Free Mistral AI API Key, Base URL & Rate Limits
API ProviderMistral AI offers a free "Experiment" plan that provides access to all Mistral open and proprietary models including Mistral Small, Medium, Large, and Codestral.
How to get a free Mistral AI API key
- 1
- 2 Go to API Keys page
- 3 Create a new API key
- 4 Choose a model Codestral for coding, Mistral Small for general chat.
- 5 Configure OpenAI client Base URL: https://api.mistral.ai/v1
Provider Snapshot
Supported Models 12 models
View in directory →| Model ID | Developer | Context | Availability | Free Tier | Use cases |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mistral-small-4 Mistral Small 4 | Mistral | 256K | Online | Yes | chat |
| mistral-medium-3-5-128b Mistral Medium 3.5 (128B) | Mistral AI | 256K | Online | Yes | chat |
| codestral Codestral | Mistral AI | 256K | Online | Yes | chatcoding |
| mistral-large-3 Mistral Large 3 | Mistral | 256K | Online | Yes | chat |
| ministral-8b Ministral 8B | Mistral AI | 256K | Online | Yes | chat |
| ministral-14b Ministral 14B | Mistral AI | 256K | Online | Yes | chat |
| open-mixtral-8x7b Mixtral 8x7B | Mistral AI | 33K | Online | Yes | chatcoding |
| open-mistral-7b Mistral 7B | Mistral AI | 33K | Online | Yes | chat |
| ministral-3b Ministral 3B | Mistral AI | 128K | Online | Yes | chat |
| mistral-medium-3 Mistral Medium 3 | Mistral | 128K | Check provider | Yes | chat |
| mistral-nemo Mistral Nemo (12B) | Mistral AI | 128K | Check provider | Yes | chat |
| pixtral-large Pixtral Large | Mistral | 128K | Check provider | Yes | chatvision |
Developer Tools
Related Providers
View all →Mistral AI FreeLLM Score free API access score
How we score →What is Mistral AI?
Mistral's Experiment plan — ~1B tokens/month, no card needed.
Mistral AI offers a free "Experiment" plan that provides access to all Mistral open and proprietary models including Mistral Small, Medium, Large, and Codestral. The free tier allows approximately 1 billion tokens/month with a limit of ~1 request/second. Phone number verification is required. Data may be used for model improvement unless opted out.
- Access to Mistral Small, Medium, Large
- ~1B tokens/month free
- Codestral (code model) included
- No credit card required (phone verification)
API Compatibility: Live-tested OpenAI-compatible Chat Completions
Mistral AI Free Tier Limits & Pricing
Mistral AI API Setup Tutorials
Mistral AI is fully compatible with popular AI coding assistants like Cursor, Claude Code, and more. To see step-by-step API configuration instructions for your favorite tool, please visit our Global Configuration Guide →
Mistral AI Model Use Cases
What Mistral AI's free models are best for, based on aggregated model capabilities:
Mistral AI Limitations & Caveats
- ~1 RPS is slow for concurrent or batch workloads
- Phone verification required for signup
- Free tier data may be used for model improvement unless opted out
Mistral AI FAQ
How do I opt out of data training on Mistral's free tier?
In your Mistral dashboard, go to Settings → Privacy and disable "Allow Mistral to use your data for model improvement." This is available on all tiers including free.
Is Codestral available on Mistral's free tier?
Yes — the free Experiment plan includes access to all Mistral models, including Codestral (their code-specialized model). Rate limit is ~1 request/second.
Why does Mistral require phone verification?
Mistral uses phone verification as a fraud prevention measure to prevent abuse of their free compute resources. The verification is one-time and works with most international phone numbers.