Free LLM API Keys — Every Major Model, No Credit Card
Direct links to get a working API key for 133+ free models across 18 providers. 51 options require no credit card. Updated 2026-05-09.
TL;DR — Fastest path to a free API key
- Want Gemini? → Google AI Studio (no credit card, instant)
- Want fastest inference? → Groq (Llama / Qwen / DeepSeek-R1, no credit card)
- Want one key for everything? → OpenRouter (35+ free models, single endpoint)
- Want Claude or GPT-style? → GitHub Models (free for any GitHub user)
- Want no rate-limit headaches? → NVIDIA NIM (40 RPM, no daily token cap)
Free Gemini API Key — 2 models indexed
Google AI Studio gives every developer a free Gemini API key with no credit card. Gemini 2.5 Flash supports 1M context and full multimodal input (text, image, audio, video).
| Provider | Models | Top model (context) | Credit card? | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Gemini | 2 | Gemini 2.5 Flash (1.0M) | Required | Get key → |
Free OpenAI / GPT API Key — 7 models indexed
OpenAI no longer offers free credits, but GitHub Models (free for any GitHub user) exposes GPT-style endpoints, and OpenRouter, Cerebras, and LLM7.io host gpt-oss open-weight variants you can call with an OpenAI-compatible client.
Heads up: There is no official free OpenAI API key in 2026. Anything claiming otherwise is reselling shared keys — use these legitimate free alternatives instead.
| Provider | Models | Top model (context) | Credit card? | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub Models | 3 | gpt-4.1 (1.0M) | Not required | Get key → |
| Cerebras | 1 | gpt-oss-120b (128K) | Not required | Get key → |
| OpenRouter | 2 | OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (free) (131K) | Required | Get key → |
| LLM7.io | 1 | gpt-4o-mini (131K) | Required | Get key → |
Free Claude API Key
Anthropic does not offer a free Claude API tier. The two legitimate paths: (1) use GitHub Models, which proxies a limited Claude allotment to every GitHub user; (2) point Claude Code (cc) at a free backend like Groq or NVIDIA NIM via our config generator.
Heads up: If a site offers you "free Claude API keys" with no GitHub or Anthropic login, it is almost always a shared/leaked key that will rate-limit or expire within hours.
No models indexed yet for this brand. Browse all free models →
Free DeepSeek API Key — 11 models indexed
DeepSeek-V3 and DeepSeek-R1 are available across 8+ free providers. Best picks: SiliconFlow (China, lowest latency for CN users), Groq (fastest globally), NVIDIA NIM (no daily token cap), OpenRouter (single key for all variants).
| Provider | Models | Top model (context) | Credit card? | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare Workers AI | 1 | @cf/deepseek-ai/deepseek-r1-distill-qwen-32b (32K) | Not required | Get key → |
| GitHub Models | 1 | DeepSeek-R1 (64K) | Not required | Get key → |
| NVIDIA NIM | 1 | deepseek-ai/deepseek-r1 (128K) | Not required | Get key → |
| SiliconFlow | 3 | deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-OCR (131K) | Required | Get key → |
| LLM7.io | 2 | deepseek-r1-0528 (131K) | Required | Get key → |
| Groq | 1 | deepseek-r1-distill-70b (131K) | Required | Get key → |
| Ollama Cloud | 1 | deepseek-r1:cloud (128K) | Required | Get key → |
| OVHcloud AI Endpoints | 1 | DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Llama-70B (131K) | Required | Get key → |
Free Llama API Key — 20 models indexed
Meta Llama 3.1 / 3.3 / 4 are the most widely-hosted free open models. Groq has the fastest Llama inference, Cloudflare Workers AI gives 10K req/day free, OpenRouter exposes Llama 3.3 70B with one key.
| Provider | Models | Top model (context) | Credit card? | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare Workers AI | 4 | @cf/meta/llama-4-scout-17b-16e-instruct (10.0M) | Not required | Get key → |
| GitHub Models | 3 | Llama-4-Scout-17B-16E (512K) | Not required | Get key → |
| NVIDIA NIM | 2 | nvidia/llama-3.1-nemotron-ultra-253b-v1 (128K) | Not required | Get key → |
| Cerebras | 1 | llama3.1-8b (128K) | Not required | Get key → |
| Groq | 4 | llama-3.3-70b-versatile (131K) | Required | Get key → |
| OpenRouter | 2 | Meta: Llama 3.2 3B Instruct (free) (131K) | Required | Get key → |
| OVHcloud AI Endpoints | 2 | Meta-Llama-3_3-70B-Instruct (131K) | Required | Get key → |
| Hugging Face | 1 | Meta-Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct (128K) | Required | Get key → |
| Ollama Cloud | 1 | llama3.1:cloud (128K) | Required | Get key → |
Free Qwen API Key — 20 models indexed
Alibaba Qwen3 is currently the strongest free coding model. ModelScope and SiliconFlow give Chinese-region users the best latency; OVHcloud and Cerebras serve Europe/US.
