Migrating off Llama 3.3 70B
Groq is decommissioning Llama 3.3 70B on its LPU inference platform. This isn't a Meta model deprecation — Llama 3.3 70B's weights aren't going anywhere — it's Groq specifically pulling the model from its hosted API, which is the only place we route requests for it.
What actually changes
| Llama 3.3 70B | — | |
|---|---|---|
| Blended $/M | $0.64 | — |
| Context window | 128,000 tokens | — |
| Max output | 32,768 tokens | — |
| Modalities | text | — |
| Tokens / sec | unchanged / not measured | not measured |
Pricing from our live pricing registry; speed from our benchmark leaderboard where measured.
Gotchas
- There is no first-party Groq successor for this exact model at shutdown time. Meta's own Model API (Muse Spark 1.1) is the intended long-term replacement, but it requires a separate API key we don't yet have configured — it isn't selectable through our gateway.
- Llama 3.3 70B has no native reasoning/thinking mode. If you route to a reasoning-capable replacement (GPT-OSS 120B, DeepSeek V4 Pro), expect a different response shape if you were parsing raw completions rather than using our unified response format.
- Groq is known for aggressive rate limits during high-demand windows relative to token-metered providers — moving to a token-billed model (rather than another Groq-hosted one) changes your cost predictability at scale, not just your per-token price.
- If you were relying on Groq's sub-100ms time-to-first-token for a latency-sensitive path, GPT-OSS 120B on Groq is the closest speed match; moving off Groq entirely will very likely be slower even if it's cheaper.
Alternatives beyond the obvious successor
Also Groq-hosted — keeps the same LPU latency profile, adds reasoning mode.
Full head-to-head comparison →Groq-hosted multimodal alternative with vision support Llama 3.3 70B lacked.
Off Groq entirely — token-billed, no LPU rate-limit exposure.
FAQ
Is Llama 3.3 70B being shut down?
Yes — it shuts down on 2026-08-16. Source: https://console.groq.com/docs/deprecations.
What should I switch to from Llama 3.3 70B?
There is no direct 1:1 successor — see the alternatives section for cross-provider options.
Will switching cost more or less?
See the pricing comparison table below for exact numbers.
