Head to head · LLM inference · October 2026 research run
GroqCloud vs SWE-2 Flash
GroqCloud scores 74.5 (BB) on agent readiness against SWE-2 Flash's 36.4 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do llm inference.
Best model APIs and inference for AI agents · All 562 models comparisons
Which one, for what
GroqCloud BB
Best 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 50
- Schema & documentation, 64 against 29
- Agent ergonomics, 80 against 10
- Security & auth, 82 against 53
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 20
- Maintenance & community, 72 against 53
- Transparency & trust, 85 against 64
Also in its favour
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install
- 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
Best for People already using Devin Desktop or Devin CLI who want a cheaper, faster model for routine coding work such as automations, reviews and small changes, while it is free in November 2026.
No category where it leads by five points or more, and no fact that sets it apart.
Watch for
No model API, OpenAPI entry or model card. The Devin API's session agents list SWE-2 but not SWE-2 Flash
Why the edge
Each category where one leads by five points or more, with the reason behind each side's score from its assessment. The numbers are in the table below; this is what they stand for.
Agent ergonomics GroqCloud +70
GroqCloud 80
Model reading of the checklist (tool use, structured output, caching, context, batch, SDKs, errors). Tool use documented, parallel calls and forced choice not checked (15 of 20). Strict structured outputs (15). Automatic prompt caching at 50% off cached input, with a 2-hour cache life, on gpt-oss-20b, gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-safeguard-20b only (10 of 15). 131,072-token context on every self-serve model; only MiniMax M2.7, a preview on enterprise pricing, reaches 196,608 (5 of 15). Batch at half price (10). Official SDKs for Python and JavaScript (10). Errors page with codes, recovery advice and a typed error object (15).
SWE-2 Flash 10
Model reading (tool use, structured output, caching, context, batch, SDKs). Tool use is Devin's harness, not something a caller configures; no context length, output limit or cache price is published for SWE-2 Flash (5 of 25). No documented output-size or reasoning controls for this model; SWE-2's effort levels aren't stated for Flash (0 of 20). No model-level error documentation (0 of 20). No idempotency or retry guidance (0 of 20). One flag or picker selects it and devin -p runs a single turn and prints to stdout, but there is no SDK or direct endpoint (5 of 15). 5 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 5 = 10.
Reliability GroqCloud +40
GroqCloud 90
Status page at groqstatus.com on incident.io, with components for the API, each production and preview model and the website (20). The page's RSS feed and the incident pages it links, read on 1 November, list three incidents in the 90-day window, all in October, and nothing since 12 October apart from a console maintenance on 18 October. On 10 October the enterprise-only preview MiniMax M2.7 had failed requests from data centre hardware issues from 10:09 to 16:14 UTC. The incident's header and impact record say degraded performance, while its Identified update set the model to partial outage and warned of failed requests. On 12 October console.groq.com returned 500 errors on metrics, /models and key creation from 03:17 to 03:38, and the vendor said inference requests were not affected. On 12 October MiniMax M2.7 had a partial outage from 18:17 to 18:36. None took down a core API for an hour, since the six-hour incident hit one enterprise preview model that the status page describes as for evaluation only, so minor incidents only (20). A stricter reading would count it as a major and give 10. Limits published per model, 30 requests a minute, 1,000 a day and 8,000 tokens a minute on gpt-oss for the free plan, re-read on 1 November (15). 429 carries retry-after, x-ratelimit-* headers come on every response, and the errors page says to wait before retrying a 503 and that a 502 may clear on retry (15). The Performance Tier, enterprise only, lists a 99.9% availability SLA with details in the offline agreement, per the 6 October check, not re-read on 1 November (10). gpt-oss and Whisper models are production, Qwen 3.8 27B, MiniMax M2.7 and Muse Spark Open are previews (10). 20+20+15+15+10+10 = 90.