| Provider | Models | Top model (context) | Credit card? | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare Workers AI | 2 | @cf/qwen/qwq-32b (32K) | Not required | Get key → |
| Cerebras | 1 | qwen-3-235b-a22b-instruct-2507 (131K) | Not required | Get key → |
| NVIDIA NIM | 1 | qwen/qwen2.5-72b-instruct (128K) | Not required | Get key → |
| OVHcloud AI Endpoints | 4 | Qwen3-Coder-30B-A3B-Instruct (262K) | Required | Get key → |
| ModelScope | 3 | Qwen/Qwen3.5-35B-A3B (131K) | Required | Get key → |
| SiliconFlow | 3 | Qwen/Qwen3-8B (131K) | Required | Get key → |
| OpenRouter | 2 | Qwen: Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct (free) (262K) | Required | Get key → |
| Groq | 1 | qwen3-32b (131K) | Required | Get key → |
| Hugging Face | 1 | Qwen2.5-7B-Instruct (131K) | Required | Get key → |
| LLM7.io | 1 | qwen2.5-coder-32b (131K) | Required | Get key → |
| Ollama Cloud | 1 | qwen2.5:cloud (128K) | Required | Get key → |
Free Mistral API Key — 12 models indexed
Mistral AI offers a free tier on La Plateforme (~1B tokens/month, no credit card). Mistral models are also mirrored on Cloudflare, NVIDIA NIM, and OVHcloud.
| Provider | Models | Top model (context) | Credit card? | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mistral AI | 4 | Mistral Small 4 (256K) | Not required | Get key → |
| Mistral (La Plateforme) | 1 | Open and Proprietary Mistral models (256K) | Not required | Get key → |
| Cloudflare Workers AI | 1 | @cf/mistralai/mistral-small-3.1-24b-instruct (128K) | Not required | Get key → |
| GitHub Models | 1 | Mistral-Small-3.1 (128K) | Not required | Get key → |
| NVIDIA NIM | 1 | mistralai/mistral-large-2-instruct (128K) | Not required | Get key → |
| Hugging Face | 1 | Mistral-7B-Instruct-v0.3 (32K) | Required | Get key → |
| LLM7.io | 1 | mistral-small-3.1-24b (32K) | Required | Get key → |
| Ollama Cloud | 1 | mistral:cloud (32K) | Required | Get key → |
| OVHcloud AI Endpoints | 1 | Mistral-Nemo-Instruct-2407 (128K) | Required | Get key → |
Free LLM API Keys — No Credit Card Required
These 5 providers issue an API key with just an email — no card on file, no surprise charges. Together they cover 51+ free models on this site.
NVIDIA NIM
100+ open models from NVIDIA — no credit card, 40 RPM.
Cohere
Command A, Aya, and embed models — 1,000 API calls/month.
Cerebras
Ultra-fast inference on Cerebras WSE chips — 1M tokens/day.
Cloudflare Workers AI
Edge AI inference — 10,000 neurons/day, 50+ models.
GitHub Models
GPT-4o, o3, Llama 4, DeepSeek-R1 — free for all GitHub users.
How to use a free API key with Claude Code, Cursor, Codex
Every provider on this page exposes an OpenAI-compatible endpoint (or, for Gemini, a wrapper).
That means any tool that lets you set a custom baseURL + apiKey works — including Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Cline, Aider, OpenCode, Continue, and Open WebUI.
Frequently Asked Questions — Free LLM API Keys
How do I get a free LLM API key in 2026?
The fastest path: sign up for Google AI Studio (Gemini), Groq, or NVIDIA NIM. All three issue an API key instantly with just an email — no credit card. Together they cover 18+ free providers and 133+ models. Pick one from the lists on this page and click "Get key →".
Are free LLM API keys really free, or is there a catch?
Most providers on this page offer a permanently free tier with rate limits (e.g., Groq 14,400 RPD, Gemini 500 RPD, Cerebras 30 RPM). The "catches" to know: (1) some providers train on your free-tier prompts (Gemini does, Groq does not); (2) free tiers often forbid commercial use without an upgrade — Cohere is one example. We label both on each provider page.
Which free LLM API requires no credit card?
51 of our 133 listed models come from providers that issue keys with no credit card on file. The biggest no-card providers are Google AI Studio, Groq, NVIDIA NIM, OpenRouter, Mistral, Cohere, Cerebras, Cloudflare Workers AI, and Z AI.
Is there a free OpenAI API key or free GPT-5 API?
No. OpenAI removed all free credits in 2024 and does not issue free production keys. Any site offering "free OpenAI API keys" is reselling shared/leaked keys that rate-limit within hours. Legitimate free alternatives: GitHub Models (free for every GitHub account), Cerebras (gpt-oss), and OpenRouter (gpt-oss:free).
Is there a free Claude API key?
Anthropic does not offer a free Claude API tier. The only legitimate way to use Claude models for free is GitHub Models (limited monthly Claude budget per GitHub account). If you want the Claude Code CLI experience for free, point it at Groq, NVIDIA NIM, or OpenRouter using our /config/claude-code generator.
Can I use a free LLM API key for production / commercial use?
Read the provider terms before shipping. Groq, NVIDIA NIM, Cloudflare Workers AI, and Mistral allow commercial use on the free tier with rate limits. Cohere's free trial key is non-commercial only. Google AI Studio free-tier prompts may be used to improve Google products, which is a privacy concern for commercial apps.