits. Larger customers can buy dedicated capacity through sales. The trade-off is choice: Groq hosts a curated list of models rather than thousands, you can't upload arbitrary custom models on the self-serve plans, and some models are only offered to enterprise customers.
Best for: Developers building chat, voice or agent apps where fast token output from open models matters.
Groq pricing (checked Nov 8, 2026)
Each line is quoted from Groq's own site, with the page it came from.
| Plan or term | What it says | Checked | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes (Free tier) | Nov 8, 2026 | console.groq.com |
| Batch discount | 50% off synchronous pricing | Nov 8, 2026 | console.groq.com |
| GPT OSS 20B price | $0.075 per 1M input tokens | Nov 8, 2026 | console.groq.com |
Pros and cons
What works
- Very high output speed on its own inference hardware
- OpenAI-compatible API, so switching takes a base URL change
- Free tier for prototyping, pay-as-you-go above it
- Batch API at half the normal token price
Why people leave
- Curated model list, far smaller than Replicate or Together AI
- Some models are enterprise-only with sales pricing
- Free tier rate limits are tight for real workloads
Groq vs Together AI, Fireworks AI and Replicate
From each app's listing and the prices verified on its own site. A dash means we haven't verified it yet.
| Attribute | Groq | Together AI | Fireworks AI | Replicate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan + paid | Paid | Paid | Paid |
| Verified price | $0.075 per 1M input tokens | — | From $0.05 per 1M input tokens | $5.49 per hour |
| Free plan | Yes (Free tier) | No | No | No |
| Open source | No | No | No | No |
| Self-hostable | No | No | No | No |
| Platforms | Web | Web | Web | Web |
Top Groq alternatives
See all 4- 1Together AI68.8
Much larger catalogue of open models plus fine-tuning and GPU clusters, with the same pay-per-token billing.
- 2Fireworks AI64.8
Fast serverless inference for open models with fine-tuning and the option to deploy your own weights.
- 3Replicate59.4
Better if you also need image, video and audio models or want to deploy a custom model.
- 4
OpenRouter52.6One key for models from many providers, including Groq itself, with automatic fallback between them.
Why people left Groq
In reviewers' own words, from reviews of the apps they moved to. These are their opinions, not ours.
No switching stories yet. If you moved away from Groq, review the app you switched to and tell us why.
Reviews
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Groq: common questions
What is Groq?
Groq: Inference cloud that serves open LLMs, speech and TTS models at very high speed through an OpenAI-compatible API. Best for developers building chat, voice or agent apps where fast token output from open models matters. Available for Web.
Is Groq free?
Groq has a free plan and paid plans. Free plan: Yes (Free tier) (checked on Groq's own site).
How much does Groq cost?
Groq is free with paid plans. Free plan: Yes (Free tier); Batch discount: 50% off synchronous pricing; GPT OSS 20B price: $0.075 per 1M input tokens. Checked on Groq's own site, November 2026.
Is Groq open source?
No, Groq is not open source.
What platforms does Groq run on?
Groq is available for Web.
What are the best alternatives to Groq?
The highest-ranked Groq alternatives right now are Together AI, Fireworks AI and Replicate. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.
Groq vs Together AI: what's the difference?
Groq is free with paid plans; Together AI is a paid product. Both run on Web.