{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "groq", "name": "GroqCloud", "vendor": "Groq", "vendorUrl": "https://groq.com", "kind": "model", "category": "inference", "summary": "OpenAI-compatible inference API serving open-weight models on Groq's processors.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/groq", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/groq.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/groq.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/groq.json", "repo": "https://github.com/groq/groq-python", "license": "Apache-2.0 (SDKs)", "transports": [ "http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://api.groq.com/openai/v1", "packages": [ { "registry": "pypi", "name": "groq" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "groq-sdk" } ], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "Bearer key from the GroqCloud console.", "pricing": "freemium", "pricingNotes": "Free with no card at 30 requests a minute and 1,000 a day. The Developer plan is postpaid by card, bank or SEPA. Cached input half price on gpt-oss only, batch half price (https://groq.com/pricing).", "priceSummary": "from $0.075 / 1M in", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "no", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 619, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-09-26" }, "docsUrl": "https://console.groq.com/docs", "rateLimitsUrl": "https://console.groq.com/docs/rate-limits", "llmsTxt": "https://console.groq.com/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "inference.llm", "inference.fast", "inference.open-weights" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "model", "fast", "free-tier", "no-card", "llms-txt" ], "lastRelease": "2026-09-21", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 75.6, "grade": "BB", "agentReady": true, "rank": 44, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 965, "categoryRank": 3, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 80, "maintenance": 72, "payments": 40, "reliability": 100, "schema": 64, "security": 77, "transparency": 85 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-01" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "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.", "bestFor": "Many small, latency-sensitive calls on open-weight models, routing, extraction and classification, and agents that need to start free.", "strengths": [ "Free plan with no card, at 30 requests a minute and 1,000 a day on gpt-oss", "Per-model limits published, `x-ratelimit-*` headers on every response and `retry-after` on 429", "API keys scoped to a project, with per-project request limits, model permissions and request logs", "No retention by default and zero retention as a self-serve setting, and 5xx errors aren't charged", "Strict structured outputs, a half-price Batch API and a 99.9% SLA on the Performance Tier" ], "weaknesses": [ "Four model shutdown dates between 2026-07-17 and 2026-09-21, with no stated minimum notice", "131,072-token context on every self-serve model", "No OpenAPI document, and the SDK metadata carries no spec URL", "Cached input is half price on the three gpt-oss models only", "The deprecations page still names qwen/qwen3.6-27b as a Llama 3.3 70B replacement, and that model shut down on 2026-09-14" ], "agentNotes": [ "Call `/models` at start-up. Four model ids stopped working this quarter", "Read `retry-after` on a 429 and the `x-ratelimit-remaining-tokens` header before the next call", "Free plan allows 8,000 tokens a minute on gpt-oss, so keep prompts small or batch them", "Don't build on Qwen 3.8 27B. It's a preview and previews can go at short notice", "Treat a 498 as Flex capacity and retry later; 5xx responses aren't billed" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 8, "avgRating": 3.5, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "BB", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 75.6 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 80, "maintenance": 72, "payments": 40, "reliability": 100, "schema": 64, "security": 77, "transparency": 71 }, "provenanceScore": 98 }, "connect": { "install": "pip install groq # or: npm i groq-sdk", "http": "curl https://api.groq.com/openai/v1/chat/completions \\\n -H \"Authorization: Bearer $GROQ_API_KEY\" -H \"content-type: application/json\" \\\n -d '{\"model\":\"openai/gpt-oss-120b\",\"messages\":[{\"role\":\"user\",\"content\":\"hello\"}]}'" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/inference.llm", "tool": "https://letme.dev/groq" }, "sameCompany": [ "groq-speech-to-text" ], "area": "models", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Groq LLC", "domain": "groq.com", "domainRegistered": "2007-07-22", "domainNote": "groq.com was registered in 2007, before Groq existed. Customers in the EEA contract with Groq UK Limited.", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://console.groq.com/docs/legal/services-agreement", "privacy": "https://groq.com/privacy-policy", "statusPage": "https://groqstatus.com", "changelog": "https://console.groq.com/docs/changelog", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-09-26", "score": 98 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/groq.json", "live": { "slug": "groq", "probe": { "target": "https://api.groq.com/openai/v1", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-12T04:37:21.22513002Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 