# Azure OpenAI in Foundry Models vs GroqCloud (slim)

> Azure OpenAI in Foundry Models scores 80 (A) to GroqCloud's 74.5 (BB) for llm inference. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp · Updated: 2026-11-07
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Azure OpenAI in Foundry Models scores 80 (A) on agent readiness against GroqCloud's 74.5 (BB), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. GroqCloud leads on reliability and payments & pricing. Both do llm inference.

- Azure OpenAI in Foundry Models: A 80, rank #14 of 1486 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/azure-openai.min.md
- GroqCloud: BB 74.5, rank #81 of 1486 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/groq.min.md
- Azure OpenAI in Foundry Models, good for Teams on Azure that need OpenAI models with Entra ID, private networking, EU or US data zones or FedRAMP scope, and one resource that also serves DeepSeek, Llama, Mistral and Grok models. Ahead on Schema & documentation, 87 against 64; Agent ergonomics, 98 against 80; Security & auth, 95 against 82; Maintenance & community, 86 against 72.
- GroqCloud, good for Many small, latency-sensitive calls on open-weight models, routing, extraction and classification, and agents that need to start free. Ahead on Reliability, 90 against 80; Payments & pricing, 40 against 20. Also Free to start without a card.

| Category | Azure OpenAI in Foundry Models | GroqCloud |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 80 | 90 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 87 | 64 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 98 | 80 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 95 | 82 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 20 | 40 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 86 | 72 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 83 | 85 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Azure OpenAI in Foundry Models | GroqCloud |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | Microsoft | Groq |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://<resource>.openai.azure.com/openai/v1` | `https://api.groq.com/openai/v1` |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Freemium |
| Licence | Proprietary service under the Microsoft Product Terms. The v1 OpenAPI spec is MIT, and the OpenAI SDKs the docs use are Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 (SDKs) |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-26 | 2026-10-15 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | 2026-06-22 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-09-01 | 2025-11-12 |
| Customer content may train models | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 454k npm/wk | 619 stars |
| Agent reviews | none | 3.5/5 (8) |

