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Groq vs Nebius AI: Token Pricing, Speed & Intelligence

Full comparison of Groq and Nebius AI — live token pricing, latency, throughput, context window, strengths, weaknesses, and best use cases. Updated July 2026.

Groq

LPU-powered inference — the fastest tokens per second available

Groq runs custom Language Processing Units (LPUs) that deliver dramatically higher throughput than GPU-based inference — Llama 3.3 70B reaches 750+ tokens/second on Groq, versus 100–200 on typical GPU providers. Ideal for latency-sensitive applications, real-time chat, and high-volume batch workloads.

SpeedReal-time chatVoice AICost-efficiencyBatch processing
Open-weight hostHosts open weights

Nebius AI

European cloud AI — affordable open-source inference from ex-Yandex team

Nebius AI is a European cloud provider built by the team behind Yandex Cloud, offering GPU compute and LLM inference services. Their inference API hosts Llama and other open-weight models at competitive prices, with data centres in Europe for GDPR-compliant deployments.

European complianceGDPROpen-sourceCost-efficiencyGPU compute
Open-weight hostHosts open weights

Key metrics

Cheapest input ($/1M)

Cheapest output ($/1M)

Peak throughput

Best latency (TTFT)

Intelligence score

Context window

Live token pricing

Strengths & weaknesses

Groq

750+ tokens/sec on Llama 3.3 70B — fastest GPU-class inference
Sub-100ms time-to-first-token for real-time applications
Very competitive pricing on open-weight models
OpenAI-compatible API
Free tier available
Limited model selection vs. Together AI or Fireworks
No vision model support on most models
No fine-tuning capability

Nebius AI

European data centres — GDPR-compliant by default
Competitive pricing on open-weight models
GPU compute + LLM inference from one provider
Built by experienced Yandex Cloud engineering team
OpenAI-compatible API
Smaller ecosystem than US-based providers
Limited model selection vs. Together AI
Less established brand recognition

Key differentiators

Groq

Groq's custom LPU chips deliver 750+ tokens/sec on Llama 3.3 70B — 4–5× faster than any GPU-based provider.

Nebius AI

European-native infrastructure with GDPR-compliant LLM inference and GPU compute from the same provider — ideal for EU businesses.

Frequently asked questions

Groq FAQs

How fast is Groq inference?

Groq delivers 750+ tokens/second on Llama 3.3 70B and 1,200+ tokens/second on Llama 3.1 8B. This is 4–5× faster than typical GPU-based providers, making it ideal for real-time applications.

How much does Groq cost?

Llama 3.3 70B costs $0.59/1M input and $0.79/1M output tokens. Llama 3.1 8B is just $0.05/$0.08 per 1M tokens — among the cheapest options for a capable open-weight model.

What is a Groq LPU?

A Language Processing Unit (LPU) is Groq's custom silicon designed specifically for sequential token generation. Unlike GPUs which are optimised for parallel matrix operations, LPUs excel at the autoregressive decoding step that dominates LLM inference latency.

Nebius AI FAQs

Is Nebius AI GDPR-compliant?

Yes. Nebius AI operates data centres in Europe (Amsterdam and other EU locations), making it a strong choice for European businesses with GDPR data residency requirements.

What models does Nebius AI offer?

Nebius AI hosts Llama 3.x and other popular open-weight models via their inference API. They also offer GPU compute for self-hosted model deployment.

Who built Nebius AI?

Nebius AI was founded by the team behind Yandex Cloud, one of Europe's largest cloud providers. They bring significant cloud infrastructure experience to the AI inference market.

Provider resources

GroqLPU-powered inference — the fastest tokens per second available

Groq runs custom Language Processing Units (LPUs) that deliver dramatically higher throughput than GPU-based inference — Llama 3.3 70B reaches 750+ tokens/second on Groq, versus 100–200 on typical GPU providers. Ideal for latency-sensitive applications, real-time chat, and high-volume batch workloads.

Groq's custom LPU chips deliver 750+ tokens/sec on Llama 3.3 70B — 4–5× faster than any GPU-based provider.

Nebius AIEuropean cloud AI — affordable open-source inference from ex-Yandex team

Nebius AI is a European cloud provider built by the team behind Yandex Cloud, offering GPU compute and LLM inference services. Their inference API hosts Llama and other open-weight models at competitive prices, with data centres in Europe for GDPR-compliant deployments.

European-native infrastructure with GDPR-compliant LLM inference and GPU compute from the same provider — ideal for EU businesses.

Key strengths compared

Groq

  • 750+ tokens/sec on Llama 3.3 70B — fastest GPU-class inference
  • Sub-100ms time-to-first-token for real-time applications
  • Very competitive pricing on open-weight models

Nebius AI

  • European data centres — GDPR-compliant by default
  • Competitive pricing on open-weight models
  • GPU compute + LLM inference from one provider

Provider category context

Groq is a inference api, founded in 2016. Nebius AI is a inference api, founded in 2023. Both are inference api providers — the comparison is primarily about pricing, model selection, and feature differentiation within the same tier.

How to choose between them

Both Groq and Nebius AI host open-weight models. The key differentiators are latency, throughput, and which specific model versions each provider offers. Check the speed metrics above — inference API providers often differ significantly on tokens-per-second for the same model. Pricing is typically competitive between them; availability of specific model versions (e.g., Llama 3.1 405B, DeepSeek V3) may be the deciding factor.