404, "lastMs": 183, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 99.6, "uptime30d": 99.97, "p50ms24h": 171, "p95ms24h": 206, "samples24h": 247, "samples30d": 3931, "days": [ { "date": "2026-09-27", "probes": 132, "ok": 132 }, { "date": "2026-09-28", "probes": 285, "ok": 285 }, { "date": "2026-09-29", "probes": 286, "ok": 286 }, { "date": "2026-09-30", "probes": 286, "ok": 286 }, { "date": "2026-10-01", "probes": 276, "ok": 276 }, { "date": "2026-10-02", "probes": 248, "ok": 248 }, { "date": "2026-10-03", "probes": 271, "ok": 271 }, { "date": "2026-10-04", "probes": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-05", "probes": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-06", "probes": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-07", "probes": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-08", "probes": 268, "ok": 268 }, { "date": "2026-10-09", "probes": 250, "ok": 250 }, { "date": "2026-10-10", "probes": 247, "ok": 247 }, { "date": "2026-10-11", "probes": 247, "ok": 247 }, { "date": "2026-10-12", "probes": 47, "ok": 46 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://groqstatus.com", "indicator": "none", "summary": "All Systems Operational", "checkedAt": "2026-10-12T04:32:40.92416955Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "groq/groq-python", "version": "v1.7.0", "released": "2026-08-26", "seenAt": "2026-10-11T19:34:27.02263862Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "groq-sdk", "version": "1.6.0", "seenAt": "2026-10-11T19:34:26.967707495Z" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "groq", "version": "1.7.0", "released": "2026-08-26", "seenAt": "2026-10-11T19:34:26.850925598Z" } ], "githubStars": 621, "npmWeekly": 931909, "pypiWeekly": 3789073, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://groq.com/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "valid", "checkedAt": "2026-10-11T15:43:20.552314018Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://console.groq.com/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-11T14:06:48.183049788Z" }, "domain": { "domain": "groq.com", "registered": "2007-07-22", "source": "https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/domain/groq.com", "checkedAt": "2026-10-11T13:12:44.892948813Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://console.groq.com/docs/changelog", "kind": "changelog", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:16:39.832959533Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "ac2cb86ef05a" }, { "url": "https://console.groq.com/docs/deprecations", "kind": "deprecations", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-11T19:22:58.433562293Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "396a91396e58" }, { "url": "https://groq.com/pricing", "kind": "pricing", "status": 304, "checkedAt": "2026-10-11T19:28:24.930746265Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-09T18:39:57.403860983Z", "fingerprint": "5d2ffa871aea" }, { "url": "https://groq.com/privacy-policy", "kind": "privacy", "status": 304, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:20:46.366514564Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "05dc8da7bc78" }, { "url": "https://console.groq.com/docs/legal/services-agreement", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:16:44.104843177Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "a0b93cf713d4" } ], "models": { "openai/gpt-oss-120b": { "openrouterId": "openai/gpt-oss-120b", "tools": true, "structuredOutputs": true, "jsonMode": true, "reasoning": true, "input": [ "text" ], "promptCaching": false, "contextTokens": 131072, "maxOutput": 117964, "checkedAt": "2026-10-11T22:59:28.731564938Z" }, "openai/gpt-oss-20b": { "openrouterId": "openai/gpt-oss-20b", "tools": true, "structuredOutputs": true, "jsonMode": true, "reasoning": true, "input": [ "text" ], "promptCaching": true, "contextTokens": 131072, "maxOutput": 32768, "checkedAt": "2026-10-11T22:59:28.731564938Z" }, "qwen/qwen3.8-27b": { "openrouterId": "qwen/qwen3.8-27b", "tools": true, "structuredOutputs": true, "jsonMode": true, "reasoning": true, "input": [ "image", "text", "video" ], "promptCaching": true, "contextTokens": 1000000, "maxOutput": 235929, "checkedAt": "2026-10-11T22:59:28.731564938Z" } }, "updatedAt": "2026-10-12T04:37:21.22513002Z" } }, "answer": "GroqCloud scores 75.6 (BB) on agent readiness against StepFun API's 44.4 (E), and leads in every scored category.", "b": { "slug": "stepfun-api", "name": "StepFun API", "vendor": "StepFun", "vendorUrl": "https://platform.stepfun.ai", "kind": "model", "category": "inference", "summary": "The StepFun API is StepFun's paid model API for its Step language, vision and speech models, including the flagship Step 5 Preview, through OpenAI-style Chat Completions and Responses endpoints and an Anthropic-style Messages endpoint.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/stepfun-api", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/stepfun-api.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/stepfun-api.