Free LLM API Resources: A Complete Guide

Are you trying to integrate AI into your business, but API pricing is slowing down experiments? Free LLM API tiers and trial credits can help you validate workflows before committing to paid usage.

This guide is based on the cheahjs/free-llm-api-resources repository and organizes the options into practical categories.

What is a free LLM API and how can it help?

Large Language Model (LLM) APIs let you access AI models programmatically for tasks like support automation, content drafting, and internal tools.

With free tiers and trial credits, you can:

• Test prototypes before committing budget
• Train your team with real API integrations
• Support low-volume usage without immediate cost

Completely free providers

The providers below offer no-cost API access with usage limits. Limits can change, so always verify the latest documentation before production use.

OpenRouter

OpenRouter gives access to many models through a single API. The free tier includes request limits (for example, per-minute and daily caps), making it useful for rapid model comparison.

Google AI Studio

Google AI Studio provides free access to Gemini and Gemma model families. Some free-tier usage can include data handling terms that require review before sensitive workloads.

Groq

Groq is known for high inference speed. It is often a strong choice for latency-sensitive workflows such as real-time assistants.

Cerebras

Cerebras also offers high-throughput inference and access to larger models in its free tier, depending on current limits.

Cohere

Cohere provides a free tier with monthly and per-minute request caps, suitable for smaller proof-of-concept projects.

GitHub Models

GitHub Models can provide access to multiple model families depending on your account and plan context, with platform-specific limits.

Cloudflare Workers AI

Cloudflare Workers AI includes a free daily allowance based on compute units, with several open model families available.

Other free providers

• NVIDIA NIM: Requires phone verification and applies request-per-minute limits
• Mistral (La Plateforme): Free access depends on account conditions and current policy
• Hugging Face Inference Providers: Includes a small monthly credit for open model usage

Providers offering trial credits

If you need higher limits than free tiers, trial credits are often the best next step.

Provider	Trial Credit	Featured Models
Baseten	$30	Usage based on compute/model time
AI21	$10 for 3 months	Jamba family
Upstage	$10 for 3 months	Solar Pro/Mini
NLP Cloud	$15	Various open models
Modal	$5 per month ($30 with additional payment methods)	Multiple models
Hyperbolic	$1	DeepSeek V3, Llama 405B, and more
SambaNova Cloud	$5 for 3 months	DeepSeek, Llama, Qwen
Scaleway	1,000,000 tokens	Llama, Mistral, Gemma
Fireworks	$1	Various open models
Alibaba Cloud	1 million tokens per model	Qwen family

Which provider should you choose?

Your choice depends on your priority:

• Fast model comparison across many options: OpenRouter
• Speed-critical responses: Groq or Cerebras
• Google ecosystem alignment: Google AI Studio
• Existing platform compatibility: Cloudflare Workers AI or GitHub Models
• Low-cost deep testing: Trial-credit providers like Baseten or NLP Cloud

Important checks before production

Before shipping a workload on top of free tiers, check:

• Data privacy terms and training-data policies
• Limit volatility (caps can be reduced or changed)
• Service continuity (free tiers are not always permanent)

A fallback provider is recommended for any critical workflow.

Final takeaway

Free LLM API resources make it easier to start AI adoption with lower risk. Start with a narrow use case, validate output quality and latency, and then move to paid plans only when usage patterns justify it.