TokenMix Research Lab · 2026-04-02

15 Best Free LLM APIs 2026: Tested Limits, No Credit Card

15 Best Free LLM APIs 2026: Tested Limits, No Credit Card

Last Updated: 2026-07-13 Author: TokenMix Research Lab Data verified: 2026-07-13 — Google, Groq, OpenRouter, Cerebras, Mistral, GitHub, Cloudflare, Cohere, Hugging Face, NVIDIA, Vercel, SambaNova, AI21, Fireworks, and DeepSeek official documentation

The best free LLM API in 2026 is Google Gemini for broad prototypes, Groq for fast short calls, and OpenRouter for model variety. This ranking checks 15 APIs and separates permanent free quotas from monthly credits, one-time trials, and account-dependent offers.

Google confirms free input and output tokens for selected Gemini models, but exact active limits vary by project and must be checked in AI Studio (Google pricing, Google rate limits). Groq's official table gives llama-3.3-70b-versatile 30 RPM, 1,000 RPD, 12K TPM, and 100K TPD. OpenRouter allows 20 RPM and 50 free-model requests per day until an account has purchased at least $10 in credits, when the daily cap becomes 1,000. These are useful prototype limits. None is a production SLA.

Table of Contents

Quick Verdict

Claim Status Source
Google Gemini API still has a free tier with free input and output tokens on selected models Confirmed Google pricing
Google publishes one universal free RPD number for every project False Google rate limits says active limits vary and should be checked in AI Studio
Groq free plan is strong for short fast tests but token/day limits can bind before request/day limits Confirmed Groq rate limits
OpenRouter :free models allow 20 RPM and 50 RPD for users with less than $10 purchased credits Confirmed OpenRouter limits
Cerebras Free tier gives most listed models 30 RPM and 14,400 RPD Confirmed Cerebras rate limits
GitHub Models free API usage is intended for experimentation and is rate limited by model class Confirmed GitHub Models docs
Cohere trial keys are free for evaluation, with Chat at 20 RPM and 1,000 calls/month Confirmed Cohere rate limits
Vercel AI Gateway includes $5 in recurring monthly credits on its free tier Confirmed Vercel pricing
Fireworks gives new users a one-time $1 credit Confirmed Fireworks FAQ
DeepSeek 5M signup tokens remain visible in TokenMix tests, but the official docs page used here confirms billing from granted balance rather than the exact signup amount Likely DeepSeek pricing, TokenMix DeepSeek test

What Changed Since April

The free LLM API market now splits into four buckets: permanent quotas, recurring credits, one-time trials, and account-dependent grants. Mixing those buckets is how developers get bad cost forecasts.

Change April-style assumption July 13 reality Status
Google free limits One stable public RPD number Free tier is confirmed, but active project limits vary and AI Studio is the source of truth Confirmed
Groq speed framing "300+ TPS" as the headline Official docs should be cited for RPM, RPD, TPM, and TPD; speed claims need external benchmark support Confirmed
OpenRouter free tier "Many free models" Free :free requests are capped: 20 RPM, 50 RPD unless at least $10 credits are purchased Confirmed
GitHub Models Playground only Free API experimentation is documented, but limits differ by model class and Copilot plan Confirmed
Cerebras 5 RPM free trial Most listed Free-tier models now show 30 RPM and 14,400 RPD Confirmed
Hugging Face Broad free inference Free users receive $0.10/month and can buy credits after it is consumed Confirmed
Together AI Signup credits available No free trial; minimum $5 purchase and a payment method are required Confirmed
Fireworks Fixed amount unclear Official FAQ now confirms a one-time $1 new-user credit Confirmed
DeepSeek 5M tokens as universal fact Treat exact signup grant as Likely unless verified in your dashboard Likely

The practical update: use the free tiers as routing lanes, not as a single backend. If you are building an app with real users, the safer pattern is covered in AI API Gateway 2026: put free models behind fallback, budget caps, and per-provider status checks.