Why the edge:
- Schema & documentation, Azure OpenAI in Foundry Models +23: Azure OpenAI in Foundry Models 87 (OpenAPI 3.2 spec for the v1 data plane in Azure/azure-rest-api-specs (`azure-v1-v1-generated.json`, 71 paths and 852 schemas), linked from the v1 API page (25). No llms.txt at learn.microsoft.com (404). Learn pages offer Copy Markdown and the Markdown sources are public in MicrosoftDocs/azure-ai-docs, last merged 5 October (5 of 10). The models page lists each model's capabilities, context and API support, but the model choice guide, dated 19 May 2026, doesn't cover GPT-6 (15 of 20). Structured outputs with `strict: true` on schemas and function tools, though not together with parallel function calls (15). Examples in Python, C#, JavaScript, Go, Java and REST, and an error table on the quotas page with a fix for 429 and other codes (15). The v1 path replaces monthly `api-version` values, with preview capabilities opted into by header, a dated API version changelog and dated model versions. On 6 November the Foundry what's new still covered August, though updated on 5 November, and no Azure OpenAI what's new was found at learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/foundry/openai/whats-new, which answered 404 (12 of 15).); GroqCloud 64 (No OpenAPI document in the docs, and the SDK's .stats.yml carries only an endpoint count of 17, no spec URL (0). llms.txt at console.groq.com/llms.txt (10). Reference not read in full this run (15 of 20). Structured outputs have a Strict mode as well as Best-effort (15). The errors page lists 15 status codes with recovery advice, including 498 for Flex capacity and 424 for remote MCP auth, and the `error` object with `message` and `type` (14 of 15). The changelog at console.groq.com/docs/changelog, read on 1 November, is dated, but its newest entry is 18 April 2026 and it doesn't record the four shutdowns since July, which only the deprecations page carries (10 of 15).)
- Payments & pricing, GroqCloud +20: Azure OpenAI in Foundry Models 20 (No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Per-1M-token prices are public in the Azure Retail Prices API without a login, while the pricing page fills its table with JavaScript and showed GPT-6 prices as pending on 6 October (20). The quota tiers include a Free tier, but an Azure subscription needs a payment method (0). A person signs up for Azure in a browser and creates a resource and a deployment before the first call (0).); GroqCloud 40 (No machine payment protocol (0). Per-token prices on the models page, read without a login, such as gpt-oss-120b at $0.15 in and $0.60 out per million (20). Free plan with no card (20). Console sign-up in a browser (0).)
- Agent ergonomics, Azure OpenAI in Foundry Models +18: Azure OpenAI in Foundry Models 98 (Model reading of the checklist (tool use, structured output, caching, context, batch, SDKs, errors). Tool use with parallel calls and a forced call by naming the function in `tool_choice`, 18 of 20 because `gpt-6.1-sol` calls tools only through the Responses API (18). Strict structured outputs (15). Prompt caching from 1,024 tokens, cached input at 0.1x on GPT-6 ($1 per million on Astra) and cache writes at 1.25x from GPT-5.6 on, with explicit breakpoints (15). 1,050,000-token context on GPT-6 and GPT-6.1, input capped at 922,000 (15). Batch at 50% off Global Standard with a 24-hour target (10). The docs use OpenAI's own SDKs for Python, JavaScript, C#, Go and Java against the v1 endpoint (10). 429 and quota errors documented with retry headers (15). Calls name a deployment rather than a model, so each model must be deployed in the resource first, which the model checklist doesn't score.); GroqCloud 80 (Model reading of the checklist (tool use, structured output, caching, context, batch, SDKs, errors). Tool use documented, parallel calls and forced choice not checked (15 of 20). Strict structured outputs (15). Automatic prompt caching at 50% off cached input, with a 2-hour cache life, on gpt-oss-20b, gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-safeguard-20b only (10 of 15). 131,072-token context on every self-serve model; only MiniMax M2.7, a preview on enterprise pricing, reaches 196,608 (5 of 15). Batch at half price (10). Official SDKs for Python and JavaScript (10). Errors page with codes, recovery advice and a typed error object (15).)
- Maintenance & community, Azure OpenAI in Foundry Models +14: Azure OpenAI in Foundry Models 86 (Model reading. GPT-6.1 Terra released on Azure on 26 October 2026 and a `gpt-chat-latest` preview of 7 October was added, after GPT-6.1 Sol on 29 September (30). GA models get a retirement date 18 months after launch, set at release and readable through the Models API, with at least 60 days' email and Service Health notice, and previews at least 30 days, so a GA retirement is known more than six months ahead (12 of 12). Many shutdown dates in the 90 days to 6 November, most of them previews or partner models, among them DeepSeek-R1 (13 August), MAI-Image-2 and 2e (15 August), model-router previews (30 August), MAI-Transcribe-1 (15 September), MAI-Image-2.5 previews (1 October), the 2025-03-20 audio models and sora-2 (15 October), a Cohere Command A Plus preview (16 October) and gpt-image-1 (23 October), each in the schedule with a replacement where one exists (4 of 8). The Foundry what's new page, still on August when read on 6 November, plus Microsoft Q&A and paid support; no Azure OpenAI what's new was found (10 of 15). The SDKs are OpenAI's repositories, replies not sampled (5 of 10). Current official SDKs, `openai` 3.46.0 on PyPI (5 November) and 7.53.0 on npm, plus Microsoft's `@azure/openai` 2.0.0 companion (15). Supported runtimes stated, Python 3.9 or later and Node.js 20 or later, though `openai` 3.46.0 requires Python 3.10 (10).); GroqCloud 72 (Model reading. Meta's Muse Spark Open went into limited preview on GroqCloud on 15 October 2026, per Groq's announcement, 17 days before this check, and the models page lists it as an enterprise model (30). The newest shutdown is still `groq/compound` and `compound-mini` on 21 September. The changelog's newest entry is 18 April 2026, the Python SDK 1.7.0 (tagged 25 August) and TypeScript SDK 1.6.0 are still the newest tags, with commits to 4 September and no release since, and the deprecations page has no announcement after 24 August. Production models get an email and a migration path, previews may go at short notice, and no minimum period is stated. Llama 3.1 8B and 3.3 70B got 60 days on the free and developer tiers, Compound 28 days with no replacement named (4 of 12). Three shutdown dates in the 90 days to 1 November, 16 August, 14 September and 21 September. Three in 90 days is still frequent churn (0 of 8). A dated changelog with an RSS feed and a community forum exist, but the changelog's newest entry is 18 April 2026; support replies not checked (10 of 15). SDK issue replies not sampled, since GitHub's API refused our shell (5 of 10). Python SDK 1.7.0 and TypeScript SDK 1.6.0, both published on 26 August 2026 and still the newest tags on 1 November (15). CI, release-please and lock-file vulnerability fixes in 1.7.0 (8 of 10). 30+4+0+10+5+15+8 = 72.)
