# Fireworks AI Inference vs SambaCloud

> Fireworks AI Inference scores 73.5 (BB) to SambaCloud's 66.4 (B) for llm inference. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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- Updated: 2026-10-19

Fireworks AI Inference scores 73.5 (BB) on agent readiness against SambaCloud's 66.4 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. SambaCloud leads on reliability and maintenance & community. 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
- SambaCloud: grade B, 66.4/100, rank #325 of 1171. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/sambanova.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/sambanova.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 81
- Agent ergonomics, 80 against 67
- Security & auth, 85 against 58

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

### SambaCloud (B)

Good for: Agents that want open-weight models behind an OpenAI or Anthropic client with a free start and prices an agent can read from the API.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 85 against 70
- Maintenance & community, 77 against 65

Also in its favour:
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: Production models get a notice of two to three weeks, and 13 model ids were removed between 9 March and 9 June 2026


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Fireworks AI Inference | SambaCloud | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 70 | 85 | SambaCloud +15 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 93 | 81 | Fireworks AI Inference +12 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 80 | 67 | Fireworks AI Inference +13 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 85 | 58 | Fireworks AI Inference +27 |
| 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 | 77 | SambaCloud +12 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 66 | 63 | Fireworks AI Inference +3 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -2 | |
| **Total** | | **73.5 · BB** | **66.4 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Fireworks AI Inference | SambaCloud |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | Model API |
| Vendor | Fireworks.ai, Inc. | SambaNova Systems, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.fireworks.ai/inference/v1` | `https://api.sambanova.ai/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. | Proprietary service under the SambaCloud Terms of Service. The SDKs and the OpenAPI document are Apache-2.0 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-18 | 2026-09-17 |
| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | 2023-05-27 |
| 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 | 2 stars, 76 npm/wk, 6.1k PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | 4.3/5 (4) | 3.5/5 (4) |

## 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.

**SambaCloud.** Per-token prices and the model list are readable without a key at `/v1/models`, and a free tier needs no card. Production models get two to three weeks' notice before removal, 13 model ids left between March and June 2026, and the docs disagree with the live catalogue on MiniMax-M2.7.

## 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.

### SambaCloud

1. Call `GET https://api.sambanova.ai/v1/models` at start-up and use only ids it returns. The docs name models the endpoint no longer lists
2. Read `x-ratelimit-remaining-requests` and `x-ratelimit-remaining-requests-day` on every response. The free tier allows 20 requests a day per model
3. Treat 429 `queue_full` and 503 `maintenance` as retryable after a delay, and 410 `model_deprecated` as a signal to change model
4. Validate JSON output yourself. Schema enforcement is best effort and `strict: true` changes nothing
5. Check `max_completion_tokens` per model. DeepSeek-V3.1 caps output at 7,168 tokens and Llama 3.3 70B at 3,072

## Questions

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

Fireworks AI Inference scores 73.5 (BB) on agent readiness against SambaCloud's 66.4 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. SambaCloud leads on reliability and maintenance & community.

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

Both need an API key.

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

Yes. Fireworks AI Inference has a hosted endpoint at https://api.fireworks.ai/inference/v1 and SambaCloud at https://api.sambanova.ai/v1.


## For agents

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

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