Free AI models: 80 with an API tier you can test without a card

Prices from official vendor price lists · October 2026
80 models with a genuine free API allowance — enough to build and test without a card on file. Output prices run from $0.059 to $12 per 1M tokens across the 72 models with a paid per-token price; 57 ship open weights.
Free tier
Services found: 80
#AI modelCapabilitiesAPI $/1M (in / out)Context windowPrice / moOutput $/1MOverviewVisit site
1

GLM 5.3

Z.ai
Text & chatReasoningTool calling
$1.4 / $4.41.31M tokensAPI only4.4View
2

GLM 5.3 Flash

Z.ai
Text & chatVisionVideo
$0.075 / $0.251.31M tokensAPI only0.25View
3

Gemini 3.8 Flash

Google
Text & chatVisionAudio
$0.75 / $3.751.05M tokensAPI only3.75View
4

Qwen3.8 Max (0902)

Qwen
Text & chatVisionVideo
$2 / $61M tokensAPI only6View
5

Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B

Qwen
Text & chatReasoningAdjustable thinking
$2 / $61.05M tokensAPI only6View
6

Gemini 3.7 Flash

Google
Text & chatVisionAudio
$0.75 / $3.751.05M tokensAPI only3.75View
7

DeepSeek V4 Pro 0813

DeepSeek
Text & chatReasoningAdjustable thinking
$1.0494 / $3.14821.05M tokensAPI only3.148View
8

DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731

DeepSeek
Text & chatVisionReasoning
$0.065 / $0.181.31M tokensAPI only0.18View
9

Gemini 3.6 Flash

Google
Text & chatVisionAudio
$0.75 / $3.751.05M tokensAPI only3.75View
10

Qwen3.8 27B

Qwen
Text & chatVisionVideo
$0.42 / $31M tokensAPI only3View
11

DeepSeek V4 Pro 0423

DeepSeek
Text & chatReasoningAdjustable thinking
$0.95526 / $1.910521.05M tokensAPI only1.911View
12

Qwen3.7 Max

Qwen
Text & chatReasoningAdjustable thinking
$2.5 / $7.51M tokensAPI only7.5View
13

GLM-5.1

Z.ai
Text & chatReasoningTool calling
$1.4 / $4.4200K tokensAPI only4.4View
14

Qwen3.7 Plus

Qwen
Text & chatVisionReasoning
$0.32 / $1.281M tokensAPI only1.28View
15

DeepSeek V4 Flash 0423

DeepSeek
Text & chatVisionReasoning
$0.088606 / $0.1772121.05M tokensAPI only0.177View
16

Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite

Google
Text & chatVisionAudio
$0.3 / $2.51.05M tokensAPI only2.5View
17

Qwen3.6 27B

Qwen
Text & chatVisionVideo
$0.3 / $2262.1K tokensAPI only2View
18

Qwen3.5 397B A17B

Qwen
Text & chatVisionVideo
$0.55 / $3.5262.1K tokensAPI only3.5View
19

Qwen3.5-122B-A10B

Qwen
Text & chatVisionVideo
$0.29 / $2.4262.1K tokensAPI only2.4View
20

Gemma 4 31B

Google
Text & chatVisionVideo
$0.09 / $0.34262.1K tokensAPI only0.34View

Browse by need

Reasoning models169 modelsCoding assistants17 modelsVision and images156 modelsLong context 1M+82 modelsFree tier available80 modelsOpen weights88 models

Eighty-six models here offer a real free allowance on the API - enough to build and test without a card on file. Google, Alibaba, DeepSeek, Mistral and Z.ai are the vendors to start with; GLM 5.3, GLM 5.3 Flash and Gemini 3.8 Flash lead the list.

Free tiers are rate-limited rather than unlimited, usually expressed in requests per minute and tokens per day. Alibaba Model Studio grants roughly a million tokens per model on a 90-day window; Google publishes limits inside AI Studio rather than in its docs. Treat the free tier as a development budget, not a production plan.

Development budgetEnough to build and evaluate, never enough to serve production.
Limits are per minuteRate caps bite before token caps do.
Quality is identicalFree tiers run the same weights, not a weaker variant.

Models with this capability

The 80 models below all support this capability. Prices are input and output per 1M tokens from the vendor official price list; for dirhams multiply by 3.6725. Tap a card to open the model page.

GLM 5.3
#1
Z.ai
in $1.4out $4.41.31M tokens
GLM 5.3 Flash
#2
Z.ai
in $0.075out $0.251.31M tokens
Gemini 3.8 Flash
#3
Google DeepMind
in $0.75out $3.751.05M tokens
Qwen3.8 Max (0902)
#4
Alibaba (Qwen)
in $2out $61M tokens
Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B
#5
Alibaba (Qwen)
in $2out $61.05M tokens
Gemini 3.7 Flash
#6
Google DeepMind
in $0.75out $3.751.05M tokens
DeepSeek V4 Pro 0813
#7
DeepSeek
in $1.0494out $3.14821.05M tokens
DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731
#8
DeepSeek
in $0.065out $0.181.31M tokens

How to choose

  • Verify the limit shape — requests per minute, tokens per day, or a fixed grant.
  • Check expiry: some allowances run on a 90-day window rather than monthly.
  • Test the model you would actually pay for, not only the cheapest free one.
  • Watch data terms — a few free tiers train on your traffic.

Common mistakes

Benchmarking on the free tier aloneRate limits distort latency measurements.
Shipping on free quotaThe first traffic spike takes the feature down.

Who this suits

PrototypesProving the idea before any procurement conversation.
Students and researchersReal model access without a budget.
EvaluationComparing several vendors on identical prompts at zero cost.

Related filters

Open weights88 models you can download and self-host
Low latency73 small, fast models for volume
Text & chat228 models for text generation and chat
MultilingualAll 239 models work beyond English
All 239 modelsThe full rating with filters and prices

Frequently asked questions

Which vendors offer a free API tier?

Google, Alibaba, DeepSeek, Mistral and Z.ai. GLM 5.3, GLM 5.3 Flash and Gemini 3.8 Flash are the usual starting points.

What are the limits?

Requests per minute and tokens per day rather than a headline figure. Alibaba grants roughly 1M tokens per model on a 90-day window.

Can I run production on a free tier?

No. Treat it as a development budget — paid rates on the same models start at $0.18 per 1M output tokens.

Which free tier is most generous?

Alibaba grants roughly a million tokens per model on a 90-day window; Google publishes limits inside AI Studio.

Is a card required?

Not for the tiers listed here — that is the point of the filter.

Frequently searched

By capabilityReasoningCodingVisionLong context 1M+Free tierOpen weightsLow latencyRealtime voiceImage generation
By vendorAnthropic (13)OpenAI (30)Google DeepMind (17)xAI (8)Meta (6)DeepSeek (9)Mistral AI (11)Alibaba (Qwen) (34)Z.ai (12)Moonshot AI (5)
Popular modelsClaude Fable 5.1GPT-6 AstraClaude Opus 5Claude Fable 5GPT-5.6 SolGLM 5.3Grok 4.6Kimi K3GPT-5.6 Terra
By deliveryBatch APIPrompt cachingPriority tierFrontier tierProprietary APITool callingStructured JSONWeb searchMultilingual

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