diff --git a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/app/(dashboard)/playground/components/chat_ui/ChatUI.tsx b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/app/(dashboard)/playground/components/chat_ui/ChatUI.tsx
index 684814bfe5b..e7261db6260 100644
--- a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/app/(dashboard)/playground/components/chat_ui/ChatUI.tsx
+++ b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/app/(dashboard)/playground/components/chat_ui/ChatUI.tsx
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ import {
   UserOutlined,
 } from "@ant-design/icons";
 import { Card, Text, TextInput, Title, Button as TremorButton } from "@tremor/react";
-import { Button, Input, Modal, Popover, Select, Spin, Tooltip, Typography, Upload } from "antd";
+import { Button, Input, Modal, Popover, Select, Spin, Tooltip, Upload } from "antd";
 import React, { useEffect, useRef, useState } from "react";
 import ReactMarkdown from "react-markdown";
 import { Prism as SyntaxHighlighter } from "react-syntax-highlighter";
@@ -1016,16 +1016,6 @@ const ChatUI: React.FC<ChatUIProps> = ({
     NotificationsManager.success("Chat history cleared.");
   };
 
-  if (userRole && userRole === "Admin Viewer") {
-    const { Title, Paragraph } = Typography;
-    return (
-      <div>
-        <Title level={1}>Access Denied</Title>
-        <Paragraph>Ask your proxy admin for access to test models</Paragraph>
-      </div>
-    );
-  }
-
   const onModelChange = (value: string) => {
     setSelectedModel(value);
 
diff --git a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/app/(dashboard)/playground/page.test.tsx b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/app/(dashboard)/playground/page.test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..54e99d9db29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/app/(dashboard)/playground/page.test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+import { render, screen } from "@testing-library/react";
+import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import PlaygroundPage from "./page";
+
+const authState = { userRole: "Admin" };
+
+vi.mock("@/app/(dashboard)/hooks/useAuthorized", () => ({
+  default: () => ({
+    token: "token-1",
+    accessToken: "sk-test",
+    userId: "user-1",
+    userRole: authState.userRole,
+    disabledPersonalKeyCreation: false,
+  }),
+}));
+
+vi.mock("@/utils/proxyUtils", () => ({
+  fetchProxySettings: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(null),
+}));
+
+vi.mock("@/app/(dashboard)/playground/components/chat_ui/ChatUI", () => ({
+  default: () => <div data-testid="chat-ui" />,
+}));
+
+vi.mock("@/app/(dashboard)/playground/components/compareUI/CompareUI", () => ({
+  default: () => <div data-testid="compare-ui" />,
+}));
+
+vi.mock("@/app/(dashboard)/playground/components/complianceUI/ComplianceUI", () => ({
+  default: () => <div data-testid="compliance-ui" />,
+}));
+
+vi.mock("@/app/(dashboard)/playground/components/chat_ui/AgentBuilderView", () => ({
+  default: () => <div data-testid="agent-builder" />,
+}));
+
+describe("PlaygroundPage role guard", () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    authState.userRole = "Admin";
+  });
+
+  it.each(["Internal Viewer", "Admin Viewer"])("blocks the entire playground for %s", (role) => {
+    authState.userRole = role;
+    render(<PlaygroundPage />);
+
+    expect(screen.getByText("Access Denied")).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.queryByRole("tab")).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.queryByTestId("chat-ui")).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.queryByTestId("compare-ui")).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.queryByTestId("compliance-ui")).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.queryByTestId("agent-builder")).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
+
+  it.each(["Admin", "Internal User", "Org Admin"])("renders the playground for %s", (role) => {
+    authState.userRole = role;
+    render(<PlaygroundPage />);
+
+    expect(screen.queryByText("Access Denied")).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.getByRole("tab", { name: "Chat" })).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.getByTestId("chat-ui")).toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
+});
diff --git a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/app/(dashboard)/playground/page.tsx b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/app/(dashboard)/playground/page.tsx
index bd3c0e31456..8986084b1a7 100644
--- a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/app/(dashboard)/playground/page.tsx
+++ b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/app/(dashboard)/playground/page.tsx
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import { TabGroup, TabList, Tab, TabPanels, TabPanel } from "@tremor/react";
 import { DeprecationBanner } from "@/components/DeprecationBanner";
 import useAuthorized from "@/app/(dashboard)/hooks/useAuthorized";
 import { fetchProxySettings } from "@/utils/proxyUtils";
+import { isViewOnlyRole } from "@/utils/roles";
 
 interface ProxySettings {
   PROXY_BASE_URL?: string;
@@ -35,6 +36,17 @@ export default function PlaygroundPage() {
     initializeProxySettings();
   }, [accessToken]);
 
+  if (isViewOnlyRole(userRole)) {
+    return (
+      <div className="flex h-full w-full flex-col items-center justify-center gap-2 p-8 text-center">
+        <h1 className="text-2xl font-semibold">Access Denied</h1>
+        <p className="text-muted-foreground">
+          Your role does not have access to the Playground. Ask your proxy admin for access to test models.
+        </p>
+      </div>
+    );
+  }
+
   return (
     <div className="h-full w-full flex flex-col">
       <TabGroup className="w-full" style={{ flex: 1, minHeight: 0, display: "flex", flexDirection: "column" }}>
diff --git a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/utils/roles.ts b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/utils/roles.ts
index 38f8496c2ae..90c77a61b2d 100644
--- a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/utils/roles.ts
+++ b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/utils/roles.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ export const rolesWithWriteAccess = ["Internal User", "Admin", "proxy_admin"];
 // Per the Admin Viewer principle: read parity with Proxy Admin, no writes,
 // no cost-incurring actions (Playground stays gated by `rolesWithWriteAccess`).
 export const rolesAllowedToViewWriteScopedPages = [...rolesWithWriteAccess, "Admin Viewer", "proxy_admin_viewer"];
+export const viewOnlyRoles = ["Admin Viewer", "Internal Viewer"];
+export const isViewOnlyRole = (role: string): boolean => viewOnlyRoles.includes(role);
 
 // Helper function to check if a role is in all_admin_roles
 export const isAdminRole = (role: string): boolean => {