Every time I look for "free AI," I run into the same problem: most lists mix permanent free APIs, short-lived trial credits, and random consumer AI sites as if they were the same thing.
They are not, and that difference matters a lot if you are actually building something.
After digging through these repos, the useful takeaway is simple: no single repo does everything well. Some are much better for API hunting, one is surprisingly practical for Claude Code, and others are better when you want broader no-cost AI tools across text, image, video, voice, and developer workflows.
Note: I manually reviewed the repositories in this post and used them as discovery sources for free AI APIs, model access, and no-cost AI tools. I did not independently verify every provider entry against official vendor docs, so treat provider limits, free tiers, and model availability as time-sensitive details.
Why these repos are worth bookmarking
The best part about this set is that they complement each other instead of repeating the same list with slightly different formatting.
mnfst/awesome-free-llm-apis
The clearest source for permanent free tiers.
mnfst
/
awesome-free-llm-apis
List of Permanent Free LLM API (API Keys)
LLM APIs with permanent free tiers for text inference.
All endpoints are OpenAI SDK-compatible unless noted. Each link points to the provider's API key page.
Contents
Provider APIs
APIs run by the companies that train or fine-tune the models themselves.
Aion Labs 🇮🇱
Permanent free tier, no credit card required. 15 RPM, 20K tokens/day. Specialized for roleplay and storytelling.
Base URL: https://api.aionlabs.ai/v1
Model Name
Context
Max Output
Modality
Rate Limit
Aion 2.5
128K
32K
Text (roleplay)
15 RPM, 20K TPD
Aion 2.0
128K
32K
Text (roleplay)
15 RPM, 20K TPD
Aion-RP 1.0 (8B)
32K
~8K
Text (roleplay)
15 RPM, 20K TPD
Cohere 🇨🇦
Free "Trial" API key, no credit card. 1,000 API calls/month. Non-commercial use only.
Base URL: https://api.cohere.com/v2
Model Name
Context
Max Output
Modality
Rate Limit
Command A+ (218B)
128K
4K
Text
20 RPM
Command A (111B)
256K
4K
Text
20 RPM
Command R+
cheahjs/free-llm-api-resources
Broader because it includes both free providers and trial-credit providers.
cheahjs
/
free-llm-api-resources
A list of free LLM inference resources accessible via API.
Free LLM API resources
This lists various services that provide free access or credits towards API-based LLM usage.
Note
Please don't abuse these services, else we might lose them.
Warning
This list explicitly excludes any services that are not legitimate (eg reverse engineers an existing chatbot)
Free Providers
Limits:
20 requests/minute
50 requests/day
Up to 1000 requests/day with $10 lifetime topup
Models share a common quota.
- Hermes 3 Llama 3.1 405B
- Llama 3.2 3B Instruct
- Llama 3.3 70B Instruct
- cognitivecomputations/dolphin-mistral-24b-venice-edition:free
- cohere/north-mini-code:free
- google/gemma-4-26b-a4b-it:free
- google/gemma-4-31b-it:free
- liquid/lfm-2.5-1.2b-instruct:free
- liquid/lfm-2.5-1.2b-thinking:free
- nvidia/nemotron-3-nano-30b-a3b:free
- nvidia/nemotron-3-nano-omni-30b-a3b-reasoning:free
- nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b:free
- nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b:free
- nvidia/nemotron-3.5-content-safety:free
- nvidia/nemotron-nano-12b-v2-vl:free
- nvidia/nemotron-nano-9b-v2:free
- openai/gpt-oss-120b:free
- openai/gpt-oss-20b:free
- poolside/laguna-m.1:free
- …
CYBIRD-D/FREE-LLM-API-Provider
Adds another provider-focused directory.
CYBIRD-D
/
FREE-LLM-API-Provider
This is a list of free LLM provider resources accessible via API. Including some cn platform 免费llm api平台（包括cn平台）
Free LLM API Provider
Last updated: 2026-06-16
This is a list of free llm providers and their rate usage limits.
免费LLM api平台（包括cn平台）
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You may also want to read my other posts:
- How to Choose Your LLM For Translation?
- Model & Performance FAQ
- Local LLMs Collection For Translation
- LLM Timeline
Easy guide to deploy online LLM api（luna）:
- Sign up/register in certain platform;
- Get this platform's Api Key and Endpoint Address
- Check if there's an available date for the key
- Put it in the softwares that support it.
Content/目录
Global Platform
Google Gemini Google/Gemma 3/4
Community reports that Gemma 3 is working properly.
https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/rate-limits#free-tier
Gemma3 had been removed from api.