All 15 Free LLM APIs Ranked

Rank Provider Free surface Best use Hard limit or catch Status
1 Google Gemini API Free input/output on selected models Broad and multimodal prototypes Project limits vary; check AI Studio Permanent free tier
2 Groq Model-specific Free Plan Fast short chat and extraction TPM/TPD often bind first Permanent free tier
3 OpenRouter :free model variants Testing many models through one API 20 RPM; 50 RPD before $10 purchased credits Permanent free models
4 GitHub Models Free API experimentation Model tests inside GitHub workflows Low tier 150 RPD; high tier 50 RPD on Copilot Free Free evaluation tier
5 Cloudflare Workers AI 10,000 neurons/day Edge and serverless inference Usage varies by model and token volume Recurring free allocation
6 Cerebras Free tier Fast hosted open models Most listed models: 30 RPM, 14.4K RPD Permanent free tier
7 Mistral Free mode European-hosted prototyping Limits are workspace-specific Free evaluation mode
8 Cohere Trial/evaluation key Chat, embeddings, reranking, RAG tests Chat 20 RPM; 1,000 calls/month; no production Free evaluation tier
9 Vercel AI Gateway $5/month included One endpoint across many providers Buying credits ends the monthly free-credit tier Recurring monthly credit
10 Hugging Face Inference Providers $0.10/month Sampling open models and providers Tiny credit; buy credits for more usage Recurring monthly credit
11 NVIDIA NIM API Catalog Hosted evaluation endpoints Testing NVIDIA-optimized open models No single public hosted credit/RPD figure Conditional evaluation access
12 SambaNova Cloud $5 signup credit Fast open-model evaluation Expires after 30 days One-time trial
13 AI21 Labs $10 signup credit Jamba API and playground evaluation Expires after three months One-time trial
14 Fireworks AI $1 signup credit Serverless open-model evaluation Stops when the credit is consumed One-time trial
15 DeepSeek API Account-dependent granted balance Low-cost model evaluation No official universal 5M-token grant Unconfirmed/conditional

This is also why OpenRouter alternatives and TokenMix vs OpenRouter vs Portkey vs LiteLLM are not just gateway comparisons. TokenMix.ai treats free model access as a routing lane with changing availability, not as a guaranteed entitlement.

Tier 1: Best Permanent Free APIs

The top five give repeatable no-cost capacity rather than a credit that disappears after signup.

1. Google Gemini API — Best Overall Free LLM API

Google is the best first choice for a general prototype because selected Gemini models have free input and output tokens, including multimodal options. The catch is quota ambiguity: Google's rate-limit documentation explicitly sends developers to AI Studio for their active project limits. Do not copy the old 1,500-RPD claim into a capacity plan.

2. Groq — Best Free API for Fast Short Calls

Groq is the cleanest free lane for latency-sensitive extraction, classification, and chat. Groq lists 30 RPM, 1,000 RPD, 12K TPM, and 100K TPD for llama-3.3-70b-versatile; the daily token cap allows only about 100 calls if each call consumes 1,000 total tokens.

3. OpenRouter — Best Free API for Model Variety

OpenRouter is the easiest way to test many :free model variants behind one OpenAI-compatible endpoint. Its official limits are 20 RPM and 50 RPD when purchased credits are below $10, rising to 1,000 RPD after at least $10 has been purchased. The higher cap is useful, but it is no longer a pure zero-payment setup.

4. GitHub Models — Best for Developer Workflow Tests

GitHub Models is strongest when comparison and prompt testing already happen inside GitHub. GitHub documents 15 RPM and 150 RPD for low-tier models on Copilot Free, versus 10 RPM and 50 RPD for high-tier models. It is an experimentation surface, not a production commitment.

5. Cloudflare Workers AI — Best Free Edge API

Cloudflare Workers AI is the best fit for small inference tasks already running on Workers. Cloudflare includes 10,000 neurons per day at no cost. Neurons vary by model and token volume, so the quota cannot honestly be translated into one universal requests-per-day number.

Tier 2: Good Free Evaluation APIs

These five are useful for serious evaluation, but each has a narrower model catalog, smaller allowance, or non-production restriction.

6. Cerebras — Highest Published Free Request Cap

Cerebras now publishes materially better Free-tier limits than the old 5-RPM figure. Its current table gives most listed models 30 RPM, 14,400 RPD, 60K or 64K TPM, and 1M TPD; some models have lower caps. That makes it a strong high-volume test lane, but model-specific rows still matter.

7. Mistral — Best European Free Mode

Mistral retains a Free mode for evaluation and prototyping. Mistral's subscription documentation confirms the tier, while its usage-limit guide directs users to workspace limits rather than promising one public quota. Use the dashboard number, not an old 1-RPS blog claim.

8. Cohere — Best Free API for RAG Evaluation

Cohere is the most useful free evaluation key for Chat, Embed, and Rerank tests. Cohere lists Chat trial limits of 20 RPM and a total trial-key allowance of 1,000 API calls per month. The key is explicitly for evaluation; production requires a production path.