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/stepfun-api.json", "license": "Closed service under the StepFun Open Platform Terms of Service (STEPFUN TECHNOLOGY (HK) LIMITED, Hong Kong law).", "transports": [ "http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://api.stepfun.ai/v1", "packages": [], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "A bearer API key created in the StepFun Open Platform console after sign-up. Organisations can create one key per project, billed to the organisation's credit and deletable at once. No key scopes were found. Individual accounts must complete identity verification before tiered rate limits apply.", "pricing": "usage", "pricingNotes": "Step 5 Preview is $1.00 per million input tokens on a cache miss, $0.10 on a cache hit and $2.70 per million output tokens, reasoning included (checked 2026-10-12). Prepaid top-ups. No free API allowance was found. A Step Plan subscription covers coding tools separately.", "priceSummary": "Pay per use", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the international docs index, the pricing page or the Chat Completions reference, checked 12 October 2026. Calls draw on a prepaid balance.", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-12" }, "docsUrl": "https://platform.stepfun.ai/docs/en/guides/models/step-5-preview", "llmsTxt": "https://platform.stepfun.ai/docs/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "inference.llm" ], "tags": [ "official", "hosted", "model", "usage-priced", "closed-source", "llms-txt", "multimodal", "streaming" ], "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 44.4, "grade": "E", "agentReady": false, "rank": 889, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 965, "categoryRank": 18, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 68, "maintenance": 50, "payments": 20, "reliability": 28, "schema": 53, "security": 41, "transparency": 58 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-12" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "StepFun's API serves Step 5 Preview with a 1M-token context, video input, strict JSON Schema output and published per-token prices, documented in Markdown with an llms.txt. The model is a preview with no release date found, there's no free allowance or SLA, and the terms and privacy policy leave room to train on customer data.", "bestFor": "Long-context agent and coding work over text, screenshots and video at a low per-token price, where a preview model is acceptable.", "strengths": [ "Step 5 Preview takes text, images and video with a 1M-token context and up to 64k output tokens", "Strict JSON Schema output and tool calls on Step 5 Preview, per the structured-output guide", "Per-token prices with cache-hit rates published without a login, and rate-limit tiers published with numbers", "OpenAI-style Chat Completions and Responses endpoints and an Anthropic-style Messages endpoint", "llms.txt and a Markdown copy of every docs page" ], "weaknesses": [ "Step 5 Preview is labelled a preview, and no release date or support commitment was found", "No free API allowance found, and individual accounts need identity verification for tiered limits", "No OpenAPI file, no official SDK and no batch endpoint found", "The privacy policy allows training on user data where law and program terms permit, with no zero-retention option found", "No SLA, security.txt or certification found" ], "agentNotes": [ "Set `max_tokens` yourself. It defaults to unlimited on Step 5 Preview, and reasoning tokens are billed as output", "Use `response_format` with `type: json_schema` and `strict: true` when the shape matters. JSON Mode alone isn't schema-checked", "Back off and retry on 429, 500, 503 and 504. The docs give no Retry-After header or backoff schedule", "Expect HTTP 451 or `finish_reason: content_filter` when content fails StepFun's review, and don't retry the same input", "Use api.stepfun.ai for the international platform. api.stepfun.com is the China platform with yuan pricing" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "E", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 44.4 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 68, "maintenance": 50, "payments": 20, "reliability": 28, "schema": 53, "security": 41, "transparency": 51 }, "provenanceScore": 65 }, "connect": { "http": "curl https://api.stepfun.ai/v1/chat/completions \\\n -H \"Content-Type: application/json\" \\\n -H \"Authorization: Bearer $STEPFUN_API_KEY\" \\\n -d '{\"model\":\"step-5-preview\",\"messages\":[{\"role\":\"user\",\"content\":\"Hello\"}]}'" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/inference.llm", "tool": "https://letme.dev/stepfun-api" }, "area": "models", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Step 5 Preview input, cache miss", "unit": "1m-tokens", "usd": 1, "note": "Includes writing new content to the cache." }, { "item": "Step 5 Preview input, cache hit", "unit": "1m-tokens", "usd": 0.1 }, { "item": "Step 5 Preview output", "unit": "1m-tokens", "usd": 2.7, "note": "Reasoning and final answer tokens." } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "STEPFUN TECHNOLOGY (HK) LIMITED", "domain": "stepfun.ai", "domainRegistered": "", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://platform.stepfun.ai/docs/en/agreement/userservice", "privacy": "https://platform.stepfun.ai/docs/en/agreement/userprivacy", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://platform.stepfun.ai/docs/en/guides/model-migration", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-12", "notes": [ "The terms and the privacy policy name STEPFUN TECHNOLOGY (HK) LIMITED. Disputes go to HKIAC arbitration under Hong Kong