Last updated: 2026-06-16…
Alishahryar1/free-claude-code
A bit different because it is more about making Claude Code work through alternate backends.
Alishahryar1
/
free-claude-code
Use claude code and codex for free in the terminal, VSCode extension, and discord like OpenClaw (voice supported)
🤖 Free Claude Code
Use Claude Code CLI, Codex CLI, their VS Code extensions, JetBrains ACP, or chat bots through your own provider-backed proxy.
Free Claude Code routes Anthropic Messages API traffic from Claude Code (CLI and VS Code extension) and OpenAI Responses API traffic from Codex (CLI and VS Code extension) to any provider. It keeps each client's protocol stable while letting you choose free, paid, or local models through the same proxy and Admin UI.
Quick Start · Providers · Clients · Integrations · Development
Claude Code running through the Free Claude Code proxy.
Codex CLI using the local FCC Responses provider.
Claude Code native /model picker with FCC gateway models.
Codex native /model picker with the generated FCC catalog.
Star History
What You Get
- Drop-in proxy for Claude Code's Anthropic API calls (
/v1/messages,/v1/models). - Drop-in proxy for Codex via the OpenAI Responses API (…
widen the picture beyond raw APIs into broader AI tool discovery.
zebbern/no-cost-ai
zebbern
/
no-cost-ai
80+ free AI services for chat, image, video, voice & APIs (may sometimes include access to lead gen ai models for free)
Spend 0$ on Ai-Models!
A living index for developers, researchers & curious builders contributions is welcome & appriciated!
No signup Picture/Video/Chat generation nocostai.vercel.app
Leaderboards
| Link | Scope |
|---|---|
| openrouter.ai/rankings | Openrouter leaderboard ranking |
| alpaca_eval | Instruction‑following ability vs GPT‑4 |
| open_llm_leaderboard | Cross‑domain evals on )4 k open‑source LLMs |
| chatbot-arena-leaderboard | Crowd‑sourced Elo ranking of chat models |
| mteb/leaderboard | 100 + languages, 1000 + NLP tasks |
| artificialanalysis.ai | Intelligence of leading AI models based on their independent evaluations |
| yupp.ai/leaderboard | Based on User Feedback from Feedback from Yupp.ai Usage |
| lmarena.ai/leaderboard | Based on Crowd Sourced Voting |
No Signup Required
Chat Interfaces
| Link | Free Models | Limits |
|---|---|---|
| lmarena.ai | 40+ | Unlimited |
| g4f.dev | 200+ tons of local models |
Unlimited |
| meta.ai | Llama 4 |
Unlimited/Unkown |
| sharedchat.cn |
gpt-4o, o3, |
eudk/awesome-ai-tools
eudk
/
awesome-ai-tools
🔴 VERY LARGE AI TOOL LIST! 🔴 Curated list of AI Tools - Updated 2026
Comprehensive List of AI Tools
Welcome to a curated collection of tools, models, and platforms across the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). This repository has been actively maintained since 2023 and aims to provide a reliable, up-to-date reference for the AI ecosystem.
This repository focuses on the most relevant systems across:
- large language models (LLMs)
- multimodal generation (image, video, audio)
- AI agents and automation
- developer platforms and APIs
- infrastructure and supporting tools
It is designed as a practical resource for developers, professionals, and enthusiasts looking to explore tools, understand the ecosystem, and build real-world AI applications.
A Living, Community-Driven Guide
This is a dynamic resource, continuously updated to reflect the fast-moving AI landscape. It is curated through community contributions, ongoing research, and iterative cleanup to maintain a high-signal and relevant collection.
Please Note:
- Independence: This is an independent, community-driven project. We are not affiliated…
ShaikhWarsi/free-ai-tools
ShaikhWarsi
/
free-ai-tools
Curated list of free and low cost AI tools, LLM APIs, IDEs, agents, and infrastructure for building real AI apps
Free AI Tools
Curated list of free LLM APIs, coding copilots, AI IDEs, agents, and infrastructure tools for building real AI applications.
What's Inside
- ✅ Free GPT-5.5 / Claude Fable 5 / Gemini API access
- 🤖 Coding copilots and AI-native IDEs (Cursor, Trae, Windsurf)
- 💰 Cheapest AI APIs ($0.08-0.50 per 1M tokens)
- 📚 RAG stack tools (vector DBs, embeddings, frameworks)
- 🎯 Agent frameworks and automation tools
- 🔒 Local models for privacy (Ollama, Llama, Qwen)
- 🏗️ Production-ready stack configurations
- 🆕 Claude Fable 5, Claude Opus 4.8, Sonnet 4.6, Haiku 4.5 — GPT-5.5 (Instant/Thinking) — GitHub Copilot AI Credits — Windsurf Max — Trae Ultra — OpenCode 167k⭐ — Kiro Cloud Agent — Xiaomi MiMo V2.5 Pro
Goal: Help developers build AI apps without paying $200/month.
