Free Nscale API Key, Base URL & Rate Limits

Model Provider

Nscale provides free API access to Llama-3.

Function Calling

Save API Key Test API Key Get API Key

How to get a free Nscale API key

1
Sign up at console.nscale.com Email registration. No credit card.
Get Nscale API key →
2
Go to API Keys
3
Generate an API key
4
Choose a model Llama-3.3-70B for general use. Qwen3-Coder for code. DeepSeek-R1 for reasoning.
5
Configure OpenAI client Base URL: https://inference.api.nscale.com/v1. Fair-use rate limits.

Provider Snapshot

P Provider Type Model Provider

O OpenAI Compatible No

U Base URL https://inference.api.nscale.com/v1

F Free Tier Check provider

P Phone Required No

S Streaming Varies

T Function Calling Yes

V Vision Varies

L Last Updated 2026-06-15

Supported Models 2 models

View in directory →

Model ID	Developer	Context	Availability	Free Tier	Use cases
deepseek-r1-distill-llama-70b DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Llama-70B	DeepSeek	128K	Check provider	Yes	chatreasoning
llama-3-3-70b-instruct Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct	Meta	128K	Check provider	Yes	chat

Developer Tools

K Save API Key Never lose your API keys — save keys from all providers in one place. T Test API Key Test your API key and check quota.

Nscale FreeLLM Score free API access score

How we score →

33 /100

🔹 Niche Provider — Consider for easy signup

Generosity Free limits and access terms

Access Signup and key availability

Model Breadth Free model coverage

Reliability Status and stability signals

Compatibility SDK and endpoint support

Quality Model capability signals

What is Nscale?

EU-hosted Llama 3.3 70B + Qwen3-Coder + DeepSeek-R1 — fair-use limits.

Nscale provides free API access to Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct, Qwen3-Coder-30B-A3B-Instruct, and DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Llama-70B models hosted on European infrastructure. The free tier uses fair-use rate limiting (no hard RPM/RPD — throttles if needed). OpenAI-compatible endpoint with 128K-256K context windows. No credit card required.

Llama 3.3 70B + Qwen3-Coder + DeepSeek-R1
Fair-use rates — no hard caps
Up to 256K context (Qwen3-Coder)
EU-hosted, OpenAI-compatible

API Compatibility: OpenAI SDK-compatible (Chat Completions)

Nscale Free Tier Limits & Pricing

Credit Card Not required

Phone Verification Not required

Free Tier Check provider

Context Range 128K

Total Models 2 listed

Rate Limits Fair-use

API Compatibility OpenAI SDK-compatible (Chat Completions)

Nscale API Setup Tutorials

Claude Code Environment variables and base URL setup Codex OpenAI-compatible config for local coding Gemini CLI Provider-specific API key routing notes

Nscale 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 →

Nscale Model Use Cases

What Nscale's free models are best for, based on aggregated model capabilities:

Chat 2 models Reasoning 1 model

Nscale Limitations & Caveats

Fair-use limits — unpredictable during high demand
Small provider — limited track record
EU-only latency advantage

Nscale FAQ

What does "fair-use" rate limiting mean on Nscale?

Instead of fixed RPM/RPD numbers, Nscale throttles when your usage is significantly above average. During normal conditions, you can make many requests. During peak demand, heavy users may be slowed down to ensure fair access for all.

Is Nscale's Qwen3-Coder different from other providers?

Qwen3-Coder-30B-A3B-Instruct is a MoE coding model — 30B total, 3B active per token. Nscale offers it with a 256K context window, which is wider than most providers giving you more code context per request.

How does Nscale compare to Nebius or OVHcloud?

All three are EU-hosted. Nscale has the best model variety (coding + reasoning + general). Nebius has the largest model (Qwen3 235B). OVHcloud has the most model variety and an anonymous tier. Choose based on your specific model needs.