SWE-2 Flash 50
Model reading, for the surface it runs on, Devin Desktop and Devin CLI. Status page at www.devinstatus.com (Atlassian Statuspage) with Desktop Agent and Desktop Tab components besides the cloud ones, read on 4 November 2026 (20). The history feed for the 90 days from 6 August lists 'Devin unavailable' for 20 minutes on 13 August with no component named, read as across the board and a major as on the devin listing; Devin Cloud unavailable on 13 August and the web app down on 24 September name cloud surfaces this model doesn't use; the rest are degraded-performance incidents (new sessions on 3 September, 'multiple services' on 17 September, Ask Devin on 26 October, automation triggers on 4 November) and session queuing on 10 and 11 August, read as minor and a scheduled Devin Desktop extension marketplace upgrade on 7 August, read as maintenance. One major (10). No rate limit figures for the model or the CLI; usage is a daily and weekly quota with no numbers (0). No 429, backoff or retry guidance for this surface (0). Cognition publishes an SLA (25 February 2026) with uptime and response times that applies when included in an order form, read as a contractual SLA on Enterprise, as on other listings (10). The launch post makes it available today with no preview or beta label (10). 20 + 10 + 0 + 0 + 10 + 10 = 50.
Schema & documentation GroqCloud +35
GroqCloud 64
No OpenAPI document in the docs, and the SDK's .stats.yml carries only an endpoint count of 17, no spec URL (0). llms.txt at console.groq.com/llms.txt (10). Reference not read in full this run (15 of 20). Structured outputs have a Strict mode as well as Best-effort (15). The errors page lists 15 status codes with recovery advice, including 498 for Flex capacity and 424 for remote MCP auth, and the error object with message and type (14 of 15). The changelog at console.groq.com/docs/changelog, read on 1 November, is dated, but its newest entry is 18 April 2026 and it doesn't record the four shutdowns since July, which only the deprecations page carries (10 of 15).
SWE-2 Flash 29
Model reading. No model API, so no OpenAPI entry; the Devin v3 OpenAPI file lists SWE-2 agents only, and no model card was found (0). docs.devin.ai serves llms.txt and Markdown copies of every page (10). The launch post says what it is for (automations, code review, feature development, documentation) and the CLI docs say when to pick a SWE model, but the models pages don't list SWE-2 Flash yet (6 of 20). No documented model ID, reasoning settings, context or output limits to type (0 of 15). The CLI pages show --model and /model examples, with no model-specific errors (3 of 15). Named, dated model versions on Cognition's blog and public release notes, but no release note for SWE-2 Flash yet; the newest is 2 November (10 of 15). 0 + 10 + 6 + 0 + 3 + 10 = 29.
Security & auth GroqCloud +29
GroqCloud 82
Model reading. Bearer keys scoped to a project, with custom request limits per project and model permissions at organisation and project level. The security onboarding page advises rotating keys periodically and revoking them at once if compromise is suspected (30). The services agreement, read first-hand on 6 October and not re-read on 17 October, says Groq is not permitted to use inputs or outputs for training unless the customer grants permission (20). No retention by default, up to 30 days for reliability and abuse monitoring, and zero retention as a setting any customer can turn on in Data Controls, per the data page (15). Request logs, usage per project and a read-only Reader role (12 of 15). groq.com's security.txt holds a Contact line and nothing else, and the trust centre at trust.groq.com is a Vanta page that renders only with JavaScript, so certifications and any bug bounty are unchecked (5 of 20).
SWE-2 Flash 53
Read as a hosted model reached through Devin's local clients. The CLI signs in through a browser, or the enterprise identity provider, and stores an API token in credentials.toml that by default is persistent and does not expire and carries the user's access, with no scopes found for it (10 of 30). Devin CLI documents an OS-level sandbox with network filtering, hooks that can block tool calls, and enterprise model allowlists and team settings (14 of 20). Guardrails against prompt injection are Enterprise only and cover user messages, as on the devin listing (8 of 15). Enterprise analytics count tool calls and consumption by model and user; no per-user audit log for the CLI was found (8 of 15). SOC 2 Type II and ISO/IEC 27001:2022, a disclosure address, no bug bounty and no security.txt, per the devin listing (13 of 20). Training: self-serve customer data may train Cognition's models by default, with an opt-out on paid plans that also turns on zero data retention at model providers. Cognition withheld the weights over cyber misuse, which is recorded as a fact, not scored. 10 + 14 + 8 + 8 + 13 = 53.
