Free access to open models, with the real limits shown per organization in the console. Groq offers an API for open-weight models with a free plan and a paid Developer plan. The rate-limits docs list openai/gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b, a Qwen model, Whisper large v3 and turbo for speech to text, Llama Prompt Guard 2 and Orpheus models, and say the Developer plan adds higher limits plus Batch and Flex processing. Exact limits for your organization appear on the console limits page, and the docs table I read is labeled as Developer plan base limits, so I could not read the free-plan numbers from the docs. Trustpilot shows 3.1 from 6 reviews, split between praise for speed and a generous free speech to text API and complaints about errors, signup problems and models retired on a few weeks notice. Reddit posters mention hitting free-tier rate limits when requests fire back to back, and one says the Developer plan looked closed.
Free tier quotas
Free plan
Exists, with lower limits than the Developer plan. The docs say to upgrade to Developer for higher limits, Batch and Flex processing
Where your limits show
The console limits page lists the exact limits for your organization
Docs table (Developer plan base limits)
gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b list 30, 1K, 8K and 200K. whisper-large-v3 lists 20, 2K, 7.2K and 28.8K. The column headers did not come through in my read
Safety model
gpt-oss-safeguard-20b is listed at 3, 1K, 2K and 200K in the same table
Models in the table
gpt-oss-120b, gpt-oss-20b, gpt-oss-safeguard-20b, qwen3.8-27b, whisper-large-v3 and turbo, Llama Prompt Guard 2 (22m and 86m), Orpheus English and Arabic Saudi
Batch and Flex processing
Part of the Developer plan, not the free plan
Higher limits
Available for select workloads and enterprise use cases, per the docs
Free speech to text
A Trustpilot reviewer called the free speech to text API generous and its transcription among the most accurate they tried
Last sniffed Oct 19, 2026. Always confirm on the official pricing page.
👍 Good boy
+A Trustpilot reviewer called it the fastest, easiest and cheapest inference they had used, and another praised very good models and generous pricing. The profile has only 6 reviews, so treat this as a small sample.
+A Trustpilot reviewer called the free speech to text API amazing and generous, and said the transcription was among the most accurate they had tried.
+An older r/LocalLLaMA commenter said Groq is fine and pretty excellent for free, compared with the results you get from a small self-hosted model.
+The docs list a broad model set on one API: gpt-oss 120b and 20b, a Qwen model, Whisper large v3 and turbo, Llama Prompt Guard 2 and Orpheus models, plus gpt-oss-safeguard-20b for safety checks.
+The console limits page shows the exact limits for your organization, so you do not have to rely on a docs table.
+The Developer plan adds Batch and Flex processing, and the docs say higher limits are available for select workloads and enterprise use cases.
👎 Watch out
−Trustpilot shows 3.1 from 6 reviews, too few to be solid evidence. A late August 2026 reviewer said the site and signup were unreliable and almost always errored.
−A Trustpilot reviewer warned that building on Groq means models can be decommissioned with a few weeks notice.
−An r/LangChain poster hit rate limits on the free API with llama3-8b-8192 because requests fired back to back, and then switched. An older r/LocalLLaMA commenter said the limit was about waiting between requests or maximum input size, not speed.
−An r/LLMDevs poster looking for production alternatives said rate limits become an issue as usage grows and that the Developer plan appears closed, so upgrading is not an option. The docs I read still point to the Developer plan for higher limits, so I could not confirm the claim.
−Free-plan limits are not published in the docs table. The table I read is labeled Developer plan base limits, and per-model numbers such as 30 requests a minute and 200K for gpt-oss-120b (my reading of unlabeled columns) are small for production traffic.
−I read no per-token price table, and I found no usable G2 listing for the API.
The catch
I could not read the free-plan limits from the public docs. The rate-limits page says you can see the exact limits for your organization on the console limits page, and it describes the table it shows as the base limits for the Developer plan. That table lists gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b at 30, 1K, 8K and 200K, whisper-large-v3 at 20, 2K, 7.2K and 28.8K, and gpt-oss-safeguard-20b at 3, 1K, 2K and 200K. The column headers did not come through in my read, so I treat them as requests and tokens per minute and per day for chat models and audio seconds per hour and day for Whisper. Check the console before you size anything.
I left the card requirement and commercial-use rule as unknown. A Reddit claim that the free tier needs no card is not something I could confirm on a Groq page. An r/LLMDevs poster also said the Developer plan appears to be closed, which would leave production users without a self-serve upgrade. The docs still point to the Developer plan, so check the billing page when you sign up.
Independent evidence is thin. Trustpilot has 6 reviews at 3.1, and I found no G2 listing for the API. The reviews and Reddit posts agree on speed and a free tier worth using, and on rate limits, signup errors and models being retired with short notice.
What’s included
✓Chat completions for open-weight models such as gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b
✓Whisper large v3 and turbo for speech to text
✓Llama Prompt Guard 2 safety models
✓gpt-oss-safeguard-20b
✓Orpheus models in English and Arabic Saudi
✓Qwen model access
✓Batch processing on the Developer plan
✓Flex processing on the Developer plan
✓Per-organization limits page in the console
✓Rate-limit headers and documented best practices
Free tier value
Generosity
B
Estimated value
Free API access to open models with limits shown per organization in the console
Feature parity
The Developer plan adds higher limits, Batch processing and Flex processing.
Screenshots
Groq homepage
Paid plans
Developer plan
The docs say it gives higher limits plus Batch and Flex processing. I did not read the per-token price table, so check the Groq pricing page for rates.
Enterprise and select workloads
The docs say higher limits are available for select workloads and enterprise use cases. I found no public price.
Common questions
Does Groq have a free plan?
Yes. The docs describe a free plan and tell you to upgrade to the Developer plan for higher limits, Batch and Flex processing.
Where do I find my exact limits?
On the limits page in your console account settings. The docs table I read is labeled as Developer plan base limits.
Which models can I use?
The docs table lists gpt-oss-120b, gpt-oss-20b, gpt-oss-safeguard-20b, qwen3.8-27b, whisper-large-v3 and turbo, Llama Prompt Guard 2 and two Orpheus models.
Is it reliable for production?
Reviews are mixed. A Trustpilot reviewer reported errors and signup problems, and another warned that models can be decommissioned on a few weeks notice. Reddit posters report rate limits as usage grows.
Can I upgrade to the Developer plan?
The docs point to it, but an r/LLMDevs poster said it looked closed. I could not confirm either way.
Change history
Checked October 22, 2026
Rate-limits docs read. Free-plan numbers are not on the docs page. Trustpilot shows 3.1 from 6 reviews. Forum evidence comes from Reddit search excerpts.
