Groq is an AI inference company that offers dramatically faster large language model inference using its custom Language Processing Unit (LPU) hardware. Groq's API serves open-source models including Llama 3, Mixtral, and Gemma at speeds of 500-800 tokens per second — 10-100x faster than GPU-based inference providers. Groq is used by developers who need low-latency, real-time AI inference for user-facing applications.
Groq
Ultra-fast AI inference with LPU hardware.
Best for: Developers who need the fastest AI inference for latency-sensitive applications where response time matters.
- Free plan
4.6/5 ratingEditorial score 90/100groq.com
Entry plan
Free (rate-limited)
Get started free
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Editorial score90/100
The editorial note
What to know about Groq
Is it right for you?
Who Groq suits
Choose it if
- Developers who need the fastest AI inference for latency-sensitive applications where response time matters.
Look elsewhere if
- Teams needing proprietary frontier models like GPT-4o or Claude for best accuracy — Groq specializes in speed for open-source models, not maximum reasoning capability
What you get
Key features
- LPU-based ultra-fast inference
- Llama 3 (8B and 70B) support
- Mixtral 8x7B and 8x22B
- Gemma 2 9B and 27B
- Whisper large-v3 speech-to-text
- OpenAI-compatible API
- Streaming responses
- Batch processing API
Works with
Integrations7
What it costs
Pricing
| Plan | Price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free (rate-limited)Billed monthly | API access with rate limits — Llama, Mixtral, Gemma models, free playground |
| Pay-as-you-go | From $0.05 / 1M tokensBilled monthly | Llama 3.3 70B from $0.59/1M tokens, Mixtral 8x7B from $0.24/1M — ultra-fast inference |
Prices are recorded from the vendor's public pricing page and can change. Check before you buy.
The trade-off
Pros and cons
Pros
- Fastest publicly available LLM inference — 500-800 tokens/second vs 30-50 on typical GPU APIs
- Supports top open-source models: Llama 3, Mixtral, Gemma, and Whisper
- Free tier with generous rate limits for development and testing
- OpenAI-compatible API — drop-in replacement requiring minimal code changes
- Dramatically improves UX for conversational and real-time AI applications
Cons
- Only supports open-source models — no access to GPT-4, Claude, or Gemini
- Rate limits on free tier can be restrictive for production traffic spikes
- Model selection is smaller than Together AI or Replicate
- Groq hardware availability limits ultimate scale compared to cloud GPU providers
Quick read
At a glance
- Category
- AI Tools
- Pricing model
- Freemium
- Entry plan
- Free (rate-limited)
- Free plan
- Available
- Free trial
- Not listed
- Website
- groq.com
The verdict
Our take on Groq
The fastest AI inference platform — 500 tokens/second on Llama 3 opens possibilities for real-time AI applications that were impossible before.
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