9. Vercel AI Gateway — Best Recurring Free Credit

Vercel AI Gateway is a gateway rather than a model vendor, but it provides genuine recurring inference value. Vercel includes $5 per month on free team accounts with access to eligible models. Buying AI Gateway credits transitions the account to the paid tier and ends the recurring free-credit benefit.

10. Hugging Face Inference Providers — Best for Sampling Open Models

Hugging Face is useful for trying multiple hosted open models without managing separate provider accounts. Its current pricing page gives free users $0.10 in monthly credits, subject to change. Once that amount is consumed, users can buy additional credits; the free allowance itself remains too small for sustained workloads.

Tier 3: Credits and Conditional Access

The final five are evaluation paths, not permanent free backends. Three are one-time credits; two depend on model or account availability.

11. NVIDIA NIM API Catalog — Best for NVIDIA-Optimized Models

NVIDIA's API Catalog exposes hosted evaluation endpoints for selected NIM models, and model pages such as this NVIDIA-hosted endpoint label the API as free for prototyping. NVIDIA does not publish one stable hosted credit or RPD number across the catalog. Free NIM software also does not make the GPU compute free.

12. SambaNova Cloud — Best No-Card Trial Credit

SambaNova is a clear no-card trial rather than a recurring free tier. Its plans page confirms $5 in API credits, no credit card, and a 30-day expiry. Use it for a focused speed or model-quality evaluation before the clock runs out.

13. AI21 Labs — Largest Confirmed One-Time Credit

AI21 gives the largest clearly documented signup credit in this list. AI21's pricing documentation confirms $10 for new accounts, valid for three months across its APIs, SDK, and playground. Billing information is required after the credit expires or is consumed.

14. Fireworks AI — Small but Confirmed Trial Credit

Fireworks gives new users a one-time $1 credit for serverless model evaluation. The official billing FAQ documents what happens after that $1 is consumed. This is enough for integration tests, not a recurring free API plan.

15. DeepSeek API — Account-Dependent Granted Balance

DeepSeek belongs last because the provider does not promise one universal signup grant. DeepSeek's pricing docs describe granted balance and deduction order, while the balance endpoint lets an account verify what it actually received. TokenMix observed 5M-token grants in some tests, but that amount is not a confirmed global offer.

Rate Limit Reality

The headline limit is often not the binding limit. Tokens/day, tokens/minute, and concurrent request caps can hit before requests/day.

Provider Confirmed public limit What actually binds first Source
Groq llama-3.3-70b-versatile 30 RPM, 1K RPD, 12K TPM, 100K TPD TPD for medium prompts, TPM for bursts Groq docs
Groq qwen/qwen3-32b 60 RPM, 1K RPD, 6K TPM, 500K TPD TPM for bursts, RPD for small calls Groq docs
OpenRouter :free models under $10 credits 20 RPM, 50 RPD RPD OpenRouter docs
OpenRouter :free models after $10 credits 20 RPM, 1,000 RPD RPM for bursty apps OpenRouter pricing
GitHub Models low tier, Copilot Free 15 RPM, 150 RPD, 8K input / 4K output RPD for daily app use GitHub Docs
GitHub Models high tier, Copilot Free 10 RPM, 50 RPD, 8K input / 4K output RPD GitHub Docs
Cerebras Free tier, most listed models 30 RPM, 14.4K RPD, 60K/64K TPM, 1M TPD TPD for long calls; model exceptions apply Cerebras docs
Cloudflare Workers AI 10,000 neurons/day Daily compute unit allocation Cloudflare Workers AI pricing
Mistral Free mode Limited workspace limits, not public fixed table Account-specific workspace cap Mistral docs
Google Gemini API Free tier Free tier confirmed; exact active limits vary by model/project Project tier and model quota Google rate limits

Cost calculation 1: Groq's llama-3.3-70b-versatile free plan allows 1,000 requests/day but only 100K tokens/day. If your average call is 500 input tokens plus 500 output tokens, the token/day limit allows about 100 calls/day, not 1,000. That is a 10x difference created by token volume, not request count.

