Ollama Cloud logo How to Get a Free Ollama Cloud API Key (2026)

6 free models available — no credit card required. Get your Ollama Cloud API key → Test free models →

Ollama Cloud FreeLLM Score

67
Solid Choice — Strong in easy signup

A solid choice for most developers with balanced limits and model quality.

🎁
Generosity Free limits
65/100
🌍
Accessibility Signup ease
100/100
📚
Breadth Model variety
50/100
Reliability Uptime
100/100
🔌
Compatibility Tool support
85/100
🧠
Quality Benchmarks
0/100

How we score →

What is Ollama Cloud?

Ollama Cloud — run Llama, Qwen, Gemma via Ollama API in the cloud.

Ollama Cloud provides a hosted version of the popular Ollama runtime, exposing Llama, Qwen, Gemma, and other open models through the familiar Ollama API format. Free tier has unpublished session/weekly limits. Useful for developers already using Ollama locally who want a zero-config cloud option.

  • Ollama-native API format
  • Llama, Qwen, Gemma models
  • Familiar Ollama tooling
  • OpenAI-compatible endpoint available

API Compatibility: Ollama API + OpenAI-compatible wrapper

How to Get a Ollama Cloud API Key

  1. 1
    Sign up at ollama.com Email registration. No credit card.
  2. 2
    Go to Settings → API Keys
  3. 3
    Create your free Ollama API key
  4. 4
    Choose a model Llama, Qwen, Gemma available. Familiar Ollama API format.
  5. 5
    Configure client Base URL: https://api.ollama.com. OpenAI-compatible wrapper available.

All Free Ollama Cloud Models — Context Windows & Rate Limits

Model Context Max Output Modality Rate Limit Released Status
deepseek-v3.1:671b-cloud 128K 131K text Session/weekly limits (unpublished) Online
deepseek-r1:cloud 128K 131K textreasoning Session/weekly limits (unpublished) Online
gpt-oss:120b-cloud 128K 131K text Session/weekly limits (unpublished) Online
qwen3-coder:480b-cloud 128K 131K textcode Session/weekly limits (unpublished) Online
kimi-k2:1t-cloud 262K 131K text Session/weekly limits (unpublished) Online
glm-4.6:cloud 128K 131K text Session/weekly limits (unpublished) Online

Ollama Cloud Free Tier Limits & Pricing

Credit Card Not required
Free Tier Permanently free
Context Range 128K – 262K
Total Models 6 free
Rate Limits Session/weekly limits (unpublished)
API Compatibility Ollama API + OpenAI-compatible wrapper

Ollama Cloud API Setup Tutorial & Tools

Ollama Cloud 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 →

Use Cases

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

Chat 6 models Coding 2 models Reasoning 1 model

Limitations & Caveats

  • Rate limits are unpublished — hard to plan capacity
  • Limited model selection compared to Ollama self-hosted
  • Newer/smaller provider with limited track record

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Ollama Cloud the same as running Ollama locally?

Ollama Cloud runs the same Ollama runtime but hosted in the cloud. The API is identical, so any tool that works with local Ollama works with Ollama Cloud — just change the base URL.

What are Ollama Cloud's rate limits?

Ollama Cloud doesn't publish exact rate limits for the free tier. Users report session-based and weekly limits. For predictable capacity, consider self-hosting Ollama or using a provider with published limits.

Does Ollama Cloud support OpenAI-compatible API?

Yes — Ollama Cloud provides an OpenAI-compatible wrapper in addition to the native Ollama API format. You can use it with any OpenAI SDK client by setting the base URL.

See our FAQ for common questions about free LLM APIs