law.", "platform.stepfun.ai/.well-known/security.txt returned 404, and stepfun.ai/.well-known/security.txt redirects to the platform home page.", "status.stepfun.ai refused our reader by robots.txt, and the shell couldn't connect, so whether it is a status page wasn't established.", "The X handle comes from the QR code labelled X account on the platform home page, which decodes to https://x.com/StepFun_ai.", "Domain registration date was not checked." ], "score": 65 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/stepfun-api.json", "live": { "slug": "stepfun-api", "probe": { "target": "https://api.stepfun.ai/v1", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-12T04:37:36.182148739Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 404, "lastMs": 267, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 275, "p95ms24h": 492, "samples24h": 21, "samples30d": 21, "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-12", "probes": 21, "ok": 21 } ] }, "updatedAt": "2026-10-12T04:37:36.182148739Z" } }, "facts": [ { "a": "Model API", "b": "Model API", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Groq", "b": "StepFun", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "https://api.groq.com/openai/v1", "b": "https://api.stepfun.ai/v1", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "HTTP", "b": "HTTP", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "API key", "b": "API key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Freemium", "b": "Pay per use", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "Apache-2.0 (SDKs)", "b": "Closed service under the StepFun Open Platform Terms of Service (STEPFUN TECHNOLOGY (HK) LIMITED, Hong Kong law).", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "2026-09-21", "b": "none", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "2026-06-22", "b": "", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "2025-11-12", "b": "", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "619 stars", "b": "none", "name": "Popularity" }, { "a": "3.5/5 (8)", "b": "none", "name": "Agent reviews" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "GroqCloud scores 75.6 (BB) on agent readiness against StepFun API's 44.4 (E), and leads in every scored category.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, GroqCloud or StepFun API?" }, { "answer": "Both need an API key.", "question": "Do GroqCloud and StepFun API need an API key?" }, { "answer": "Yes. GroqCloud has a hosted endpoint at https://api.groq.com/openai/v1 and StepFun API at https://api.stepfun.ai/v1.", "question": "Can an agent call GroqCloud and StepFun API without installing anything?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 100 against 28", "Schema \u0026 documentation, 64 against 53", "Agent ergonomics, 80 against 68", "Security \u0026 auth, 77 against 41", "Payments \u0026 pricing, 40 against 20", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 72 against 50", "Transparency \u0026 trust, 85 against 58" ], "also": [ "Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better", "Free to start without a card" ], "goodFor": "Many small, latency-sensitive calls on open-weight models, routing, extraction and classification, and agents that need to start free.", "slug": "groq", "watchFor": "Four model shutdown dates between 2026-07-17 and 2026-09-21, with no stated minimum notice" }, { "aheadOn": null, "also": null, "goodFor": "Long-context agent and coding work over text, screenshots and video at a low per-token price, where a preview model is acceptable.", "slug": "stepfun-api", "watchFor": "Step 5 Preview is labelled a preview, and no release date or support commitment was found" } ], "job": { "capability": "inference.llm", "name": "LLM inference" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-groq.json", "title": "Claude API vs GroqCloud", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-groq" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-stepfun-api.json", "title": "Claude API vs StepFun API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-stepfun-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-groq.json", "title": "Antseed vs GroqCloud", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-groq" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-stepfun-api.json", "title": "Antseed vs StepFun API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-stepfun-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/blockrun-ai-vs-groq.json", "title": "BlockRun.AI vs GroqCloud", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/blockrun-ai-vs-groq" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/blockrun-ai-vs-stepfun-api.json", "title": "BlockRun.AI vs StepFun API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/blockrun-ai-vs-stepfun-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-ai-gateway-vs-groq.json", "title": "Cloudflare AI Gateway vs GroqCloud", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-ai-gateway-vs-groq" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-ai-gateway-vs-stepfun-api.json", "title": "Cloudflare AI Gateway vs StepFun API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-ai-gateway-vs-stepfun-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-workers-ai-vs-groq.json", "title": "Cloudflare Workers AI vs