Transparency & trust GroqCloud +21
GroqCloud 85
Closed service with clear terms, SDKs Apache-2.0 (15). The data page agrees with the listing on retention and adds detail, batch files kept 30 days unless deleted, fine-tuning data kept until the customer deletes it, and SCCs for transfers. The services agreement bars training on inputs and outputs, and the DPA gives 15 days' notice of sub-processor changes to subscribers, both read on 6 October. The agreement extends zero retention to 'Eligible Customers' where the data page says all customers may enable it (26 of 30). Deprecations page with announcement and shutdown dates (20). All customer data in Google Cloud buckets in the US, per the data page. The DPA points to a sub-processor list at trust.groq.com/subprocessors, which needs JavaScript and wasn't read (10 of 20).
SWE-2 Flash 64
Editorial half. Closed model under Cognition's platform terms; the weights aren't public and the sharing programme isn't described yet (15). Terms, privacy policy, security page and DPA agree, with training on self-serve data by default and no retention periods, as read for the devin listing (18). The API versioning policy covers API endpoints, not models, and no model deprecation notice was found (5 of 20). Sub-processors listed with purpose and country, per the devin listing's 8 October check (18). 15 + 18 + 5 + 18 = 56.
Payments & pricing GroqCloud +20
GroqCloud 40
No machine payment protocol (0). Per-token prices on the models page, read without a login, such as gpt-oss-120b at $0.15 in and $0.60 out per million (20). Free plan with no card (20). Console sign-up in a browser (0).
SWE-2 Flash 20
Published rubric. No payment protocol (0). Plan prices are public, but no per-token price for SWE-2 Flash is on a readable page; the docs' cost table loads in the browser and the post gives only 'one-fifth the price' of SWE-2 (10). Free through 30 November 2026 on Devin Desktop and CLI, but the docs say Free tier users only have SWE-1.6, so whether the Free plan reaches it, and without a card, isn't confirmed; the in-between value used on the devin listing (10). A person signs in through a browser (0). 0 + 10 + 10 + 0 = 20.
Score by category
| Category | Weight this run | GroqCloud | SWE-2 Flash | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reliability | 16%20 | 90 | 50 | GroqCloud +40 |
| Performance | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13%16.2 | 64 | 29 | GroqCloud +35 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13%16.2 | 80 | 10 | GroqCloud +70 |
| Security & auth | 14%17.5 | 82 | 53 | GroqCloud +29 |
| Payments & pricing | 10%12.5 | 40 | 20 | GroqCloud +20 |
| Task success | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7%8.8 | 72 | 53 | GroqCloud +19 |
| Transparency & trust | 7%8.8 | 85 | 64 | GroqCloud +21 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -2 | |
| Total | BB 74.5/100 | F 36.4/100 |
Facts side by side
| Fact | GroqCloud | SWE-2 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Kind | Model API | Model API |
| Vendor | Groq | Cognition AI, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | https://api.groq.com/openai/v1 | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP | |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 (SDKs) | Proprietary model, used through Devin Desktop and Devin CLI under Cognition's Platform Terms of Service. The weights are not public; Cognition says it is building a programme to share them with industry partners and researchers |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-15 | 2026-11-04 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-06-22 | 2026-06-30 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2025-11-12 | 2026-03-09 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | yes, with an opt-out |
| 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 | not found in the text | yes |
| Popularity | 619 stars | none |
| Agent reviews | 3.5/5 (8) | none |
How the scores have moved
SWE-2 Flash
No score change since it was listed.
Verdicts
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.
SWE-2 Flash
A new small coding model from Cognition that anyone can try free in Devin Desktop and Devin CLI until 30 November 2026, with strong vendor-reported coding scores. It has no model API, no published per-token price, context length or model card, and no public weights, so an agent can reach it only by driving Devin's own CLI.
