---
title: "7 free AI APIs to ship your first AI feature"
slug: "free-ai-apis"
description: "Seven AI APIs with standing free tiers — Gemini, Groq, OpenRouter, Cloudflare, Cohere and Mistral — with real limits, install commands and the catches."
published: "2026-11-07"
verifiedAt: "2026-11-07"
picks: 7
canonical: "https://aifree.dev/best/free-ai-apis"
---

# 7 free AI APIs to ship your first AI feature

> Seven AI APIs with standing free tiers — Gemini, Groq, OpenRouter, Cloudflare, Cohere and Mistral — with real limits, install commands and the catches.

Published 2026-11-07. Last checked 2026-11-07.

Your first AI feature does not need a credit card. The work is picking the tier that fits your workload before its rate limits pick for you.

**How we picked:** each has a standing free tier confirmed in vendor docs this month and an install command from its own docs. We dropped Cerebras (expiring trial) and GitHub Models (retired July 2026).

## The 7 free AI APIs at a glance

| Tool | What it does | Price | Install |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Gemini API | Free multimodal Flash models + 500 grounded searches/day on 2.5 Flash | Free tier, no card | `pip install google-genai` |
| Groq | Fast free inference on open-weight models, Whisper speech-to-text | Free tier, no card | `pip install groq` |
| OpenRouter | One OpenAI-compatible key across `:free` model variants | Freemium ($10 one-time unlocks 1,000 req/day) | `pip install openai` |
| Cloudflare Workers AI | 10,000 Neurons/day in a Worker or plain REST | Free tier, no card | `curl` (see below) |
| Cohere | Trial key for chat, Embed v5 and Rerank | Free trial, no card | `pip install cohere` |
| Mistral | Rate-limited API on Mistral Large 4 / Small 4 / Codestral | Free plan, no card | `pip install mistralai` |
| Free-LLM | Auto-synced catalog of 86 free AI API providers | Free, OSS (MIT) | `git clone https://github.com/nejib1/Free-LLM` |

## 1. Gemini API: the free multimodal default

The [Gemini API](https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs) gives free rate-limited access to Gemini Flash models with text, image, audio and video input ([details](https://aifree.dev/offer/google-gemini-developer-api-free-tier)).

**What:** one key from Google AI Studio gets free calls to Flash models plus 500 search-grounded requests a day on Gemini 2.5 Flash and Flash-Lite.
**Why:** Google's own models at $0, with image, audio and video input that most free tiers lack.
**Use when:** you are starting a prototype and want the fewest compromises.
**Install:**

```bash
pip install google-genai
```

**Catch:** free-tier prompts may be reviewed by humans and used to train Google products — keep confidential data on the paid tier.

## 2. Groq: open weights, no card

[Groq](https://console.groq.com/docs) serves open-weight models like gpt-oss-120b on its own inference chips (LPUs) ([details](https://aifree.dev/offer/groq-free-tier)).

**What:** an OpenAI-compatible endpoint at 30 requests/minute and 1,000 requests/day per model, plus free Whisper speech-to-text.
**Why:** 1,000 requests a day is enough to build against all week.
**Use when:** your prototype calls open-weight models at a predictable daily volume.
**Install:**

```bash
pip install groq
```

**Catch:** limits apply per organization and are tight; the paid Developer plan buys headroom.

## 3. OpenRouter: one key, many models

[OpenRouter](https://openrouter.ai/docs) fronts many models behind one OpenAI-compatible key, including variants that cost $0 ([details](https://aifree.dev/offer/openrouter-free-models)).

**What:** `:free` model variants at 20 requests/minute and 50 requests/day on a fresh account — 1,000/day once you have ever bought 10 credits.
**Why:** you swap models in a config line instead of juggling five vendor consoles.
**Use when:** you are comparing models or want a fallback chain.
**Install:**

```bash
pip install openai   # then set base_url https://openrouter.ai/api/v1
```

**Catch:** 50 requests a day runs out fast without the $10 top-up.

## 4. Cloudflare Workers AI: free at the edge

[Cloudflare Workers AI](https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers-ai/) runs open models like Llama on Cloudflare's network, close to your users ([details](https://aifree.dev/offer/cloudflare-workers-ai-free-tier)).