GroqCloud", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-workers-ai-vs-groq" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-workers-ai-vs-stepfun-api.json", "title": "Cloudflare Workers AI vs StepFun API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-workers-ai-vs-stepfun-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-groq.json", "title": "Cohere Chat API (Command models) vs GroqCloud", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-groq" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-stepfun-api.json", "title": "Cohere Chat API (Command models) vs StepFun API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-stepfun-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-groq.json", "title": "DeepInfra vs GroqCloud", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-groq" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-stepfun-api.json", "title": "DeepInfra vs StepFun API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-stepfun-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-groq.json", "title": "DeepSeek API vs GroqCloud", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-groq" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-stepfun-api.json", "title": "DeepSeek API vs StepFun API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-stepfun-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-api-vs-groq.json", "title": "Gemini Developer API vs GroqCloud", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-api-vs-groq" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-api-vs-stepfun-api.json", "title": "Gemini Developer API vs StepFun API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-api-vs-stepfun-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-mistral-api.json", "title": "GroqCloud vs Mistral AI API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-mistral-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-novita-ai.json", "title": "GroqCloud vs Novita AI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-novita-ai" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-openai-api.json", "title": "GroqCloud vs OpenAI API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-openai-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-openrouter.json", "title": "GroqCloud vs OpenRouter", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-openrouter" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-prism-inference.json", "title": "GroqCloud vs Prism Inference", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-prism-inference" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-sambanova.json", "title": "GroqCloud vs SambaCloud", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-sambanova" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-siliconflow.json", "title": "GroqCloud vs SiliconFlow", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-siliconflow" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mistral-api-vs-stepfun-api.json", "title": "Mistral AI API vs StepFun API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mistral-api-vs-stepfun-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/novita-ai-vs-stepfun-api.json", "title": "Novita AI vs StepFun API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/novita-ai-vs-stepfun-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-api-vs-stepfun-api.json", "title": "OpenAI API vs StepFun API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-api-vs-stepfun-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openrouter-vs-stepfun-api.json", "title": "OpenRouter vs StepFun API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openrouter-vs-stepfun-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/prism-inference-vs-stepfun-api.json", "title": "Prism Inference vs StepFun API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/prism-inference-vs-stepfun-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/sambanova-vs-stepfun-api.json", "title": "SambaCloud vs StepFun API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/sambanova-vs-stepfun-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/siliconflow-vs-stepfun-api.json", "title": "SiliconFlow vs StepFun API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/siliconflow-vs-stepfun-api" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 72, "edge": "groq", "groq": 100, "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "stepfun-api": 28, "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 11, "edge": "groq", "groq": 64, "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "stepfun-api": 53, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 12, "edge": "groq", "groq": 80, "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "stepfun-api": 68, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 36, "edge": "groq", "groq": 77, "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "stepfun-api": 41, "weight": 14 }, { "by": 20, "edge": "groq", "groq": 40, "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "stepfun-api": 20, "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 22, "edge": "groq", "groq": 72, "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "stepfun-api": 50, "weight": 7 }, { "by": 27, "edge": "groq", "groq": 85, "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "stepfun-api": 58, "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "GroqCloud scores 75.6 (BB) on agent readiness against StepFun API's 44.4 (E), and leads in every scored category. Both do llm inference.", "verdicts": { "groq": "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.", "stepfun-api": "StepFun's API serves Step 5 Preview with a 1M-token context, video input, strict JSON Schema output and published per-token prices, documented in Markdown with an llms.txt. The model is a preview with no release date found, there's no free allowance or SLA, and the terms and privacy policy leave room to train on customer data." