How to Use Codex CLI for Free

Codex CLI reads OPENAI_BASE_URL and OPENAI_API_KEY from environment variables. Point them at a free OpenAI-compatible backend and Codex works the same — without the paid OpenAI tier. Pick a free backend below.

1. Pick your tool

Claude Code Cursor Codex Gemini CLI OpenCode Hermes OpenClaw

2. Pick your free backend

inclusionAI: Ring-2.6-1T (free) OpenRouter

# Add to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc
export OPENAI_BASE_URL="https://openrouter.ai/api/v1"
export OPENAI_API_KEY="<your-api-key>"  # Get at https://openrouter.ai

# Then run:
codex --model "inclusionAI: Ring-2.6-1T (free)"

Baidu Qianfan: CoBuddy (free) OpenRouter

# Add to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc
export OPENAI_BASE_URL="https://openrouter.ai/api/v1"
export OPENAI_API_KEY="<your-api-key>"  # Get at https://openrouter.ai

# Then run:
codex --model "Baidu Qianfan: CoBuddy (free)"

Owl Alpha OpenRouter

# Add to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc
export OPENAI_BASE_URL="https://openrouter.ai/api/v1"
export OPENAI_API_KEY="<your-api-key>"  # Get at https://openrouter.ai

# Then run:
codex --model "Owl Alpha"

NVIDIA: Nemotron 3 Nano Omni (free) OpenRouter

# Add to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc
export OPENAI_BASE_URL="https://openrouter.ai/api/v1"
export OPENAI_API_KEY="<your-api-key>"  # Get at https://openrouter.ai

# Then run:
codex --model "NVIDIA: Nemotron 3 Nano Omni (free)"

Poolside: Laguna XS.2 (free) OpenRouter

# Add to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc
export OPENAI_BASE_URL="https://openrouter.ai/api/v1"
export OPENAI_API_KEY="<your-api-key>"  # Get at https://openrouter.ai

# Then run:
codex --model "Poolside: Laguna XS.2 (free)"

Poolside: Laguna M.1 (free) OpenRouter

# Add to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc
export OPENAI_BASE_URL="https://openrouter.ai/api/v1"
export OPENAI_API_KEY="<your-api-key>"  # Get at https://openrouter.ai

# Then run:
codex --model "Poolside: Laguna M.1 (free)"

Baidu: Qianfan-OCR-Fast (free) OpenRouter

# Add to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc
export OPENAI_BASE_URL="https://openrouter.ai/api/v1"
export OPENAI_API_KEY="<your-api-key>"  # Get at https://openrouter.ai

# Then run:
codex --model "Baidu: Qianfan-OCR-Fast (free)"

Google: Gemma 4 26B A4B (free) OpenRouter

# Add to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc
export OPENAI_BASE_URL="https://openrouter.ai/api/v1"
export OPENAI_API_KEY="<your-api-key>"  # Get at https://openrouter.ai

# Then run:
codex --model "Google: Gemma 4 26B A4B  (free)"

Google: Gemma 4 31B (free) OpenRouter

# Add to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc
export OPENAI_BASE_URL="https://openrouter.ai/api/v1"
export OPENAI_API_KEY="<your-api-key>"  # Get at https://openrouter.ai

# Then run:
codex --model "Google: Gemma 4 31B (free)"

Google: Lyria 3 Pro Preview OpenRouter

# Add to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc
export OPENAI_BASE_URL="https://openrouter.ai/api/v1"
export OPENAI_API_KEY="<your-api-key>"  # Get at https://openrouter.ai

# Then run:
codex --model "Google: Lyria 3 Pro Preview"

Google: Lyria 3 Clip Preview OpenRouter

# Add to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc
export OPENAI_BASE_URL="https://openrouter.ai/api/v1"
export OPENAI_API_KEY="<your-api-key>"  # Get at https://openrouter.ai

# Then run:
codex --model "Google: Lyria 3 Clip Preview"

NVIDIA: Nemotron 3 Super (free) OpenRouter

# Add to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc
export OPENAI_BASE_URL="https://openrouter.ai/api/v1"
export OPENAI_API_KEY="<your-api-key>"  # Get at https://openrouter.ai

# Then run:
codex --model "NVIDIA: Nemotron 3 Super (free)"