Groq vs OpenRouter
A feature-by-feature comparison of Groq and OpenRouter across 7 capability categories.
Modalities — Tie
| Feature | Groq | OpenRouter |
|---|---|---|
Text Input | Yes, requires free plan. Chat completions API and Playground take text messages. | Yes, requires free plan. Chat completions via /api/v1/chat/completions. |
Image Upload / Vision | Unknown. Vision on hosted models was not confirmed on the quickstart page. | Yes, requires plus plan. Homepage: text, images, videos, and audio through one interface. Vision depends on the routed model. |
Image Generation | No. Inference API for language/audio, not an image generator. | Yes, requires plus plan. Unified interface includes image generation across providers. |
Voice Mode | No. Speech-to-text exists. That is transcription, not a conversational voice loop. | No. Audio generation/transcription may exist via routed models. Not a conversational voice UI. |
Video Understanding | No. Not a video-analysis product. STT can take video files but only transcribes the first audio track. | Partial. Video generation API is documented. Understanding uploaded video was not separately confirmed. |
Video Generation | No. Not a video generation product. | No. Not a video generation product. |
File Upload (PDF, DOCX) | No. Chat is messages. Audio files go to the STT endpoint, not a PDF chat uploader. | Unknown. PDF/DOCX chat was not confirmed on the quickstart page. |
Code Execution | Yes, requires free plan. Built-in tools on Compound / gpt-oss include safe code execution on Groq infrastructure. | No. You implement tools via the Agent SDK. OpenRouter does not sandbox your Python. |
Audio Input | Yes, requires plus plan. OpenAI-compatible transcriptions/translations. Whisper Large V3 and Turbo. Free-tier 25 MB files. | Partial. Audio is listed as a modality. Treat as routed-model support, not a first-party STT studio. |
Canvas / Artifact Editor | No. Playground is a chat/API console, not an artifacts canvas. | No. Chat/API console, not an artifacts canvas. |
Screen Sharing / Computer Use | No. No computer-use product. | No. No computer-use product. |
Memory & Context — OpenRouter Wins
| Feature | Groq | OpenRouter |
|---|---|---|
Persistent Memory | No. Stateless API. You keep history in your app. | No. API is stateless aside from your credits/keys. No user memory layer. |
Large Context Window | Unknown. Depends on the hosted model. No single Groq window is on the quickstart page. | Yes, requires plus plan. Window is whatever the selected model publishes. Catalog is at openrouter.ai/models. |
Custom Instructions | Yes, requires free plan. System messages in the chat API. | Yes, requires free plan. System messages plus org data policies that restrict providers. |
Conversation History | Partial. Playground sessions exist. The API is stateless unless you resend messages. | Yes, requires free plan. The site is a chat UI over models. API history is your client’s job. |
Integrations — Groq Wins
| Feature | Groq | OpenRouter |
|---|---|---|
Web Search / Browsing | Yes, requires free plan. Built-in tools include web search and website visiting on Compound / gpt-oss. | Unknown. Some routed models search. A first-party search toggle was not on quickstart. |
Plugins / Extensions | Yes, requires free plan. Remote MCP tool calling, plus Python/JS SDKs and AI SDK provider. | Yes, requires free plan. Hosted MCP at mcp.openrouter.ai plus Agent SDK tools. |
API Access | Yes, requires free plan. api.groq.com OpenAI-compatible chat and audio. Create a key on console.groq.com. | Yes, requires plus plan. OpenAI-compatible API. Credits, no seat subscription. Client SDKs and OpenAI SDK drop-in. |
Zapier Integration | Unknown. No first-party Zapier app was checked. | Unknown. No first-party Zapier app was checked. |
Custom GPTs / Bots | No. No GPT Store. You build agents on the API. | No. No GPT Store. Agent SDK is for your own agents. |
Real-time Collaboration | No. No multiplayer chat. | No. No multiplayer chat. |
Live Social Data Integration | No. No live social firehose. | No. No live social firehose. |
Live Citation Mapping | No. Built-in web search is not a cited academic mapper. | No. Not a cited-search product. |
Developer — Tie
| Feature | Groq | OpenRouter |
|---|---|---|
Function Calling | Yes, requires free plan. Tool use on all hosted chat models: local functions, remote MCP, or Groq built-in tools. | Yes, requires free plan. Agent SDK tool loops; chat completions can carry tools depending on the model. |
Streaming Responses | Yes, requires free plan. Chat completions support streaming. Groq’s pitch is low-latency tokens. | Yes, requires free plan. Quickstart: the API supports streaming. |
Fine-Tuning | No. You pick hosted models. Groq is inference, not a fine-tune product. | No. You consume providers. OpenRouter does not train your weights. |
Embeddings API | Unknown. An embeddings endpoint was not on the quickstart page checked. | Yes, requires plus plan. Client SDK docs cover embeddings alongside streaming. |
Structured Output (JSON) | Yes, requires free plan. JSON mode is listed for the hosted chat models. | Unknown. JSON-schema guarantees depend on the routed model; not asserted here. |
Reasoning / Thinking Mode | Unknown. Overlapping columns disagreed (yes vs partial); left unverified rather than copying a no. | 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. | No. Routes to cloud providers. Not a local runtime. |
Open Weights | Partial. Hosts open models (Llama, gpt-oss, Qwen). Groq’s runtime/hardware is not open weights. | Partial. You can pick open models hosted by providers. OpenRouter is not a weight release. |
Multi-Agent Orchestration | Partial. Compound/built-in tools are a single-call agent loop, not a multi-agent orchestrator product. | Partial. Agent SDK handles tool loops and state. Not a multi-agent swarm product. |
Platforms — Tie
| Feature | Groq | OpenRouter |
|---|---|---|
Web App | Yes, requires free plan. Playground on console.groq.com. | Yes, requires free plan. openrouter.ai chat, models catalog, and credit dashboard. |
iOS App | No. No iOS app is documented. | No. No iOS app is documented. |
Android App | No. No Android app is documented. | No. No Android app is documented. |
Desktop App | No. API + Playground, not a desktop app. | No. No desktop app is documented. |
Chrome Extension | No. No Chrome extension is documented. | No. No Chrome extension is documented. |
Privacy — OpenRouter Wins
| Feature | Groq | OpenRouter |
|---|---|---|
GDPR Compliant | Unknown. Needs a current Groq DPA read. | Unknown. Needs a DPA read. Data policies exist but are not GDPR certification. |
Opt Out of Data Training | Unknown. Training use of API prompts was not checked on a privacy policy this round. | Partial. Custom data policies restrict which providers see prompts. Not a single training-opt-out toggle we read. |
Enterprise Privacy Mode | Unknown. Enterprise contracts exist in market; specifics were not on the public pricing page fetched. | Yes, requires plus plan. Org accounts and fine-grained data policies for trusted providers. |
Workspaces — Tie
| Feature | Groq | OpenRouter |
|---|---|---|
Projects / Folders | No. No project/folder product in the API. | Unknown. Org/app keys exist. Folder workspaces were not confirmed. |