Groq Cost Tuning

Overview

Optimize Groq costs through smart tier selection, sampling, and usage monitoring.

Prerequisites

Access to Groq billing dashboard
Understanding of current usage patterns
Database for usage tracking (optional)
Alerting system configured (optional)

Pricing Tiers

Tier	Monthly Cost	Included	Overage
Free	$0	1,000 requests	N/A
Pro	$99	100,000 requests	$0.001/request
Enterprise	Custom	Unlimited	Volume discounts

Cost Estimation

interface UsageEstimate {
  requestsPerMonth: number;
  tier: string;
  estimatedCost: number;
  recommendation?: string;
}

function estimateGroqCost(requestsPerMonth: number): UsageEstimate {
  if (requestsPerMonth <= 1000) {
    return { requestsPerMonth, tier: 'Free', estimatedCost: 0 };
  }

  if (requestsPerMonth <= 100000) {
    return { requestsPerMonth, tier: 'Pro', estimatedCost: 99 };
  }

  const proOverage = (requestsPerMonth - 100000) * 0.001;
  const proCost = 99 + proOverage;

  return {
    requestsPerMonth,
    tier: 'Pro (with overage)',
    estimatedCost: proCost,
    recommendation: proCost > 500
      ? 'Consider Enterprise tier for volume discounts'
      : undefined,
  };
}

Usage Monitoring

class GroqUsageMonitor {
  private requestCount = 0;
  private bytesTransferred = 0;
  private alertThreshold: number;

  constructor(monthlyBudget: number) {
    this.alertThreshold = monthlyBudget * 0.8; // 80% warning
  }

  track(request: { bytes: number }) {
    this.requestCount++;
    this.bytesTransferred += request.bytes;

    if (this.estimatedCost() > this.alertThreshold) {
      this.sendAlert('Approaching Groq budget limit');
    }
  }

  estimatedCost(): number {
    return estimateGroqCost(this.requestCount).estimatedCost;
  }

  private sendAlert(message: string) {
    // Send to Slack, email, PagerDuty, etc.
  }
}

Cost Reduction Strategies

Step 1: Request Sampling

function shouldSample(samplingRate = 0.1): boolean {
  return Math.random() < samplingRate;
}

// Use for non-critical telemetry
if (shouldSample(0.1)) { // 10% sample
  await groqClient.trackEvent(event);
}

Step 2: Batching Requests

// Instead of N individual calls
await Promise.all(ids.map(id => groqClient.get(id)));

// Use batch endpoint (1 call)
await groqClient.batchGet(ids);

Step 3: Caching (from P16)

Cache frequently accessed data
Use cache invalidation webhooks
Set appropriate TTLs

Step 4: Compression

const client = new GroqClient({
  compression: true, // Enable gzip
});

Budget Alerts

# Set up billing alerts in Groq dashboard
# Or use API if available:
# Check Groq documentation for billing APIs

Cost Dashboard Query

-- If tracking usage in your database
SELECT
  DATE_TRUNC('day', created_at) as date,
  COUNT(*) as requests,
  SUM(response_bytes) as bytes,
  COUNT(*) * 0.001 as estimated_cost
FROM groq_api_logs
WHERE created_at >= NOW() - INTERVAL '30 days'
GROUP BY 1
ORDER BY 1;

Instructions

Step 1: Analyze Current Usage

Review Groq dashboard for usage patterns and costs.

Step 2: Select Optimal Tier

Use the cost estimation function to find the right tier.

Step 3: Implement Monitoring

Add usage tracking to catch budget overruns early.

Step 4: Apply Optimizations

Enable batching, caching, and sampling where appropriate.

Output

Optimized tier selection
Usage monitoring implemented
Budget alerts configured
Cost reduction strategies applied

Error Handling

Issue	Cause	Solution
Unexpected charges	Untracked usage	Implement monitoring
Overage fees	Wrong tier	Upgrade tier
Budget exceeded	No alerts	Set up alerts
Inefficient usage	No batching	Enable batch requests

Examples

Quick Cost Check

// Estimate monthly cost for your usage
const estimate = estimateGroqCost(yourMonthlyRequests);
console.log(`Tier: ${estimate.tier}, Cost: $${estimate.estimatedCost}`);
if (estimate.recommendation) {
  console.log(`💡 ${estimate.recommendation}`);
}

Resources

Next Steps

For architecture patterns, see groq-reference-architecture.

groq-cost-tuning