OpenRouter Free Models
Source: https://openrouter.ai/collections/free-models
Description
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OpenRouter gives you a single OpenAI-compatible API endpoint to access 29+ free AI models -- including DeepSeek, Gemini, Llama 3.3, Qwen3, Mistral, and more. No credit card needed. Free models are community-funded and rotated; append :free to any supported model ID to use it at zero cost.
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+ 5 1. Go to openrouter.ai and click Sign Up.
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+ 6 2. Create an account with email or sign in via Google/GitHub.
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+ 7 3. Navigate to Keys in your dashboard and generate an API key.
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4. Use the API key with the base URL https://openrouter.ai/api/v1 -- it's OpenAI-compatible, so most SDKs work out of the box.
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5. To use free models, append :free to the model ID (e.g., meta-llama/llama-3.3-70b-instruct:free).
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6. Alternatively, use the Free Models Router (openrouter/free) to automatically pick a random free model that supports your request's features (vision, tool calling, etc.).
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+ 12 Caveat: Free models have lower reliability and may go offline without notice. Don't depend on a specific free model for production.
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+ 16 As of February 2026, 29 free models are available, including:
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+ 18 ModelProviderContext Length
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+ 19 Qwen3 Next 80B A3B InstructAlibaba262K
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+ 20 Qwen3 Coder 480B A35BAlibaba262K
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+ 21 Step 3.5 FlashStepFun256K
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+ 22 Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3BNVIDIA256K
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+ 23 Llama 3.3 70B InstructMeta128K
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+ 24 Gemma 3 27BGoogle131K
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+ 25 Hermes 3 405BNous Research131K
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+ 26 Mistral Small 3.1 24BMistral128K
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+ 27 Solar Pro 3Upstage128K
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+ 28 GPT-OSS 120B / 20BOpenAI131K
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+ 29 GLM 4.5 AirZ.ai131K
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+ 30 Qwen3 VL 30B / 235B (Vision)Alibaba131K
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+ 31 Trinity Mini / Large PreviewArcee AI131K
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+ 32 Nemotron Nano 12B/9B v2NVIDIA128K
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+ 33 Gemma 3 4B / 12BGoogle32K-131K
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+ 34 LFM-2.5 variantsLiquidvaries
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+ 35 Dolphin MistralCognitive Computationsvaries
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+ 37 The roster changes frequently. Check openrouter.ai/collections/free-models for the live list.
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+ 40
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+ 41 ConditionRate LimitDaily Limit
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+ 42 No purchased credits20 req/min50 req/day
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+ 43 $10+ in credits purchased (ever)20 req/min1,000 req/day
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+ 44
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+ 45 • Limits are enforced globally across all your API keys -- creating multiple keys won't help.
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• Hitting limits returns a 429 error. Daily limits reset at midnight UTC.
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+ 47 • Cloudflare DDoS protection will block requests that dramatically exceed reasonable usage.
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+ 50
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+ 51 • Boost your daily limit 20x: Add just $10 in credits (you can use them for paid models later) and your free model daily cap jumps from 50 to 1,000 requests.
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• Free Models Router: Use model ID openrouter/free to auto-select a working free model. It intelligently filters for models supporting your request's features (vision, tools, structured output).
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• Monitor usage: GET https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/key returns your remaining credits, daily/weekly/monthly usage, and rate limit status.
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• Negative balance trap: If your account somehow goes negative, even free models will return 402 Payment Required.
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• OpenAI SDK compatible: Just set base_url="https://openrouter.ai/api/v1" and your existing OpenAI code works.
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+ 56 • Not for production: Free models have variable uptime and may be removed. Use them for prototyping and testing.
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+ 58 Sources:
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+ 59 • https://openrouter.ai/collections/free-models
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+ 60 • https://openrouter.ai/docs/api/reference/limits
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+ 61 • https://openrouter.ai/docs/guides/routing/model-variants/free
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+ 62 • https://openrouter.ai/docs/guides/routing/routers/free-models-router
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+ 63 • https://costgoat.com/pricing/openrouter-free-models
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