Free-LLM — Open Directory of Free AI & LLM APIs

210+ free LLM models from 47 providers — find, compare & configure free models in seconds, plus 9 local/self-hosted tools for unlimited private use.

🌐 Live at free-llm.com — Compare providers · Submit a provider · Guides · Hall of Fame

🌐 English · 简体中文 · 繁體中文 · 日本語 · 한국어

Why This Exists

Finding a free LLM API shouldn't mean hunting through a dozen changelogs, signing up for five platforms just to compare rate limits, or guessing which provider still has a free tier this month.

This repo — backed by the live directory at free-llm.com — is a structured, community-maintained reference covering every provider that lets you use LLMs at zero cost.

• ✅ Community-maintained — votes, submissions, and edit suggestions from real users, moderated before publishing
• ✅ Credit card transparency — every provider below is labeled with whether it needs a card, phone verification, or nothing at all
• ✅ Ready-to-run code — Python/JavaScript/curl snippets for all 33 providers in code-examples/, plus per-tool configs for Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, and OpenCode
• ✅ Side-by-side comparison — free-llm.com/compare puts two providers head-to-head on limits, models, and pricing

How to Use — 3 Steps

1. Pick a provider — see the Provider Directory below. New to this? Start with Groq (no credit card, 30 RPM / 14,400 requests per day, free forever).
2. Get your API key — every row links straight to the provider's key page in Quick Reference. Most only need an email address.
3. Plug it in — copy the base URL + a model ID from the tables below into the snippets in Quick Start.

Full details, live status, and community notes for each provider live on its page at free-llm.com/provider/<slug> (e.g. free-llm.com/provider/groq).

Quick Start — Use Any Free API in 30 Seconds

Most providers below expose an OpenAI-compatible endpoint. Any tool that accepts a baseURL + apiKey works — just swap the two.

Python (OpenAI SDK)

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    base_url="https://api.groq.com/openai/v1",  # free, no credit card
    api_key="GROQ_API_KEY",                      # get at console.groq.com/keys
)

response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="llama-3.3-70b-versatile",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}],
)
print(response.choices[0].message.content)
# Groq free tier: 30 RPM, 14,400 requests/day — generous for personal use

Coding assistants

Point your AI coding tool at a free backend instead of a paid one:

• Claude Code — set ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL + ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN. See code-examples/claude-code.md
• Cursor — Settings → Models → Add Model. See code-examples/cursor.md
• Codex CLI — set OPENAI_BASE_URL + OPENAI_API_KEY. See code-examples/codex.md
• OpenCode — open source AI coding agent, supports multiple providers via /connect or env vars. See code-examples/opencode.md

Every other provider has a ready-to-copy snippet in code-examples/ — see Code Examples below.

Provider Directory

⚡ Permanent Free Tiers

Ongoing free access with rate-limited quotas that never expire.

💰 Renewable Credits

Free access that renews periodically, no one-time expiry.

🎁 One-Time Trial Credits

Sign up and receive credits to use until depleted.

🖥️ Local / Self-Hosted (Unlimited, Private, Free Forever)

Quick Reference — Base URLs & API Keys

Guides & Tutorials

Published at free-llm.com/guides:

• Best Free LLM APIs in 2026 — side-by-side comparison of top picks
• Gemini vs ChatGPT (Free Tier) — what you actually get for $0
• How to Use OpenRouter — setup walkthrough with code
• OpenRouter Alternatives — other aggregators worth trying
• Local LLMs with Ollama — get started in under 5 minutes
• Ultimate Free LLM API Guide — the comprehensive deep-dive

Community Features

Free-LLM is community-driven. The website at free-llm.com lets visitors:

• Vote on providers to surface the most useful ones
• Submit new providers and models
• Propose edits to existing provider data (admin-reviewed)
• Report models that have gone from free to paid
• Earn recognition on the Hall of Fame leaderboard

Data syncs back to this repository.

Code Examples

The code-examples/ directory has ready-to-run Python, JavaScript, and curl snippets — just add your API key.

By coding assistant: Claude Code · Cursor · Codex CLI · OpenCode

By provider (31): AI21 Labs · Aion Labs · Cerebras · Cerebrium · Cloudflare Workers AI · Cohere · Coze · Fireworks AI · Friendli AI · Google AI Studio · Groq · Hetzner Inference API · LLM7.io · Mistral (La Plateforme) · ModelScope · Nebius (Token Factory) · Nous Portal · Novita AI · Nscale · NVIDIA NIM · Ollama Cloud · OpenRouter · OVH AI Endpoints · Pollinations.ai · Qwen (Alibaba) · Replicate · Requesty · Scaleway Generative APIs · SiliconFlow · Upstage · Z.AI (GLM)

Local / Self-Hosted: BentoML · GPT4All · Jan.ai · KoboldCpp · llama.cpp · llamafile · LM Studio · Ollama · Text Gen WebUI

Repository Structure

Free-LLM/
├── README.md                 ← You are here (English)
├── README.zh-CN.md            ← 简体中文
├── README.zh-TW.md            ← 繁體中文
├── README.ja.md               ← 日本語
├── README.ko.md                ← 한국어
├── CONTRIBUTING.md            ← Contribution guidelines
├── code-examples/             ← Ready-to-use snippets (per-provider + per-tool)
├── .github/                   ← Issue/PR templates
└── LICENSE                    ← MIT

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for the full guide. Quick version:

1. Add a provider — use the submit form on the website, or open an issue/PR here.
2. Fix inaccurate data — rate limits change, providers graduate or shut down. PRs welcome.
3. Add a config snippet — have a working config for a tool we don't cover? Add it to code-examples/.
4. Vote & discuss — help the community surface the best options at free-llm.com.

Criteria for inclusion

A provider belongs in this list if:

1. It explicitly offers a free tier (not just a trial credit with no free-forever option) — see Provider Directory for how we split permanent tiers from one-time credits
2. The API is publicly accessible (no waitlist, closed beta, or reverse-engineering)
3. For trial credits: clearly labeled and the free-forever alternative (if any) is called out

Links

• 🌐 Live site: free-llm.com — directory, voting, submissions
• 🆚 Compare providers: free-llm.com/compare
• 📚 Guides: free-llm.com/guides
• 🏆 Hall of Fame: free-llm.com/hall-of-fame
• ➕ Submit a provider: free-llm.com/submit

Star History

License

MIT — see LICENSE for details.

_{Data synced automatically from the live directory — last updated: 2026-10-15}