How to Get a Free Groq API Key (2026)
14 free models available — no credit card required. Get your Groq API key →
Overview
World's fastest LLM inference — ultra-low latency, free tier.
Groq is a cloud AI platform powered by its proprietary LPU (Language Processing Unit) chips, delivering dramatically faster inference than GPU-based providers. The free tier supports Llama, Qwen, DeepSeek-R1, and Whisper models with generous daily limits. Groq is fully OpenAI SDK-compatible, making it a drop-in replacement for any tool that accepts a custom base URL.
- Ultra-fast inference (~2,600 tok/s)
- Free tier: 14,400 RPD for most models
- Supports Llama 4, Qwen3, DeepSeek-R1
- OpenAI-compatible
API Compatibility: OpenAI SDK-compatible (Chat Completions)
Quick Start Guide
- 1 Sign up at console.groq.com Email or Google/GitHub login. No credit card.
- 2 Go to API Keys in the sidebar
- 3 Create API key
- 4 Choose a model Llama 3.3 70B is the most popular free option.
- 5 Configure OpenAI client Base URL: https://api.groq.com/openai/v1
All Free Groq Models — Context Windows & Rate Limits
| Model | Context | Max Output | Modality | Rate Limit | Released | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| llama-3.3-70b-versatile | 131K | 32K | 30 RPM, 14,400 RPD | — | Online | Details | |
| llama-3.1-8b-instant | 131K | 131K | 30 RPM, 14,400 RPD | — | Online | Details | |
| llama-4-scout-17b-16e-instruct | 131K | 8K | 30 RPM, 14,400 RPD | — | Online | Details | |
| llama-4-maverick-17b-128e-instruct | 131K | 8K | 15 RPM, 500 RPD | — | Online | Details | |
| qwen3-32b | 131K | 131K | 30 RPM, 14,400 RPD | — | Online | Details | |
| kimi-k2-instruct | 262K | 262K | 30 RPM, 14,400 RPD | — | Online | Details | |
| deepseek-r1-distill-70b | 131K | 8K | 30 RPM, 14,400 RPD | — | Online | Details | |
| whisper-large-v3 | 131K | 131K | 20 RPM, 2,000 RPD | — | Online | Details | |
| whisper-large-v3-turbo | 131K | 131K | 20 RPM, 2,000 RPD | — | Online | Details | |
| Moonshot Kimi K2 | 131K | 0 | See provider page | — | Online | Details | |
| Moonshot Kimi K2 0905 | 131K | 0 | See provider page | — | Online | Details | |
| GPT-OSS 120B | 131K | 0 | See provider page | — | Online | Details | |
| GPT-OSS 20B | 131K | 0 | See provider page | — | Online | Details | |
| GPT-OSS Safeguard 20B | 131K | 0 | See provider page | — | Online | Details |
Pricing & Limits
Credit Card Not required
Free Tier Permanently free
Context Range 131K – 262K
Total Models 14 free
Rate Limits 30 RPM, 14,400 RPD · 15 RPM, 500 RPD · 20 RPM, 2,000 RPD
API Compatibility OpenAI SDK-compatible (Chat Completions)
Use Cases
What Groq's free models are best for, based on aggregated model capabilities:
Limitations & Caveats
- Rate limits vary significantly by model — check per-model limits
- Some models have token-per-minute caps in addition to RPM
- LPU availability may cause queuing during peak usage