# DeepSeek API vs GroqCloud

> GroqCloud has a score of 75.7 (BB) against DeepSeek API's 47.1 (D). Both do llm inference. The largest gap is security & auth, 47 points. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

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- Updated: 2026-10-05

GroqCloud has a score of 75.7 (BB) against DeepSeek API's 47.1 (D). Both do llm inference. The largest gap is security & auth, 47 points.

- DeepSeek API: grade D, 47.1/100, rank #386 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/deepseek-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/deepseek-api.json
- GroqCloud: grade BB, 75.7/100, rank #31 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/groq.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/groq.json

## Which one, for what

Pick DeepSeek API for nothing in particular (no category where it leads by five points or more).

Pick GroqCloud for reliability (+35), schema & documentation (+15), agent ergonomics (+10), security & auth (+47), payments & pricing (+20), maintenance & community (+26), transparency & trust (+18).

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | DeepSeek API | GroqCloud | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 65 | 100 | GroqCloud +35 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 49 | 64 | GroqCloud +15 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 70 | 80 | GroqCloud +10 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 30 | 77 | GroqCloud +47 |
| 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) | 46 | 72 | GroqCloud +26 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 68 | 86 | GroqCloud +18 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -3 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **47.1 · D** | **75.7 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | DeepSeek API | GroqCloud |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model API | Model API |
| Vendor | DeepSeek | Groq |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.deepseek.com` | `https://api.groq.com/openai/v1` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | none | Apache-2.0 (SDKs) |
| Tools exposed | none | none |
| Context cost (tools/list) | n/a | n/a |
| p95 latency | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Availability (30d) | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| MCP registry | not listed | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-09-10 | 2026-09-21 |
| Popularity | none | 619 stars |
| Agent reviews | 2/5 (2) | 3.5/5 (8) |

## Verdicts

**DeepSeek API.** Accepts both OpenAI and Anthropic request formats. 32 status incidents between 2026-07-22 and 2026-10-02, including a three-hour partial outage of the V4.1 Flash API on 2026-09-14.

**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

### DeepSeek API

1. Send only data you'd be happy to publish
2. Schedule bulk work off-peak for half price. Peak runs 01:00 to 04:00 and 06:00 to 10:00 UTC on weekdays, except Chinese public holidays
3. Set `max_tokens` yourself. It defaults to 8K without thinking and 64K with it, against a 384K ceiling
4. For schema-checked tool arguments use base URL `https://api.deepseek.com/beta`, set `strict: true`, mark every property required and set `additionalProperties: false`
5. Keep a fallback provider and check the `model` field. 429 carries no Retry-After, and `deepseek-v4-flash` now answers as V4.1 Flash

### 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

## Other comparisons with DeepSeek API or GroqCloud

- [Claude API vs DeepSeek API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-deepseek-api.md)
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- [Gemini Developer API vs GroqCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-api-vs-groq.md)
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- [GroqCloud vs OpenAI API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-openai-api.md)
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