Free OpenAI API Access in 2026: What's Actually Free

Short answer, checked on 2026-10-18: OpenAI does not give away API access. Its API pricing page lists no free tier, no signup credit and no trial, and there is no such thing as a legitimate "free OpenAI API key". What does exist is a handful of real routes that get you close - free ChatGPT for chatting, credits through startup and student programs, and OpenAI's open-weight gpt-oss models served for free by other providers. This guide lines them up honestly.

What OpenAI itself offers

• No free API tier or credit. OpenAI's API pricing page (checked 2026-10-18) lists paid per-token prices only; its only "free" items are the moderation model, search content tokens and small storage allowances. The cheapest text model, gpt-5-nano, costs $0.05 per million input tokens and $0.40 per million output tokens.
• The "Free" usage tier is a spending limit, not a gift. OpenAI's rate-limit docs name a "Free" usage tier whose qualification is "User must be in an allowed geography", with a $100 per month usage limit. That is the most an account can be billed per month before buying credits moves it up (Build starts at $5 in total credit purchases). It does not mean free tokens, and the docs don't list which models that tier can call.
• GitHub Models is gone. GitHub's free playground for OpenAI and other models was fully retired on 2026-07-30, so guides that point there are out of date.

The real routes

OpenAI's open-weight models. gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b are OpenAI models released with open weights, so other providers can serve them. Groq's free plan is the simplest no-card route; the gpt-oss-120b model page lists every verified source with its published limits, including trials such as Cerebras ($5 credit, card required). OpenRouter's free lineup rotates and did not include gpt-oss on 2026-10-21 (17 free text chat variants), so check its list before you build on it.

Azure for Students gives general Azure credit. Microsoft hosts OpenAI models on Azure, but the catalog row does not confirm that a student subscription can deploy them, so check in the Azure portal before counting on it.

Steps: call gpt-oss-120b for free

1. Create a Groq account at console.groq.com. No card is needed for the Free plan.
2. Open API Keys, create a key and store it as an environment variable, for example export GROQ_API_KEY=....
3. Use the official OpenAI SDK with Groq's OpenAI-compatible base URL, https://api.groq.com/openai/v1, and the model name openai/gpt-oss-120b.
4. Keep requests within the free limits above; past them the API answers with HTTP 429 until the window resets.

The same code works against OpenAI's own API later by switching the base URL, key and model name.

Limits and the catch

• Not OpenAI's hosted GPT models. gpt-oss is OpenAI's open-weight family, not the GPT models behind ChatGPT or OpenAI's paid API.
• Free limits are tight. Groq's free gpt-oss limits fit prototypes and personal tools, not production traffic.
• Programs need eligibility. OpenAI for Startups flows through partner investors, and both student offers verify enrollment.
• Deadlines. The ChatGPT Plus student offer has a claim deadline of 2026-10-31.

Avoid "free OpenAI API keys"

OpenAI does not hand out free keys, so a key that is sold or shared on a forum, chat group or reseller site belongs to someone else's paid account. Using it breaks OpenAI's terms, the owner or OpenAI can revoke it at any moment, and whatever you send through it is visible to whoever controls that account. The scam list tracks providers that failed our checks; treat any site promising a free OpenAI API key the same way.