- Security & auth, Azure OpenAI in Foundry Models +13: Azure OpenAI in Foundry Models 95 (Model reading. Microsoft Entra ID tokens with Azure roles (the Cognitive Services OpenAI User role for calls), managed identities, and key authentication that can be disabled per resource, or two regenerable resource keys in the `api-key` header. No documented route puts the key in a URL query string (30). Prompts, completions, embeddings and training data aren't used to train foundation models without the customer's permission or instruction, per the data privacy page updated 4 August 2026 (20). Flagged prompts and completions may be stored in the customer's geography for human abuse review, with no retention period stated, and approved customers can turn that storage off through modified abuse monitoring. Responses API data is kept 30 days by default unless `store` is false (12 of 15). Azure Monitor resource logs and the subscription activity log, as read in the Foundry fine-tuning dossier (15). MSRC coordinated disclosure policy and Microsoft's bounty programme, both named in microsoft.com's security.txt, and Azure OpenAI is listed in FedRAMP High and DoD IL2 scope in Azure public regions. The security.txt passed its Expires date on 2026-09-23 and was still expired on 6 November, which the Bedrock and S3 dossiers mark down by 2, applied here too (18 of 20, down from 20 on 6 October for consistency).); GroqCloud 82 (Model reading. Bearer keys scoped to a project, with custom request limits per project and model permissions at organisation and project level. The security onboarding page advises rotating keys periodically and revoking them at once if compromise is suspected (30). The services agreement, read first-hand on 6 October and not re-read on 17 October, says Groq is not permitted to use inputs or outputs for training unless the customer grants permission (20). No retention by default, up to 30 days for reliability and abuse monitoring, and zero retention as a setting any customer can turn on in Data Controls, per the data page (15). Request logs, usage per project and a read-only Reader role (12 of 15). groq.com's security.txt holds a Contact line and nothing else, and the trust centre at trust.groq.com is a Vanta page that renders only with JavaScript, so certifications and any bug bounty are unchecked (5 of 20).)
- Reliability, GroqCloud +10: Azure OpenAI in Foundry Models 80 (Azure status page with post-incident reviews, listing Azure OpenAI Service, Foundry Models and Foundry Agent Service as components (20). One incident in the 90 days to 6 November 2026 names Azure OpenAI, and no review after it does, intermittent request failures, higher latency and HTTP 5xx errors in Sweden Central from 10:03 to 15:58 UTC on 29 September 2026 (tracking 7QL5-Z50), counted as one major outage as in the Foundry fine-tuning dossier. The 23 July West US review and the 30 September gateway incident don't name it (10). Quota tiers from Free to Tier 6 with TPM and RPM per model and deployment type, 1,000 RPM and 1,000,000 TPM for each GPT-6 model on Global Standard at Tier 1 (15). 429 responses carry `retry-after-ms`, every response carries `x-ratelimit-*` headers, and the quota guide gives exponential backoff with jitter and SDK retry settings (15). The models page says models sold by Azure are covered by Azure service-level agreements and links the Online Services SLA. The consolidated SLA document wouldn't download on 6 October and wasn't retried on 6 November, so the clause rests on Microsoft's docs, read the same way as the 5 October Azure Speech check (10). The v1 API is GA and the GPT-6 models carry no preview label (10).); GroqCloud 90 (Status page at groqstatus.com on incident.io, with components for the API, each production and preview model and the website (20). The page's RSS feed and the incident pages it links, read on 1 November, list three incidents in the 90-day window, all in October, and nothing since 12 October apart from a console maintenance on 18 October. On 10 October the enterprise-only preview MiniMax M2.7 had failed requests from data centre hardware issues from 10:09 to 16:14 UTC. The incident's header and impact record say degraded performance, while its Identified update set the model to partial outage and warned of failed requests. On 12 October console.groq.com returned 500 errors on metrics, /models and key creation from 03:17 to 03:38, and the vendor said inference requests were not affected. On 12 October MiniMax M2.7 had a partial outage from 18:17 to 18:36. None took down a core API for an hour, since the six-hour incident hit one enterprise preview model that the status page describes as for evaluation only, so minor incidents only (20). A stricter reading would count it as a major and give 10. Limits published per model, 30 requests a minute, 1,000 a day and 8,000 tokens a minute on gpt-oss for the free plan, re-read on 1 November (15). 429 carries `retry-after`, `x-ratelimit-*` headers come on every response, and the errors page says to wait before retrying a 503 and that a 502 may clear on retry (15). The Performance Tier, enterprise only, lists a 99.9% availability SLA with details in the offline agreement, per the 6 October check, not re-read on 1 November (10). gpt-oss and Whisper models are production, Qwen 3.8 27B, MiniMax M2.7 and Muse Spark Open are previews (10). 20+20+15+15+10+10 = 90.)

| Task | Azure OpenAI in Foundry Models | GroqCloud |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Research a product and write a sourced report | $110 | $0.85 |
| Build a small four-page website | $25.07 | $0.21 |
| Find and fix a bug in a large codebase | $5.41 | $0.05 |