Side-by-side
| Axis | OpenRouter | Groq |
|---|---|---|
| Setup time | One API key, OpenAI-compatible base URL. 5 min. | One API key, OpenAI-compatible base URL. 5 min. |
| Security model | Pass-through to upstream. DPA available. | Direct Groq inference, US-hosted. Standard SOC 2. |
| Model support | 100+ models from 30+ providers. | Llama, Mixtral, Whisper. Curated, not a catalog. |
| Cost | Roughly at-cost from upstream. | Per-token pricing competitive on Llama 70B; not the cheapest on tiny models. |
| Ecosystem | Universal compatibility. | Excellent OpenAI-API compatibility for the curated model list. |
| Best for | Default for self-hosted agents that need a hosted LLM with provider fallback. | Workloads where ms-level latency matters more than model variety — voice, real-time UI. |
Verdict
Both. OpenRouter for general fallback and A/B testing; Groq for the specific calls where you need 400+ tokens/s on Llama 70B and don't want to operate the GPU yourself.
Notes
- Groq's tokens-per-second figures are headline-real — the LPU architecture is genuinely faster than GPUs at this size class.
- Groq's downside is model selection. If your agent depends on Claude or GPT, Groq doesn't help.
- OpenRouter has been quietly adding Groq as an upstream — check before paying both directly.
Going deeper
For the full landscape report including hosting economics, security posture and regulatory context, see the 2026 landscape report. For the OpenClaw-specific history, see the complete OpenClaw timeline.
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