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GroqCloud

by Groq, Inc. · API service · also known as Groq, Groq API, console.groq.com

Low-latency hosted inference API for open-weight models on Groq's LPU hardware, OpenAI-compatible, with speech-to-text, text-to-speech, tool use and batch tiers

ProprietaryUsage-basedEnterpriseCloud
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Link verified Nov 2, 2026

Overview

GroqCloud is Groq's hosted inference service, built around the company's LPU accelerators and positioned on response speed. The API is OpenAI-compatible, so existing clients work by changing the base URL and key, and official Python and JavaScript libraries are provided. The console documents text generation with open-weight models (the docs reference OpenAI's gpt-oss family among others), speech-to-text, text-to-speech, vision and OCR, reasoning controls, structured outputs, prompt caching and tool use including built-in tools, remote MCP servers and local tool calling. Service tiers separate performance, flex and batch processing, and projects and spend limits handle organization controls.

Groq does not publish a stable pricing URL at the moment of review (groq.com/pricing redirects to the homepage), so pricing is treated as usage-based without further detail. In December 2025 Nvidia entered a licensing agreement covering Groq's chip technology and hired part of its leadership, while GroqCloud continued as an independent service; secondary reporting on the aftermath varies, so the long-term roadmap deserves monitoring. GroqCloud suits latency-sensitive applications on open models; it does not host the largest proprietary models and model availability has changed over time.

Editorial note on uncertainty. groq.com/pricing redirected to the homepage during review, so no pricing_url is recorded and pricing details are unverified. Statements about the Nvidia licensing deal come from press coverage, not from a Groq page loaded during research.

Capabilities

  • OpenAI-compatible chat completions on open-weight models
  • Speech-to-text and text-to-speech endpoints
  • Vision and OCR inputs
  • Structured outputs, prompt caching and reasoning controls
  • Tool use with built-in tools, remote MCP and local tools
  • Performance, flex and batch service tiers with spend limits

Typical workflows

  1. Point an OpenAI SDK at GroqCloud for a low-latency chat backend
  2. Transcribe audio files through the speech endpoint
  3. Run large batch jobs at the batch tier

Strengths

  • Low latency on supported models
  • Drop-in OpenAI compatibility
  • Speech and vision in one API

Limitations

  • Catalog limited to selected open-weight models
  • Pricing page not stable at time of review
  • Corporate transition in 2025–2026 adds uncertainty about direction

Prerequisites

  • GroqCloud account and API key

Who it is for

  • Developers building latency-sensitive assistants
  • Teams running open models without their own GPUs

Alternatives & comparison

  • Mistral AI

    French model provider offering open-weight and proprietary models through the Studio API, OCR and speech models, the Vibe agent for productivity and coding, and self-deployment options

    MixedFreemium
  • OpenAI API

    OpenAI's hosted developer platform: Responses and Chat Completions APIs, Realtime voice, embeddings, images, audio, fine-tuning, evals and managed agents

    ProprietaryUsage-based
  • OpenRouter

    Unified API gateway to hundreds of models from many providers with automatic fallbacks, credit-based pass-through billing, BYOK, free models and data-policy routing

    ProprietaryFreemium
  • Together AI

    Cloud platform for open-source models: serverless and dedicated inference, fine-tuning, GPU clusters, batch jobs and code sandboxes behind an OpenAI-compatible API

    ProprietaryUsage-based
Compare GroqCloud with its alternatives →

Sources & verification

Primary sources consulted for this record. Claims are tied to the fields each source supports; the automated link checker re-verifies every URL on a schedule.

  • Official documentation
    GroqCloud documentation

    https://console.groq.com/docs/overview

    Supports: capabilities, interfaces, languages

    checked Nov 1, 2026
  • Official site
    Groq

    https://groq.com/

    Supports: name, summary

    checked Nov 1, 2026
  • Repository
    groq-python (Apache-2.0)

    https://github.com/groq/groq-python

    Supports: languages

    checked Nov 1, 2026
Confidence
Medium
Reviewed
Nov 1, 2026
Links
Verified · Nov 2, 2026

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