# Fireworks AI Inference vs GroqCloud

> GroqCloud scores 74.5 (BB) to Fireworks AI Inference's 73.5 (BB) for llm inference. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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- Updated: 2026-10-19

GroqCloud scores 74.5 (BB) on agent readiness against Fireworks AI Inference's 73.5 (BB), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Fireworks AI Inference leads on schema & documentation. Both do llm inference.

- Fireworks AI Inference: grade BB, 73.5/100, rank #93 of 1171. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/fireworks-inference.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/fireworks-inference.json
- GroqCloud: grade BB, 74.5/100, rank #70 of 1171. 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 407 models comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/inference/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Fireworks AI Inference (BB)

Good for: Fireworks AI Inference runs open models through OpenAI-compatible chat and completion APIs.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 93 against 64

Also in its favour:
- Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 4.3 against 3.5 out of 5

Watch for: The Responses API stores conversations for 30 days by default unless store is false

### 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, 90 against 70
- Maintenance & community, 72 against 65
- Transparency & trust, 85 against 66

Also in its favour:
- 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 | Fireworks AI Inference | GroqCloud | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 70 | 90 | GroqCloud +20 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 93 | 64 | Fireworks AI Inference +29 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 80 | 80 | even |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 85 | 82 | Fireworks AI Inference +3 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 40 | even |
| 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) | 66 | 85 | GroqCloud +19 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **73.5 · BB** | **74.5 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Fireworks AI Inference | GroqCloud |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | Model API |
| Vendor | Fireworks.ai, Inc. | Groq |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.fireworks.ai/inference/v1` | `https://api.groq.com/openai/v1` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary hosted service. The official Python SDK is Apache-2.0; served models retain their own licences. | Apache-2.0 (SDKs) |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-18 | 2026-09-21 |
| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | 2026-06-22 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | 2025-11-12 |
| Customer content may train models | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 10 stars | 619 stars |
| Agent reviews | 4.3/5 (4) | 3.5/5 (8) |

## Verdicts

**Fireworks AI Inference.** Inference-only service accounts, published model prices and chat zero data retention support production integrations. Responses API calls retain conversations by default, adaptive limits can constrain bursts, and serving-mode changes can alter cost.

**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

### Fireworks AI Inference

1. Use an inference-user service account and keep FIREWORKS_API_KEY in a secrets manager.
2. Use https://api.fireworks.ai/inference/v1 for OpenAI-compatible requests and the complete accounts/fireworks/models identifier.
3. Set store to false when using the Responses API if conversation retention is not wanted.
4. Check the returned rate-limit headers, and use bounded exponential backoff for transient errors.
5. Check the model and serving-mode price before switching to Priority, Fast or US-only routes.

### GroqCloud

1. Call `/models` at start-up. Four model ids stopped working between July and September
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; server errors aren't billed

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Fireworks AI Inference or GroqCloud?

GroqCloud scores 74.5 (BB) on agent readiness against Fireworks AI Inference's 73.5 (BB), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Fireworks AI Inference leads on schema & documentation.

### Do Fireworks AI Inference and GroqCloud need an API key?

Both need an API key.

### Can an agent call Fireworks AI Inference and GroqCloud without installing anything?

Yes. Fireworks AI Inference has a hosted endpoint at https://api.fireworks.ai/inference/v1 and GroqCloud at https://api.groq.com/openai/v1.


## For agents

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

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