Note
Please don't abuse these services, else we might lose them for everyone The number becomes 550+ when you add all the models and sub services…
What each repo actually does
| Repo | What it covers | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| cheahjs/free-llm-api-resources | A list of free LLM inference resources accessible via API, with free providers and trial-credit providers separated. | Useful when you want a wider net instead of only permanent-free options. |
| CYBIRD-D/FREE-LLM-API-Provider | A repo focused on free LLM API providers. | Good as another provider-discovery source to cross-check against other lists. |
| mnfst/awesome-free-llm-apis | A curated list centered on permanent free LLM APIs, divided into provider APIs and inference providers. | Best starting point if you only care about always-free access. |
| Alishahryar1/free-claude-code | A workflow for using Claude Code through alternate backends. | More operational than curational, which makes it unusually practical. |
| zebbern/no-cost-ai | A broad list of free AI services across chat, image, video, voice, and APIs. | Useful when your post should cover more than text generation. |
| eudk/awesome-ai-tools | A very large AI tools directory with categories including Software for Large Language Models and LLM Ops. | Better for wide discovery than narrow API comparison. |
| ShaikhWarsi/free-ai-tools | A curated list of free and low-cost AI tools, LLM APIs, IDEs, agents, and infrastructure. | Strong fit for builders looking across the whole stack. |
The repo with the clearest free-tier details
If the goal is to find concrete free-tier information instead of vague "free AI" claims, mnfst/awesome-free-llm-apis stands out.
Its public listing names direct provider APIs including Cohere, Google Gemini, Mistral AI, and Zhipu AI. It also lists inference platforms such as Cerebras, Cloudflare Workers AI, GitHub Models, Groq, Hugging Face, Kluster AI, LLM7.io, NVIDIA NIM, Ollama Cloud, OpenRouter, and SiliconFlow.
It also exposes visible limits that are actually useful for developers. Examples shown publicly include:
- Cohere models such as Command A, Command R+, and Aya Expanse 32B at 20 RPM and 1,000 requests per month.
- Google Gemini models such as Gemini 2.5 Pro, Flash, and Flash-Lite at 5 to 15 RPM and 100 to 1,000 requests per day.
- Mistral AI models such as Mistral Large 3, Small 3.1, and Ministral 8B at 1 request per second and 1 billion tokens per month.
- Inference-side entries for Cerebras, GitHub Models, Groq, NVIDIA NIM, OpenRouter, and SiliconFlow with visible free-tier limits.
That makes it the easiest repo in this set to reference when you want a post grounded in visible rate limits instead of hype.
The most practical surprise: free Claude Code routing
Alishahryar1/free-claude-code is probably the most unusual repo here because it solves a workflow problem instead of just curating links.
The public page describes using Claude Code through alternate backends such as NVIDIA NIM, OpenRouter, LM Studio, or Ollama-style local models, which makes it especially relevant for developers who want the Claude Code experience without direct Anthropic spend.
One visible config example maps Claude-style usage to OpenRouter free models including:
deepseek/deepseek-r1-0528:freeopenai/gpt-oss-120b:freestepfun/step-3.5-flash:free
The same public snippet also notes that some trivial requests can be intercepted locally so they do not consume quota.
If your post should cover more than APIs
Not every reader wants raw API endpoints. Some want free tools they can use immediately, and that is where zebbern/no-cost-ai, eudk/awesome-ai-tools, and ShaikhWarsi/free-ai-tools become much more useful.
no-cost-ai is especially handy because it spans chat, image, video, voice, and APIs in one place. Its Voice & Music section includes services such as ElevenLabs, Stable Audio, Play.ht, Riffusion, and Uberduck, which gives the article a broader angle than just text models.
The honest takeaway
Validation note: Repo pages were reviewed manually, and selected examples were checked against publicly visible repo content. This post is best read as a curated map of useful repositories, not a complete official-source audit of every provider listed inside them.
If this post were reduced to one recommendation, it would be this:
- Use mnfst for permanent free LLM APIs.
- Use cheahjs when you also want trial-credit providers.
- Use free-claude-code for Claude Code routing.
- Use no-cost-ai plus the broader tool directories when you want a fuller map of free AI across categories.
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