TokenMix Research Lab · 2026-04-24

Running DeepSeek on Groq: Latency, Cost, Limits 2026

Groq hosts DeepSeek R1 distilled variants on their LPU (Language Processing Unit) inference platform — delivering 800+ tokens/second on R1-70B distill, ~4-5× faster than standard GPU inference. For reasoning workloads where latency matters, Groq + DeepSeek is a compelling combination. This guide covers available DeepSeek models on Groq, pricing, setup, speed benchmarks vs Cerebras and Together.ai, rate limits, and when Groq makes more sense than DeepSeek's own platform. TokenMix.ai routes DeepSeek via Groq alongside 300+ other models.

Confirmed vs Speculation
DeepSeek Models on Groq
Pricing
Setup: 3 Commands
Speed Benchmarks vs Competitors
Rate Limits
FAQ

Confirmed vs Speculation

Claim	Status
Groq hosts DeepSeek R1 distills	Confirmed
R1-70B distill at 800+ tok/s on Groq	Confirmed
Faster than DeepSeek direct API	Yes usually
OpenAI-compatible endpoint	Yes
Free tier available	Yes (generous)
Supports full DeepSeek R1 (not distill)	Partial — distill variants only
Best for latency-sensitive	Yes

Snapshot note (2026-04-24): Groq throughput figures (800 tok/s on R1 70B distill, 1200 on 32B, etc.) are Groq-reported plus our tests. Real throughput varies by LPU cluster state and concurrency. Rate limit tiers ($5 / $50 thresholds) are current — Groq iterates these as they scale. DeepSeek V3.2 reference pricing is $0.14 input / $0.28 output per MTok (cache-hit input $0.07) per the official DeepSeek API docs.

DeepSeek Models on Groq

Model	Type	Size	Speed
deepseek-r1-distill-llama-70b	Llama-based distill	70B	800+ tok/s
deepseek-r1-distill-qwen-32b	Qwen-based distill	32B	1,200 tok/s
deepseek-r1-distill-qwen-14b	Qwen-based distill	14B	1,500 tok/s
deepseek-r1-distill-qwen-7b	Qwen-based distill	7B	2,000 tok/s

Note: Groq doesn't host full DeepSeek R1 (671B) — only distilled variants. For full R1, use DeepSeek direct or TokenMix.ai routing.

Pricing

Model	Input $/MTok	Output $/MTok
deepseek-r1-distill-llama-70b	$0.75	.00
deepseek-r1-distill-qwen-32b	$0.30	$0.50
deepseek-r1-distill-qwen-14b	$0.10	$0.15
deepseek-r1-distill-qwen-7b	$0.05	$0.08

Compared to DeepSeek's own API ($0.14/$0.28 for V3.2): Groq charges ~5× more on 70B distill but delivers 8× the throughput. For speed-critical workloads, the trade-off is defensible; for async/batch, stick with DeepSeek direct.

Setup: 3 Commands

# Get Groq API key at console.groq.com (free tier)
export GROQ_API_KEY="gsk_..."

# Test call
curl https://api.groq.com/openai/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $GROQ_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "deepseek-r1-distill-llama-70b",
    "messages": [{"role":"user","content":"Hello"}]
  }'

Python via OpenAI SDK:

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    api_key="your_groq_key",
    base_url="https://api.groq.com/openai/v1"
)

response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="deepseek-r1-distill-llama-70b",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Explain reasoning"}]
)

Response typically returns within 1 second for 500-token responses.

Speed Benchmarks vs Competitors

Running deepseek-r1-distill-llama-70b across providers:

Provider	Throughput	TTFT	Quality
Cerebras	1800 tok/s	<100ms	Full
Groq	800 tok/s	<100ms	Full
Together.ai	200 tok/s	200ms	Full
Fireworks	250 tok/s	150ms	Full
DeepSeek direct (full R1, not distill)	100 tok/s	500ms	Best quality

Groq is middle-ground: 2× Together.ai speed, ½ Cerebras speed, comparable price tier.

Rate Limits

Groq tiers:

Tier	Requirement	RPM	TPM
Free	Sign up	30	6,000
Dev	$5 spend	120	60,000
Pro	$50 spend	300	300,000
Enterprise	Custom	Custom	Custom

Free tier's 6,000 TPM is enough for prototyping but will hit quickly in production. Upgrade to Dev tier ($5 minimum spend) unlocks 10× capacity.

FAQ

Is distilled DeepSeek R1 as good as full R1?

No — distilled is weaker. See our benchmarks: R1 Distill 70B at ~80% AIME vs full R1 at 88%. For reasoning-critical work, use full R1 via DeepSeek direct; for speed-first, Groq's distill.

Why would I use Groq instead of DeepSeek direct?

Latency. Groq is 4-8× faster than DeepSeek direct API. For interactive applications (chat, live reasoning), speed matters. For batch / async, use DeepSeek direct for quality + cost.

How does Groq compare to Cerebras for DeepSeek?

Cerebras is ~2× faster than Groq. Groq cheaper on some models + more mature ecosystem + generous free tier. For maximum speed → Cerebras. For best price-performance + generosity → Groq.

Can I use Groq for production?

Yes. Groq has enterprise SLAs available. Pro tier ($50 spend) is enough for most production workloads. For mission-critical, negotiate enterprise contract.

Does Groq support tool use / function calling?

Yes on most models. Standard OpenAI tool schema. Compatible with LangChain, LlamaIndex, agent frameworks.

Is there a full DeepSeek R1 (not distill) on Groq?

Not as of April 2026. Full R1 requires significantly more infrastructure than distills. Groq focuses on what runs efficiently on their LPU architecture.

Can I route DeepSeek through Groq via TokenMix.ai?

Yes — TokenMix.ai supports Groq as one of the backend providers. Configure preference: "Groq when available for speed, DeepSeek direct as fallback".

Sources

By TokenMix Research Lab · Updated 2026-04-24