**What:** 10,000 free Neurons a day (about 48,000 output tokens on Llama 3.3 70B), callable from a Worker or plain REST.
**Why:** the AI call lives in the same deploy that serves your app.
**Use when:** you already deploy on Workers.
**Install:**

```bash
curl https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/{ACCOUNT_ID}/ai/run/@cf/meta/llama-3.1-8b-instruct \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer {API_TOKEN}' \
  -d '{ "prompt": "Where did the phrase Hello World come from" }'
```

**Catch:** on the free Workers plan usage stops at the daily allocation, and the largest models (Kimi, GLM, DeepSeek) need the paid plan.

## 5. Cohere: embeddings and rerank for RAG

[Cohere](https://docs.cohere.com) gives you a free trial key at signup ([details](https://aifree.dev/offer/cohere-free-trial-api)).

**What:** 1,000 free API calls a month across Command chat models, Embed v5 at 2,000 inputs/minute, and Rerank.
**Why:** it is the only free key here with embeddings and reranking, the two parts that decide retrieval quality.
**Use when:** you are building search or RAG (answers grounded in your own documents).
**Install:**

```bash
pip install cohere
```

**Catch:** trial keys are rate-limited and not permitted for production or commercial use.

## 6. Mistral: EU-hosted open weights

[Mistral's](https://docs.mistral.ai) Free plan includes rate-limited API access in Studio Free mode ([details](https://aifree.dev/offer/mistral-ai-free-plan)).

**What:** free calls to Mistral Large 4, Mistral Small 4 (Apache 2.0) and Codestral, no card required.
**Why:** European hosting and open weights with a training-data opt-out, when data residency matters.
**Use when:** your users or your rules push you toward the EU.
**Install:**

```bash
pip install mistralai
```

**Catch:** exact rate limits are not published — you see them only in your admin console.

## 7. Free-LLM: the directory for what's next

[nejib1/Free-LLM](https://github.com/nejib1/Free-LLM) is an MIT-licensed catalog synced automatically from free-llm.com.

**What:** lists 86 providers with permanent free tiers, trial credits or no-card signup (950+ stars, November 2026).
**Why:** vendors change terms monthly, and this list tracks them.
**Use when:** you outgrow these seven.
**Install:**

```bash
git clone https://github.com/nejib1/Free-LLM
```

**Catch:** a catalog, not an API. Check each vendor's terms before you build on it.

## Which one to try first

Starting a chat or multimodal prototype → #1. Latency-sensitive demo → #2. Comparing models before committing → #3. Already deploying on Workers → #4. Building search or RAG → #5. Need EU hosting → #6. Need something these don't cover → #7.

## Picks

1. [Gemini API](https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs)
2. [Groq](https://console.groq.com/docs)
3. [OpenRouter](https://openrouter.ai/docs)
4. [Cloudflare Workers AI](https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers-ai/)
5. [Cohere](https://docs.cohere.com)
6. [Mistral](https://docs.mistral.ai)
7. [Free-LLM](https://github.com/nejib1/Free-LLM)

## Frequently asked questions

### Are free AI APIs really free?

Yes — Gemini, Groq, Cloudflare, Cohere and Mistral all run standing free tiers that need no credit card. They are rate-limited, and free-tier prompts may be used for model training.

### Which free AI API should I start with?

Gemini for image, audio and video input, Groq for fast open-weight chat, OpenRouter to compare many models behind one key.

### Can I use a free AI API in production?

Mostly not: free tiers are rate-limited and Cohere's trial key forbids commercial use. Plan the upgrade path — Cloudflare overage at $0.011 per 1,000 Neurons or Groq's Developer plan — before you launch.

## Sources

- https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing
- https://console.groq.com/docs
- https://openrouter.ai/docs/api-reference/limits
- https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers-ai/
- https://cohere.com/pricing
- https://mistral.ai/pricing/
- https://github.com/nejib1/Free-LLM
- https://aifree.dev/offer/google-gemini-developer-api-free-tier
- https://aifree.dev/offer/groq-free-tier
- https://aifree.dev/offer/openrouter-free-models
- https://aifree.dev/offer/cloudflare-workers-ai-free-tier
- https://aifree.dev/offer/cohere-free-trial-api
- https://aifree.dev/offer/mistral-ai-free-plan
- https://aifree.dev/offer/cerebras-inference-free-trial
- https://docs.github.com/en/github-models/use-github-models/prototyping-with-ai-models
- https://huggingface.co/docs/inference-providers/pricing

HTML page: https://aifree.dev/best/free-ai-apis