Is GroqCloud API free?
Fast hosted AI inference with model-specific limits on a free API tier.
Current free offer summary
Free-tier limits vary by model; current GPT-OSS 20B and 120B limits include 30 requests per minute, 1,000 requests per day, 8,000 tokens per minute, and 200,000 tokens per day.
What GroqCloud API does
GroqCloud provides hosted inference for supported language, audio, and compound AI models through an API. The free tier is useful for prototypes and learning, but limits apply at the organization level and a request can be blocked when any request, token, or audio allowance is reached.
- Text generation API
- Audio transcription API
- OpenAI-compatible endpoints
- Streaming
Best for
- ✓ Low-latency AI prototypes
- ✓ OpenAI-compatible API projects
- ✓ Speech-to-text experiments
Important limits
- • Limits differ by model
- • Organization-level request and token limits apply
- • The API returns HTTP 429 when a limit is exceeded
FreeAIList verdict
A fast way to prototype against hosted open models for free, as long as the application can handle model-specific rate limits.
Paid plans: The Developer tier uses paid usage and higher limits; adding a payment method is required to upgrade.
Official sources
These links support the important free-offer claims on this page.
- GroqCloud rate limits ↗
Groq publishes model-specific Free Plan request, token, and audio limits and states that limits apply at the organization level.
- GroqCloud billing FAQs ↗
Groq documents a Free tier and requires a payment method only when upgrading to the paid Developer tier.