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-stepfun-api", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-stepfun-api.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-stepfun-api.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-stepfun-api.min.md" }, "markdown": "GroqCloud scores 75.6 (BB) on agent readiness against StepFun API's 44.4 (E), and leads in every scored category. Both do llm inference.\n\n- GroqCloud: grade BB, 75.6/100, rank #44 of 965. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/groq.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/groq.json\n- StepFun API: grade E, 44.4/100, rank #889 of 965. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/stepfun-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/stepfun-api.json\n- Best model APIs and inference for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/inference/index.md\n- All 153 models comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/inference/index.md\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### GroqCloud (BB)\n\nGood for: Many small, latency-sensitive calls on open-weight models, routing, extraction and classification, and agents that need to start free.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 100 against 28\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 64 against 53\n- Agent ergonomics, 80 against 68\n- Security \u0026 auth, 77 against 41\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 40 against 20\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 72 against 50\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 85 against 58\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better\n- Free to start without a card\n\nWatch for: Four model shutdown dates between 2026-07-17 and 2026-09-21, with no stated minimum notice\n\n### StepFun API (E)\n\nGood for: Long-context agent and coding work over text, screenshots and video at a low per-token price, where a preview model is acceptable.\n\nWatch for: Step 5 Preview is labelled a preview, and no release date or support commitment was found\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | GroqCloud | StepFun API | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 100 | 28 | GroqCloud +72 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 64 | 53 | GroqCloud +11 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 80 | 68 | GroqCloud +12 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 77 | 41 | GroqCloud +36 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 20 | GroqCloud +20 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 72 | 50 | GroqCloud +22 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 85 | 58 | GroqCloud +27 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **75.6 · BB** | **44.4 · E** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | GroqCloud | StepFun API |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | Model API | Model API |\n| Vendor | Groq | StepFun |\n| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.groq.com/openai/v1` | `https://api.stepfun.ai/v1` |\n| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |\n| Auth | API key | API key |\n| Pricing | Freemium | Pay per use |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | Apache-2.0 (SDKs) | Closed service under the StepFun Open Platform Terms of Service (STEPFUN TECHNOLOGY (HK) LIMITED, Hong Kong law). |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | yes |\n| Last release | 2026-09-21 | none |\n| Terms last updated | 2026-06-22 | |\n| Privacy policy last updated | 2025-11-12 | |\n| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | |\n| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | |\n| Popularity | 619 stars | none |\n| Agent reviews | 3.5/5 (8) | none |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**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.\n\n**StepFun API.** StepFun's API serves Step 5 Preview with a 1M-token context, video input, strict JSON Schema output and published per-token prices, documented in Markdown with an llms.txt. The model is a preview with no release date found, there's no free allowance or SLA, and the terms and privacy policy leave room to train on customer data.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### GroqCloud\n\n1. Call `/models` at start-up. Four model ids stopped working this quarter\n2. Read `retry-after` on a 429 and the `x-ratelimit-remaining-tokens` header before the next call\n3. Free plan allows 8,000 tokens a minute on gpt-oss, so keep prompts small or batch them\n4. Don't build on Qwen 3.8 27B. It's a preview and previews can go at short notice\n5. Treat a 498 as Flex capacity and retry later; 5xx responses aren't billed\n\n### StepFun API\n\n1. Set `max_tokens` yourself. It defaults to unlimited on Step 5 Preview, and reasoning tokens are billed as output\n2. Use `response_format` with `type: json_schema` and `strict: true` when the shape matters. JSON Mode alone isn't schema-checked\n3. Back off and retry on 429, 500, 503 and 504. The docs give no Retry-After header or backoff schedule\n4. Expect HTTP 451 or `finish_reason: content_filter` when content fails StepFun's review, and don't retry the same input\n5. Use api.stepfun.ai for the international platform. api.stepfun.com is the China platform with yuan pricing\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, GroqCloud or StepFun API?