Tably Team
Llama is Meta’s family of open models. Groq is a hardware company that makes chips designed for inference and offers those models through an API at a speed no other provider matches. In Tably Team, the “Llama on Groq” combination is the option when what matters is responding right now.
The models
Groq serves several versions of Llama; Tably proposes the 70-billion-parameter “versatile” version by default, a good balance between capability and speed. Groq also offers other open models (from Mistral, from Google, from other labs) on the same infrastructure.
What sets it apart
Speed
This is its central trait. Where another provider takes ten seconds on a long turn, Groq takes one. In a council of six agents and several rounds, the entire debate can finish in the time another model takes for the first round.
Price
Open models on Groq are among the cheapest on the market. For supporting roles and for experimenting with many runs, cost stops being a factor.
Open
Llama can be downloaded and run on your own infrastructure (or with Ollama on your computer). Groq is the way to have it fast and without your own servers; portability is guaranteed.
Good quality for its size
A 70B Llama performs very well on summarization, classification, rephrasing and general-level debate. It is not a frontier model, but in roles where maximum reasoning is not needed, it delivers.
Where not to use it
- Complex code: for building a complete app, no. For simple snippets or surface-level review, yes.
- Long multi-step reasoning: frontier models (Claude Opus, GPT, Gemini Pro) clearly outperform it.
- Very long contexts: its window is more limited; for extensive documentation, use Gemini.
- Vision: the default version does not process images.
What role to give it on your team
- Consistency QA: fast and cheap, with a good eye for spotting contradictions between screens and the brief.
- Product on small MVPs: basic acceptance criteria, simple flows.
- “Filler” role in experiments: when you want to test a team configuration ten times, Groq lets you do it in minutes.
- CEO in short debates: it synthesizes well if the prompt is clear.
How to connect it in Tably
Enter your Groq API key under “Models and API keys”. Groq has a free plan with reasonable limits, ideal for your first tests.
Costs
Very low. A full council with Llama on Groq costs cents. It is the configuration we recommend for learning to use Tably before spending on premium models.
Frequently asked questions
Is Groq the same as Grok? No. Groq (with a q) is the chip company that serves open models; Grok (with a k) is xAI’s model. They are alike in name and in nothing else.
Does the speed lower the quality? No: the model is the same Llama; what changes is the hardware. Quality depends on the size of the model you choose.
Does it work as a builder? For very small prototypes. For a real app, use Claude Code, Codex or a frontier model through an API.
In summary
Llama on Groq is the option for experimenting at no cost and with no waiting: entire test teams, fast QA, supporting roles. When the project gets serious, combine it with a frontier model in the seats that make the decisions.
