Never pay for an AI API to experiment.
15 providers with real free tiers — and unlike every other list on the internet, we probe every endpoint and stamp the date we last checked. If it's on this page, it answered when we called it.
Permanent free tiers — no card, no expiry
Google AI Studio (Gemini API)
The strongest all-round free tier — long context, multimodal, generous enough to build real prototypes.
● Endpoint responding · checked 2026-08-19Groq
The fastest inference you can get for free — custom LPU hardware makes chat feel instant.
● Endpoint responding · checked 2026-08-19OpenRouter (free models)
One key, hundreds of models — the easiest way to test which model fits your task for $0.
● Endpoint responding · checked 2026-08-19NVIDIA NIM (build.nvidia.com)
Trying heavyweight open models (incl. reasoning models) on serious hardware, free.
● Endpoint responding · checked 2026-08-19Mistral AI (La Plateforme)
Excellent European open models, including a dedicated code model, on a genuinely free tier.
● Endpoint responding · checked 2026-08-19Cerebras
Wafer-scale hardware — the fastest open-model generation we've ever benchmarked.
● Endpoint responding · checked 2026-08-19SambaNova Cloud
Fast RDU-chip inference on big open models without a credit card.
● Endpoint responding · checked 2026-08-19Cloudflare Workers AI
Free inference at the edge, same platform your sites already run on.
● Endpoint responding · checked 2026-08-19Cohere (trial keys)
Free, genuinely good embeddings + reranking — the quiet backbone of search/RAG projects.
● Endpoint responding · checked 2026-08-19Zhipu AI (GLM / z.ai)
A free flagship-adjacent chat model from one of China's top labs.
● Endpoint responding · checked 2026-08-19Pollinations.AI
Zero-friction prototyping — no signup, no key, call it from a browser.
● Endpoint responding · checked 2026-08-19Free & local — the only truly unlimited option
Ollama (local + cloud preview)
Truly unlimited, truly private — the only 'free tier' nobody can rate-limit.
● Endpoint responding · checked 2026-08-19LM Studio (local)
The friendliest desktop app for running open models locally, with a built-in server.
● Endpoint responding · checked 2026-08-19Free starter credits — evaluation budgets
Hugging Face Inference Providers
The long tail: when you need THAT one specific model, it's probably hosted here.
● Endpoint responding · checked 2026-08-19Together AI
A cheap, fast production home for open models once your prototype outgrows free tiers.
● Endpoint responding · checked 2026-08-19The full comparison table
| Provider | API endpoint |
|---|---|
| Google AI Studio (Gemini API) ● Endpoint responding · checked 2026-08-19 | https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/openai/ |
| Groq ● Endpoint responding · checked 2026-08-19 | https://api.groq.com/openai/v1 |
| OpenRouter (free models) ● Endpoint responding · checked 2026-08-19 | https://openrouter.ai/api/v1 |
| NVIDIA NIM (build.nvidia.com) ● Endpoint responding · checked 2026-08-19 | https://integrate.api.nvidia.com/v1 |
| Mistral AI (La Plateforme) ● Endpoint responding · checked 2026-08-19 | https://api.mistral.ai/v1 |
| Cerebras ● Endpoint responding · checked 2026-08-19 | https://api.cerebras.ai/v1 |
| SambaNova Cloud ● Endpoint responding · checked 2026-08-19 | https://api.sambanova.ai/v1 |
| Hugging Face Inference Providers ● Endpoint responding · checked 2026-08-19 | https://router.huggingface.co/v1 |
| Cloudflare Workers AI ● Endpoint responding · checked 2026-08-19 | Per-account REST endpoint (OpenAI-compatible mode available) |
| Ollama (local + cloud preview) ● Endpoint responding · checked 2026-08-19 | http://localhost:11434/v1 |
| LM Studio (local) ● Endpoint responding · checked 2026-08-19 | http://localhost:1234/v1 |
| Together AI ● Endpoint responding · checked 2026-08-19 | https://api.together.xyz/v1 |
| Cohere (trial keys) ● Endpoint responding · checked 2026-08-19 | https://api.cohere.com/compatibility/v1 |
| Zhipu AI (GLM / z.ai) ● Endpoint responding · checked 2026-08-19 | https://open.bigmodel.cn/api/paas/v4/ |
| Pollinations.AI ● Endpoint responding · checked 2026-08-19 | https://text.pollinations.ai/openai |
How the one-click setup works
Almost every provider on this page speaks the OpenAI-compatible API format. That means your coding tool — Cursor, Codex CLI, Claude Code (via a router), or any VS Code AI extension — only needs two things: the base URL from the provider's page here, and a free API key from the provider's site. Paste both, pick a model, and you're running frontier-class AI at $0. Each provider page has the exact copy-paste snippet per tool.
Free AI APIs — FAQ
Are these AI APIs really free?
Yes — every provider listed has a permanent free tier, free starter credits, or runs free on your own hardware. Free tiers are rate-limited; that's the trade. We probe every endpoint and stamp the check date so you know the listing is current.
Which free AI API is best in 2026?
For most builders, Google AI Studio (Gemini) is the strongest all-round free tier; Groq and Cerebras are the fastest; Ollama is the only truly unlimited option because it runs on your own machine; OpenRouter gives one key to hundreds of models.
Can I use these in Cursor, Codex or Claude Code?
Yes. Nearly all of them expose an OpenAI-compatible endpoint — paste the base URL and key into your tool's provider settings. Every provider page includes per-tool copy-paste setup.
What about DeepSeek, Qwen and the 'almost free' APIs?
Some APIs (DeepSeek direct, Qwen DashScope paid tiers) are nearly free rather than free — fractions of a cent per thousand tokens. They're worth it for production, but this index only lists tiers you can use at $0.
Free APIs build the prototype.
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