Groq vs Together AI
A side-by-side comparison of capabilities, autonomy, integrations, and pricing to help you choose.
Short answer: choose Groq if you want fast, low-cost llm inference on custom lpu silicon via groqcloud (Assistant, usage); choose Together AI if you want cloud for running, fine-tuning, and serving open-source ai models (Assistant, usage).
| Groq | Together AI | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Fast, low-cost LLM inference on custom LPU silicon via GroqCloud | Cloud for running, fine-tuning, and serving open-source AI models |
| Type | platform | platform |
| Autonomy | Assistant | Assistant |
| Pricing | usage · $0.05 / 1M input tokens (Llama 3.1 8B) | usage · Per-token usage from ~$0.03 / 1M input tokens; GPU clusters from ~$3.29/hr reserved |
| Best for | developers, enterprise | developers, enterprise, mid-market |
| Deployment | api, saas, on-prem | api, saas, on-prem |
| Modalities | text, voice, code, image, api | text, code, image, video, voice, api |
| Models | llama, open-source, model-agnostic | llama, open-source, model-agnostic |
| Protocols | mcp, function-calling, rest-api | function-calling, rest-api |
| Integrations | OpenAI SDK, LangChain, Vercel AI SDK, Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive | OpenAI SDK, LangChain, LlamaIndex, Vercel AI SDK, Hugging Face |
| Capabilities | 6 documented | 6 documented |
Groq
- +Marketed for very fast inference at low, linear per-token pricing
- +OpenAI-compatible API makes migration nearly drop-in
- +Free tier plus on-demand, batch, and on-prem (GroqRack/LPX) options
- -Serves open models only; no proprietary frontier models of its own
- -It is an inference layer, not an end-to-end agent: orchestration is on you
Together AI
- +Large catalog of open models across text, image, audio, and video
- +OpenAI-compatible API makes migration nearly drop-in
- +Full ladder from serverless to dedicated endpoints to raw GPU clusters
- -Serves open and bring-your-own models; no proprietary frontier model of its own
- -It is an inference and compute layer, not an end-to-end agent: orchestration is on you
Which should you choose?
Groq is fast, low-cost llm inference on custom lpu silicon via groqcloud, best for developers, enterprise. Together AI is cloud for running, fine-tuning, and serving open-source ai models, best for developers, enterprise, mid-market. The right choice depends on the autonomy level you want, your existing integrations, and your budget, all compared above.