Credits
Last checked:OpenRouter always-free tier: 50 free-model requests/day
creditsapiopenrouter
A unified API that routes requests to many AI models from different providers, including a set of free-tier models. Official site
OpenRouter always-free tier, the facts
| Amount | 50 free-model requests/day |
|---|---|
| Grant type | Always-free tier, no expiring credit |
| Expiry | Free-model limits reset daily; unused purchased credits may expire after one year |
| Payment method required | No |
| Withdrawable as cash | No |
| What I ran on it | Not tested yet |
Filed under: AI API free creditsFree credits with no card required
Good for
- Testing many models through one API without a card, inside free-model limits
- Light daily usage: 50 free-model requests per day, 1,000 after a $10 lifetime purchase
Not for
- Production on :free models: OpenRouter says they are usually not suitable for it
- Scaling by making extra accounts or keys: that does not raise limits
OpenRouter’s concrete free offer is the free model tier: models tagged :free are limited to 20 requests per minute and 50 requests per day, rising to 1,000 requests per day once your lifetime credit purchases reach $10. No card is required to use the free models. The signup allowance is a separate thing: the FAQ says “All new users receive a small free allowance to test out OpenRouter”, and its dollar amount is not stated officially, so I will not invent one. Checked against the official FAQ and limits reference on 2026-08-26, and the BYOK reference on 2026-08-29.
The numbers that are official
From the limits reference: FREE_MODEL_RATE_LIMIT_RPM is 20, FREE_MODEL_NO_CREDITS_RPD is 50, and FREE_MODEL_HAS_CREDITS_RPD is 1,000 for accounts with at least $10 of lifetime purchases. Those are the published constants, and they apply per account: OpenRouter states that extra accounts or API keys do not raise limits.
Which models are free
Free access rides on model variants, not a separate catalog. A model is free when its id carries the :free suffix; the limits reference defines the free usage limits as applying to “a free model variant (with an ID ending in :free)”. The same underlying model often exists in both a paid and a :free form, and only the :free variant gets the request caps above. The live list is the official models page filtered to free pricing, the exact link the FAQ itself uses for “free models” (seen 2026-08-26). Which models sit behind that filter changes without notice, so I am not naming a snapshot of them here; the FAQ’s standing claim is only that there are many free models available. There is also a Free Models Router with the model id openrouter/free, which the FAQ says automatically selects a free model for your requests (seen 2026-08-26).
Budget and spending limits
The limits reference separates credit limits, how much you can spend, from rate limits, how many requests you can make. On the spend side there are two controls: the account balance itself, and an optional per-key credit limit you can set on any API key as a spending cap, reported as limit, limit_remaining, and limit_reset by the GET /api/v1/key endpoint. Exceeding a credit limit fails with HTTP 402, and the blocking extends to the free tier: with a negative account balance you may see errors even on free models, until you add credits to bring the balance above zero. On the request side, the free-model caps are the official numbers above: 20 requests per minute, 50 requests per day below $10 of lifetime credit purchases, 1,000 per day at or above it. All of this is per account, since extra accounts or API keys do not raise limits.
The signup allowance nobody can quote
Because the FAQ deliberately says “small” without a number, any specific dollar figure you read elsewhere for the OpenRouter signup allowance is unofficial. This is the same discipline that applies to OpenAI free credits and Anthropic free credits: if the official page does not state the number, the number does not get published here.
Costs and gotchas around the free path
Buying credits carries a fee: 5.5% with a $0.80 minimum via Stripe, or 5% with crypto, and the terms say unused purchased credits may expire after one year. A lapsed paid balance can lock you out of the free tier too, per the negative-balance blocking above. There is an opt-in prompt-logging discount of 1%. And OpenRouter’s own caveat: :free models are usually not suitable for production.
Choose or skip
Choose OpenRouter if you want one key to sample many models and your daily volume fits 50 requests, or 1,000 after a $10 lifetime purchase. Skip it if you need guaranteed production capacity on free models, which OpenRouter itself warns against.
What I have done with it
Not tested yet. This page reports only what the official pages state.
For an API with a stated trial cap instead, see Cohere, or the Mistral free tier. Every grant I track is on the credits index.
OpenRouter, common questions
Is OpenRouter free?
Partly. Paid usage is the core product, but models tagged :free can be used with no card on file, limited to 20 requests per minute and 50 requests per day, rising to 1,000 per day once lifetime credit purchases reach $10. New users also get "a small free allowance" whose dollar amount is not stated officially.
What is the OpenRouter free model limit?
Models tagged :free are limited to 20 requests per minute and 50 requests per day, rising to 1,000 requests per day once lifetime credit purchases reach $10. Limits apply per account: extra accounts or API keys do not raise them.
Which OpenRouter models are free?
The ones whose model id ends in :free. The lineup changes without notice, so check the official models page filtered to free pricing (models?max_price=0), the same link the OpenRouter FAQ uses for "free models". There is also a Free Models Router, model id openrouter/free, that automatically selects a free model for each request.
Does OpenRouter have a budget or spending limit?
Yes, on two levels. Each API key can carry an optional credit limit as a spending cap, and the account balance is the hard stop: a negative balance returns HTTP 402 errors and blocks even free models until you add credits. Free-model usage is also rate-limited to 20 requests per minute and 50 or 1,000 requests per day, depending on whether lifetime purchases reach $10.
Does OpenRouter require a credit card for free models?
No card is required to use the free models. But a negative balance blocks even free models with an HTTP 402, so a lapsed paid balance can lock you out of the free tier too.
What is the OpenRouter BYOK fee?
Using your own provider key costs 5% of what the same model and provider would cost normally on OpenRouter, deducted from your OpenRouter credits. The BYOK reference also defines a plan-dependent free allowance measured by list-price inference cost, $25,000 per month on pay-as-you-go and $200,000 on enterprise, so the 5% applies past that. Seen 2026-08-29.
How do OpenRouter credit top-ups work?
Credits are a prepaid balance. Buying them carries a fee of 5.5% with a $0.80 minimum via Stripe, or 5% with crypto, and the terms say unused purchased credits may expire after one year. A negative balance returns HTTP 402 errors and blocks even the :free models until the balance is back above zero.
What changed here
Added OpenRouter: Small free allowance, not stated officially.
Plus 2 rechecks that found nothing changed. Every row links to the full record on the changelog, with the official page it was checked against.
Related entries
OpenAI: None
Anthropic: Not quantified officially
Mistral: Not stated officially
Sources
Last checked:- OpenRouter FAQ
- OpenRouter limits reference
- OpenRouter models, filtered to free pricing
- OpenRouter BYOK reference
All numbers on this page come from the official pages above, checked on the date shown. If a figure is not stated there, this page says "Not stated officially" instead of guessing.