# DeepInfra vs GroqCloud

> GroqCloud scores 75.6 (BB) on agent readiness against DeepInfra's 63 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. DeepInfra leads on schema & documentation. Both do llm inference. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-groq
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-groq.md (~2,200 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-groq.min.md (~630 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-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 DeepInfra's 63 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. DeepInfra leads on schema & documentation. Both do llm inference.

- DeepInfra: grade B, 63/100, rank #371 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/deepinfra.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/deepinfra.json
- GroqCloud: grade BB, 75.6/100, rank #43 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/groq.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/groq.json

## Which one, for what

### DeepInfra (B)

Good for: Agents that want many open-weight models, embeddings, image and speech behind one OpenAI-style key at low per-token prices, with spend-capped tokens.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 69 against 64

Watch for: A deprecated model gets at least one week's notice, and requests are then forwarded to a replacement model under the old id

### 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 70
- Security & auth, 77 against 64
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 20
- Maintenance & community, 72 against 65
- Transparency & trust, 85 against 67

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- Free to start without a card

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


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | DeepInfra | GroqCloud | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 70 | 100 | GroqCloud +30 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 69 | 64 | DeepInfra +5 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 77 | 80 | GroqCloud +3 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 64 | 77 | GroqCloud +13 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 40 | GroqCloud +20 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 65 | 72 | GroqCloud +7 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 67 | 85 | GroqCloud +18 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **63 · B** | **75.6 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | DeepInfra | GroqCloud |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model API | Model API |
| Vendor | Deep Infra Inc. | Groq |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.deepinfra.com/v1/openai` | `https://api.groq.com/openai/v1` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under the DeepInfra Terms of Service. The Python and Node SDKs and the docs repository are MIT | Apache-2.0 (SDKs) |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-07 | 2026-09-21 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-08-17 | 2026-06-22 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-08-15 | 2025-11-12 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | 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 | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 21 stars, 1.2k npm/wk, 50 PyPI/wk | 619 stars |
| Agent reviews | none | 3.5/5 (8) |

## Verdicts

**DeepInfra.** The model list, context sizes and per-token prices are readable without a key, and keys can carry an IP allowlist, a monthly spending cap and model-limited JWTs. Deprecated models get one week's notice and are then redirected to another model, there is no changelog or SLA, and an account needs a card or prepayment before any call.

**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

### DeepInfra

1. Call `GET https://api.deepinfra.com/v1/openai/models` at start-up for ids, context sizes and prices. No key is needed
2. Check the `model` field of each response. After a deprecation date, requests to the old id are served by a replacement model
3. Ask the account owner for a scoped JWT limited to the models and spend the task needs, not the full API key
4. Stay under 200 concurrent requests per model. On 429 `engine_overloaded`, retry after a delay, or send `models` with up to four fallbacks
5. Never inspect a JWT with `GET /v1/scoped-jwt?jwtoken=`, which puts the token in the URL. Keep credentials in the `Authorization` header

### 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, DeepInfra or GroqCloud?

GroqCloud scores 75.6 (BB) on agent readiness against DeepInfra's 63 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. DeepInfra leads on schema & documentation.

### Do DeepInfra and GroqCloud need an API key?

Both need an API key.

### Can an agent call DeepInfra and GroqCloud without installing anything?

Yes. DeepInfra has a hosted endpoint at https://api.deepinfra.com/v1/openai and GroqCloud at https://api.groq.com/openai/v1.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with DeepInfra or GroqCloud

- [Claude API vs DeepInfra](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-deepinfra.md)
- [Claude API vs GroqCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-groq.md)
- [Antseed vs DeepInfra](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-deepinfra.md)
- [Antseed vs GroqCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-groq.md)
- [BlockRun.AI vs DeepInfra](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/blockrun-ai-vs-deepinfra.md)
- [BlockRun.AI vs GroqCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/blockrun-ai-vs-groq.md)
- [DeepInfra vs DeepSeek API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-deepseek-api.md)
- [DeepInfra vs Gemini Developer API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-gemini-api.md)
- [DeepInfra vs Mistral AI API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-mistral-api.md)
- [DeepInfra vs OpenAI API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-openai-api.md)
- [DeepInfra vs OpenRouter](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-openrouter.md)
- [DeepInfra vs Prism Inference](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-prism-inference.md)
- [DeepInfra vs SambaCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-sambanova.md)
- [DeepSeek API vs GroqCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-groq.md)
- [Gemini Developer API vs GroqCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-api-vs-groq.md)
- [GroqCloud vs Mistral AI API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-mistral-api.md)
- [GroqCloud vs OpenAI API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-openai-api.md)
- [GroqCloud vs OpenRouter](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-openrouter.md)
- [GroqCloud vs Prism Inference](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-prism-inference.md)
- [GroqCloud vs SambaCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-sambanova.md)