No-Card Picks vs Credit Trials

Category Provider Best interpretation Probe verdict
Strong no-cost prototype lane Google Gemini API Free selected models, but check active limits in AI Studio Confirmed
Strong no-cost short-task lane Groq Excellent for short calls if you respect TPD Confirmed
Free router lane OpenRouter Good for model variety, weak at 50 RPD unless you buy $10 credits Confirmed
GitHub-native testing GitHub Models Useful inside dev workflows, not production capacity Confirmed
Serverless edge lane Cloudflare Workers AI Good if your app already lives on Workers Confirmed
European provider lane Mistral Free mode exists, exact limits are workspace-specific Confirmed
RAG evaluation lane Cohere Free trial key, 20 RPM Chat, 1,000 calls/month Confirmed
Recurring gateway credit Vercel AI Gateway $5/month on eligible free accounts Confirmed
Credit trial SambaNova $5 free credits, no card, 30-day expiry Confirmed
Credit trial AI21 $10 credit, expires after three months Confirmed
Credit trial Fireworks One-time $1 credit for new users Confirmed
Tiny monthly credit Hugging Face $0.10/month for free users; more credits can be purchased Confirmed
No longer free Together AI No free trial; minimum $5 purchase and payment method Confirmed
Misread OpenAI direct API No universal permanent free API tier confirmed Likely

Cost calculation 2: OpenRouter's free cap is the clearest wallet line. At 50 free requests/day, you get about 1,500 free calls/month. If your app has 30 daily users and each user sends 3 messages/day, you need 90 calls/day. You exceed the free cap before lunch. After at least $10 credits, the :free daily cap rises to 1,000 calls/day, but that is no longer a pure no-card setup.

Cost Math

These examples are not official provider bills. They are capacity math using confirmed public limits.

Scenario Workload Best free lane Monthly free capacity Verdict
Solo prototype chat 20 calls/day, 1K tokens/call Groq, Google, GitHub Models low tier Usually enough Safe
Daily coding helper 100 calls/day, 1K tokens/call Groq short calls or GitHub Models low tier Groq hits 100K TPD on 70B Tight
Small SaaS beta 500 calls/day, 1K tokens/call OpenRouter after $10 credits plus fallback Pure free OpenRouter fails at 50 RPD Paid fallback needed
Edge classifier 1,000 tiny tasks/day Cloudflare Workers AI Depends on neurons per task Test first
RAG playground 30 calls/day, 8K input/call Google or Mistral Token limits bind before request limits Use compression
Agent loop 200 tool steps/day, 2K tokens/step Do not rely on one free tier Multiple caps collide Use paid cap

Cost calculation 3: Cloudflare Workers AI gives 10,000 neurons/day free. If your workload uses 50,000 neurons/day, the overage is 40,000 neurons/day. At $0.011 per 1,000 neurons, that is 40,000 / 1,000 * $0.011 * 30 = $13.20/month, before considering any Workers Paid plan requirement. The free tier is generous for tests; it is not an unlimited edge LLM backend.

Upgrade path Trigger First paid decision Why
Groq free to Developer You hit TPM/TPD before RPD Upgrade or route short calls only Token/day is the real cap
OpenRouter free to $10 credits You need more than 50 RPD Buy $10 or stop using free models for app traffic Daily request cap changes materially
GitHub Models free to paid usage You move beyond experiments Enable paid usage with budgets Free usage is public preview
Cloudflare Free to Workers Paid You exceed 10K neurons/day Paid plan and overage math Neuron allocation is daily
Hugging Face free to paid credits $0.10 credit is gone Buy credits or use a custom provider key Free credit is tiny
SambaNova free credits to Developer $5 credit expires or burns down Add card It is a credit trial

For broader per-million-token comparisons after free caps, use Cheapest AI API Providers 2026 and DeepSeek API Free Credits. Free access gets you started. Cheap paid routing keeps you alive.

Code Examples

Use free tiers through environment-specific keys. Do not hardcode provider keys in client-side apps.

curl https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OPENROUTER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "openrouter/free",
    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Summarize this in 3 bullets"}]
  }'

def pick_free_llm_lane(workload):
    tokens = workload.get("avg_tokens_per_call", 1000)
    calls = workload.get("calls_per_day", 20)
    latency = workload.get("latency_sensitive", False)
    github_native = workload.get("github_native", False)
    edge = workload.get("edge_worker", False)

    if github_native and calls <= 50:
        return "GitHub Models high tier is enough for experiments."
    if edge:
        return "Try Cloudflare Workers AI, then measure neurons per task."
    if latency and calls * tokens <= 100_000:
        return "Try Groq free 70B, but watch token/day."
    if calls <= 50:
        return "OpenRouter :free models are fine for tests."
    if calls <= 1000:
        return "Use OpenRouter only after the $10-credit threshold or add fallback."
    return "Stop pretending this is free. Add a paid budget cap and router."
Code path Best for Hidden failure
Direct Google SDK Gemini-specific prototypes Limits vary by active project
Groq OpenAI-compatible API Fast short completions Token/day cap
OpenRouter OpenAI-compatible API Model variety Free provider availability and RPD
GitHub Models API GitHub-native model testing Public preview limits
Cloudflare Workers AI binding Edge apps Neuron accounting
TokenMix.ai routing layer Multi-provider fallback and cost control You still need budget rules