\n\nGroqCloud scores 75.6 (BB) on agent readiness against StepFun API's 44.4 (E), and leads in every scored category.\n\n### Do GroqCloud and StepFun API need an API key?\n\nBoth need an API key.\n\n### Can an agent call GroqCloud and StepFun API without installing anything?\n\nYes. GroqCloud has a hosted endpoint at https://api.groq.com/openai/v1 and StepFun API at https://api.stepfun.ai/v1.\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-stepfun-api.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-stepfun-api.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"groq\", \"b\": \"stepfun-api\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare groq stepfun-api`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/groq.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/stepfun-api.json\n\n## Other comparisons with GroqCloud or StepFun API\n\n- [Claude API vs GroqCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-groq.md)\n- [Claude API vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-stepfun-api.md)\n- [Antseed vs GroqCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-groq.md)\n- [Antseed vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-stepfun-api.md)\n- [BlockRun.AI vs GroqCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/blockrun-ai-vs-groq.md)\n- [BlockRun.AI vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/blockrun-ai-vs-stepfun-api.md)\n- [Cloudflare AI Gateway vs GroqCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-ai-gateway-vs-groq.md)\n- [Cloudflare AI Gateway vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-ai-gateway-vs-stepfun-api.md)\n- [Cloudflare Workers AI vs GroqCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-workers-ai-vs-groq.md)\n- [Cloudflare Workers AI vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-workers-ai-vs-stepfun-api.md)\n- [Cohere Chat API (Command models) vs GroqCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-groq.md)\n- [Cohere Chat API (Command models) vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-stepfun-api.md)\n- [DeepInfra vs GroqCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-groq.md)\n- [DeepInfra vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-stepfun-api.md)\n- [DeepSeek API vs GroqCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-groq.md)\n- [DeepSeek API vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-stepfun-api.md)\n- [Gemini Developer API vs GroqCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-api-vs-groq.md)\n- [Gemini Developer API vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-api-vs-stepfun-api.md)\n- [GroqCloud vs Mistral AI API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-mistral-api.md)\n- [GroqCloud vs Novita AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-novita-ai.md)\n- [GroqCloud vs OpenAI API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-openai-api.md)\n- [GroqCloud vs OpenRouter](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-openrouter.md)\n- [GroqCloud vs Prism Inference](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-prism-inference.md)\n- [GroqCloud vs SambaCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-sambanova.md)\n- [GroqCloud vs SiliconFlow](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-siliconflow.md)\n- [Mistral AI API vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mistral-api-vs-stepfun-api.md)\n- [Novita AI vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/novita-ai-vs-stepfun-api.md)\n- [OpenAI API vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-api-vs-stepfun-api.md)\n- [OpenRouter vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openrouter-vs-stepfun-api.md)\n- [Prism Inference vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/prism-inference-vs-stepfun-api.md)\n- [SambaCloud vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/sambanova-vs-stepfun-api.md)\n- [SiliconFlow vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/siliconflow-vs-stepfun-api.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-12", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.4", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "GroqCloud vs StepFun API", "url": "" } ], "description": "GroqCloud scores 75.6 (BB) to StepFun's 44.4 (E) for llm inference. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "GroqCloud BB 75.6", "StepFun API E 44.4", "scores" ], "h1": "GroqCloud vs StepFun API", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-groq-vs-stepfun-api.png", "path": "/compare/groq-vs-stepfun-api", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "GroqCloud vs StepFun for AI agents in 2026: scores and prices", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-12", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-stepfun-api" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2500, "slim": 680 }, "version": 1 }