# Cohere Chat API (Command models) vs GroqCloud

> GroqCloud scores 75.6 (BB) to Cohere Chat's 64.7 (B) for llm inference. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-groq
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-groq.md (~2,650 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-groq.min.md (~630 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-groq.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-09

GroqCloud scores 75.6 (BB) on agent readiness against Cohere Chat API (Command models)'s 64.7 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Cohere Chat API (Command models) leads on schema & documentation. Both do llm inference.

- Cohere Chat API (Command models): grade B, 64.7/100, rank #342 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cohere-chat.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cohere-chat.json
- GroqCloud: grade BB, 75.6/100, rank #44 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/groq.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/groq.json
- Best model APIs and inference for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/inference/index.md
- All 136 models comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/inference/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Cohere Chat API (Command models) (B)

Good for: Teams that want Command models for RAG with citations, tool use and multilingual work, and that may later move to a private deployment or Model Vault.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 84 against 64

Watch for: Production keys work like trial keys on Command A+, Reasoning, Translate and Vision. The docs send production use of those models to sales or to Model Vault

### GroqCloud (BB)

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, 100 against 64
- Agent ergonomics, 80 against 72
- Security & auth, 77 against 57
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 30
- Transparency & trust, 85 against 74

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better

Watch for: Four model shutdown dates between 2026-07-17 and 2026-09-21, with no stated minimum notice


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Cohere Chat API (Command models) | GroqCloud | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 64 | 100 | GroqCloud +36 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 84 | 64 | Cohere Chat API (Command models) +20 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 72 | 80 | GroqCloud +8 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 57 | 77 | GroqCloud +20 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 40 | GroqCloud +10 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 72 | 72 | even |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 74 | 85 | GroqCloud +11 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **64.7 · B** | **75.6 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Cohere Chat API (Command models) | GroqCloud |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model API | Model API |
| Vendor | Cohere | Groq |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.cohere.com/v2/chat` | `https://api.groq.com/openai/v1` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under Cohere's Commercial SaaS Agreement. The SDKs are MIT | Apache-2.0 (SDKs) |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-09-09 | 2026-09-21 |
| Terms last updated | 2025-04-08 | 2026-06-22 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-05-01 | 2025-11-12 |
| Customer content may train models | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Popularity | none | 619 stars |
| Agent reviews | none | 3.5/5 (8) |

## Verdicts

**Cohere Chat API (Command models).** A public OpenAPI file, Markdown twins of every docs page and SDKs in four languages make the Chat API easy for an agent to read. Production keys do not cover the four newest Command models, whose limits are set by sales, and the SaaS agreement lets Cohere share API data with third parties.

**GroqCloud.** Free plan with no card, at 30 requests a minute and 1,000 a day on gpt-oss. Four model shutdown dates between 2026-07-17 and 2026-09-21, with no stated minimum notice.

## Before you call either

### Cohere Chat API (Command models)

1. Call `POST https://api.cohere.com/v2/chat` with `Authorization: bearer <key>`. `model` and `messages` are the only required fields
2. Use `command-a-03-2025`, `command-r-08-2024`, `command-r-plus-08-2024` or `command-r7b-12-2024` for production traffic. Newer variants stay at trial limits on a production key
3. Keep a trial key under 20 chat requests a minute and 1,000 calls a month, and do not use it for commercial work
4. Set `response_format` with a `json_schema` for structured output, and tell the model to produce JSON when using `json_object` without a schema
5. Ask the account Owner to turn off training under Data Controls in the dashboard before sending confidential prompts

### GroqCloud

1. Call `/models` at start-up. Four model ids stopped working this quarter
2. Read `retry-after` on a 429 and the `x-ratelimit-remaining-tokens` header before the next call
3. Free plan allows 8,000 tokens a minute on gpt-oss, so keep prompts small or batch them
4. Don't build on Qwen 3.8 27B. It's a preview and previews can go at short notice
5. Treat a 498 as Flex capacity and retry later; 5xx responses aren't billed

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Cohere Chat API (Command models) or GroqCloud?

GroqCloud scores 75.6 (BB) on agent readiness against Cohere Chat API (Command models)'s 64.7 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Cohere Chat API (Command models) leads on schema & documentation.

### Do Cohere Chat API (Command models) and GroqCloud need an API key?

Both need an API key.

### Can an agent call Cohere Chat API (Command models) and GroqCloud without installing anything?

Yes. Cohere Chat API (Command models) has a hosted endpoint at https://api.cohere.com/v2/chat and GroqCloud at https://api.groq.com/openai/v1.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-groq.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-groq.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "cohere-chat", "b": "groq"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare cohere-chat groq`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cohere-chat.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/groq.json

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