Decision Matrix

If your priority is... Pick first Backup Reason
No-cost general LLM testing Google Gemini API Mistral Free mode Confirmed free tier and capable models
Fast short responses Groq Cerebras Free token caps matter, but speed is strong
Many model families OpenRouter Hugging Face One API for free variants
GitHub workflow testing GitHub Models OpenRouter Native marketplace and API examples
Edge/serverless inference Cloudflare Workers AI Groq via API 10K neurons/day is useful for small tasks
Open-source model experiments Hugging Face Fireworks Broad provider/model surface
Signup-credit evaluation SambaNova Fireworks Credits are real, but expire or vary
Production app None of the above alone Paid router with fallback Free caps are too brittle
Workload Recommended setup Confidence
Student project Google + Groq + GitHub Models Confirmed
Internal demo Google + OpenRouter + Mistral Confirmed
Small CLI tool Groq for short calls, DeepSeek paid after free credit Likely
Daily RAG notebook Google for long context, Hugging Face for experiments Confirmed
Public chatbot Paid gateway with free tiers only as fallback Confirmed
Agentic coding loop Paid budget cap, no pure free backend Confirmed

Risks and Caveats

Risk Likelihood What to do
Free limits change without much notice High Re-check official docs before shipping
Token/day binds before request/day High Calculate token volume, not just calls
Free model availability changes High Add fallback and model health checks
Data may be used to improve provider products Medium Read data-use terms before sending private data
Signup credits expire High Record expiry date on day one
Hidden paid upgrade path Medium Set provider budget caps before adding a card
One free tier becomes your SPOF High Route across providers
Benchmarks get quoted without context High Test your own tasks

The trust rule is simple: if the provider does not publish a number, do not turn a forum claim into a hard limit. Treat it as Likely or Speculation until your own dashboard confirms it.

Final Recommendation

Use free LLM APIs for three jobs: learning, prototypes, and fallback lanes. Do not build production on a single free tier. The strongest July 2026 stack is Google for broad capability, Groq for fast short calls, OpenRouter for model variety, GitHub Models for developer workflows, and Cloudflare Workers AI for edge tasks.

FAQ

What is the best free LLM API in 2026?

Google Gemini API is the best first stop for broad testing. Groq is stronger for fast short responses, while OpenRouter is better when you want many free model variants behind one OpenAI-compatible API.

Is there a free OpenAI API key in 2026?

No universal permanent free OpenAI API tier is confirmed from the current pricing page. Some accounts or programs may receive credits, but ordinary production API use should be treated as paid unless your dashboard shows an active grant.

Does Google AI Studio still have a free API tier?

Yes. Google confirms a Gemini API free tier with free input and output tokens for selected models. Exact active limits vary by project and should be checked inside AI Studio.

Is Groq free enough for a real app?

Usually no. Groq free limits are useful for prototypes, but token/day can bind quickly. For llama-3.3-70b-versatile, 100K tokens/day means a 1K-token average call reaches about 100 calls/day.

How many free OpenRouter requests do I get?

OpenRouter free model variants allow 20 requests per minute. Users with less than $10 in purchased credits are capped at 50 free-model requests per day; at $10 or more, the daily free-model cap rises to 1,000.

Which free LLM API needs no credit card?

SambaNova explicitly says its $5 free credits require no credit card. Google, Groq, Mistral, GitHub Models, and OpenRouter can be used for free testing, but signup verification and regional requirements can vary.

Can I stack multiple free LLM APIs?

Yes, but treat stacking as fallback, not capacity planning magic. Each provider has different rate limits, data terms, and reliability. A router prevents one exhausted free quota from breaking your app.

When should I stop using free tiers?

Stop once real users depend on the app, once you need an SLA, or once retries create unpredictable failure. At that point, choose a cheap paid model and set hard monthly budgets.

About TokenMix

TokenMix.ai is an AI API relay that routes Claude, OpenAI, Gemini, DeepSeek, Qwen, and other large language models through a single OpenAI-compatible endpoint at https://api.tokenmix.ai/v1. Current model availability and per-token rates are listed on the pricing page and the model catalog. Integration uses the standard OpenAI SDK; details in the OpenAI compatibility reference.

Sources