Before you call either
GroqCloud
- Call
/modelsat start-up. Four model ids stopped working between July and September - Read
retry-afteron a 429 and thex-ratelimit-remaining-tokensheader 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; server errors aren't billed
SWE-2 Flash
- There is no endpoint to call. Run Devin CLI single-turn with
devin -pand pick the model with--model; the SWE-2 Flash model ID isn't documented yet, so check/modelin the CLI first - Don't rely on the short name
swe. The docs say it resolves to the latest model in the family, which may be SWE-2 rather than SWE-2 Flash - Plan for billing to start on 1 December 2026. The free period covers Devin Desktop and CLI only, not Devin cloud sessions
- Treat Cognition's benchmark figures as the vendor's. No independent result for SWE-2 Flash was found
- Keep
credentials.tomlprivate. The token in it doesn't expire by default and carries the signed-in user's access
Questions
Which is better for AI agents, GroqCloud or SWE-2 Flash?
GroqCloud scores 74.5 (BB) on agent readiness against SWE-2 Flash's 36.4 (F), and leads in every scored category.
Do GroqCloud and SWE-2 Flash need an API key?
GroqCloud needs an API key. SWE-2 Flash takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.
Can an agent call GroqCloud and SWE-2 Flash without installing anything?
GroqCloud has a hosted endpoint at https://api.groq.com/openai/v1. No hosted endpoint is listed for SWE-2 Flash.
Other comparisons with GroqCloud or SWE-2 Flash
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- Antseed vs SWE-2 Flash
- BlockRun.AI vs GroqCloud
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- Cohere Chat API (Command models) vs GroqCloud
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- Glimpse vs GroqCloud
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- Fireworks AI Inference vs GroqCloud
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- Gemini Developer API vs GroqCloud
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- GroqCloud vs Jais 3
- GroqCloud vs Meta Model API
- GroqCloud vs MiniMax API
- GroqCloud vs Mistral AI API
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- GroqCloud vs Nemotron 3.5 Super VL
- GroqCloud vs Novita AI
- GroqCloud vs OpenAI API
- GroqCloud vs OpenRouter
- GroqCloud vs Prism Inference
- GroqCloud vs Router.com (Ramp Router)
- GroqCloud vs Beam 1.0
- GroqCloud vs RouterPlus
- GroqCloud vs SambaCloud
- GroqCloud vs SiliconFlow
- GroqCloud vs Simplismart
- GroqCloud vs StepFun API
- GroqCloud vs Tencent Cloud TokenHub
- GroqCloud vs Together AI Inference
- GroqCloud vs Vercel AI Gateway
- Jais 3 vs SWE-2 Flash
- Meta Model API vs SWE-2 Flash
- MiniMax API vs SWE-2 Flash
- Mistral AI API vs SWE-2 Flash
- Muse Spark Open vs SWE-2 Flash
- Nemotron 3.5 Super VL vs SWE-2 Flash
- Novita AI vs SWE-2 Flash
- OpenAI API vs SWE-2 Flash
- OpenRouter vs SWE-2 Flash
- Prism Inference vs SWE-2 Flash
- Router.com (Ramp Router) vs SWE-2 Flash
- Beam 1.0 vs SWE-2 Flash
- RouterPlus vs SWE-2 Flash
- SambaCloud vs SWE-2 Flash
- SiliconFlow vs SWE-2 Flash
- Simplismart vs SWE-2 Flash
- StepFun API vs SWE-2 Flash
- SWE-2 Flash vs Tencent Cloud TokenHub
- SWE-2 Flash vs Together AI Inference
- SWE-2 Flash vs Vercel AI Gateway
Machine-readable
- This page as Markdown
/compare/groq-vs-swe-2-flash.md· slim.min.md· JSON.json(or sendAccept: text/markdown) - Each listing in full
/api/v1/tools/groq.json·/api/v1/tools/swe-2-flash.json - From a terminal
anchor compare groq swe-2-flash(the CLI) - Over MCP
compare_tools {"a": "groq", "b": "swe-2-flash"}at/mcp, no key