Grok vs Groq
A feature-by-feature comparison of Grok and Groq across 7 capability categories.
Modalities — Tie
| Feature | Grok | Groq |
|---|---|---|
Text Input | Yes. Core feature | Yes, requires free plan. Chat completions API and Playground take text messages. |
Image Upload / Vision | Yes | Unknown. Vision on hosted models was not confirmed on the quickstart page. |
Image Generation | Yes | No. Inference API for language/audio, not an image generator. |
Voice Mode | No | No. Speech-to-text exists. That is transcription, not a conversational voice loop. |
Video Understanding | No | No. Not a video-analysis product. STT can take video files but only transcribes the first audio track. |
Video Generation | No. Not a video generation product. | No. Not a video generation product. |
File Upload (PDF, DOCX) | No | No. Chat is messages. Audio files go to the STT endpoint, not a PDF chat uploader. |
Code Execution | No | Yes, requires free plan. Built-in tools on Compound / gpt-oss include safe code execution on Groq infrastructure. |
Audio Input | No | Yes, requires plus plan. OpenAI-compatible transcriptions/translations. Whisper Large V3 and Turbo. Free-tier 25 MB files. |
Canvas / Artifact Editor | No | No. Playground is a chat/API console, not an artifacts canvas. |
Screen Sharing / Computer Use | No | No. No computer-use product. |
Memory & Context — Tie
| Feature | Grok | Groq |
|---|---|---|
Persistent Memory | No | No. Stateless API. You keep history in your app. |
Large Context Window | Partial. Standard context | Unknown. Depends on the hosted model. No single Groq window is on the quickstart page. |
Custom Instructions | No | Yes, requires free plan. System messages in the chat API. |
Conversation History | Yes | Partial. Playground sessions exist. The API is stateless unless you resend messages. |
Integrations — Grok Wins
| Feature | Grok | Groq |
|---|---|---|
Web Search / Browsing | Yes. Real-time focus | Yes, requires free plan. Built-in tools include web search and website visiting on Compound / gpt-oss. |
Plugins / Extensions | No | Yes, requires free plan. Remote MCP tool calling, plus Python/JS SDKs and AI SDK provider. |
API Access | Yes, requires pro plan | Yes, requires free plan. api.groq.com OpenAI-compatible chat and audio. Create a key on console.groq.com. |
Zapier Integration | Yes. Zapier lists Grok by xAI as an official app. Zaps can Ask Grok, categorize text, extract fields from text or images, and generate images from a prompt. | Unknown. No first-party Zapier app was checked. |
Custom GPTs / Bots | No | No. No GPT Store. You build agents on the API. |
Real-time Collaboration | No | No. No multiplayer chat. |
Live Social Data Integration | Yes. Real-time X data | No. No live social firehose. |
Live Citation Mapping | No. Built-in web search is not a cited academic mapper. |
Developer — Grok Wins
| Feature | Grok | Groq |
|---|---|---|
Function Calling | Yes. The xAI API supports function calling: you define custom tools and Grok returns tool-call requests for your app to execute, alongside built-in tools such as web search, X search, and code interpreter. | Yes, requires free plan. Tool use on all hosted chat models: local functions, remote MCP, or Groq built-in tools. |
Streaming Responses | Yes. The xAI API streams Grok text output over Server-Sent Events. Set stream: true on chat completions; all text-capable Grok models support it, including grok-4.6. | Yes, requires free plan. Chat completions support streaming. Groq’s pitch is low-latency tokens. |
Fine-Tuning | No | No. You pick hosted models. Groq is inference, not a fine-tune product. |
Embeddings API | No | Unknown. An embeddings endpoint was not on the quickstart page checked. |
Structured Output (JSON) | No | Yes, requires free plan. JSON mode is listed for the hosted chat models. |
Reasoning / Thinking Mode | Yes. Auto populated | Unknown. Overlapping columns disagreed (yes vs partial); left unverified rather than copying a no. |
Local Execution | No. Runs on Groq LPUs in their cloud, not on your GPU. | |
Open Weights | Partial. Hosts open models (Llama, gpt-oss, Qwen). Groq’s runtime/hardware is not open weights. | |
Multi-Agent Orchestration | Yes. Four-agent backend | Partial. Compound/built-in tools are a single-call agent loop, not a multi-agent orchestrator product. |
Platforms — Grok Wins
| Feature | Grok | Groq |
|---|---|---|
Web App | Yes | Yes, requires free plan. Playground on console.groq.com. |
iOS App | Yes. Via X app | No. No iOS app is documented. |
Android App | Yes. Via X app | No. No Android app is documented. |
Desktop App | No | No. API + Playground, not a desktop app. |
Chrome Extension | No | No. No Chrome extension is documented. |
Privacy — Grok Wins
| Feature | Grok | Groq |
|---|---|---|
GDPR Compliant | Yes | Unknown. Needs a current Groq DPA read. |
Opt Out of Data Training | No | Unknown. Training use of API prompts was not checked on a privacy policy this round. |
Enterprise Privacy Mode | No | Unknown. Enterprise contracts exist in market; specifics were not on the public pricing page fetched. |
Workspaces — Tie
| Feature | Grok | Groq |
|---|---|---|
Projects / Folders | No | No. No project/folder product in the API. |