A free AI API lets you call a hosted model without paying per request, almost always with daily caps or data-use conditions attached. Free tiers are the right choice for learning and prototypes; apps with steady traffic usually outgrow them.
Disclosure: APIMODELS is our own product. We list other providers free options first because for many readers they are the right answer, and we say plainly that APIMODELS has no permanent free tier.
Free-tier terms change often. Check each provider page before you build on them.
| Provider | What is free | Main limits |
|---|---|---|
| Google Gemini API (AI Studio) | Gemini 3.8 Flash, 3.6 Flash, 2.5 Flash / Flash-Lite and other models on the free tier | Rate limits apply; free-tier content may be used to improve Google products; Gemini 4 Argon is not on the free tier |
| OpenRouter (:free models) | Selected models with a :free suffix | 20 requests per minute and 50 per day; 1,000 per day after $10 in lifetime purchases |
| Cloudflare Workers AI | Open models hosted on Cloudflare | 10,000 Neurons per day free; more needs the Workers Paid plan |
| APIMODELS | $0.1 trial credit for new accounts (once per person) | No permanent free tier; pay-as-you-go from $10 afterwards |
Your app has steady daily traffic and hits per-day caps. You need flagship models such as Claude or GPT, which are billed per token on their official platforms. You need image, video or audio generation, not just chat. Your data cannot be used for model improvement. Or you need predictable limits for paying customers.
APIMODELS is a multi-model AI API: one key and one OpenAI-compatible endpoint for chat, image, video and audio models, including Claude, GPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, Qwen, Seedance and Kling. Popular models run on more than one upstream channel with automatic failover, and failed requests are never billed. Prices on many models are below official list prices, you pay as you go from $10 with no monthly fee, and you can pay with Stripe, PayPal, Alipay or USDT.
When APIMODELS is not the right choice: if you only need occasional free calls for learning, start with the Gemini free tier or OpenRouter free models instead. We are not free.
cURL
curl https://api.apimodels.app/v1/chat/completions \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $APIMODELS_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{ "model": "deepseek-v4-flash", "messages": [{"role":"user","content":"Hi"}] }'No. New accounts that sign up with Google or Alipay get $0.1 of trial credit, once per person, to test the integration. After that it is pay-as-you-go from $10 with no monthly fee.
Claude and GPT are billed per token on their official platforms. If you need a strong model for free, the Gemini API free tier is the usual starting point.
Check each provider terms. For example, Gemini free-tier content may be used to improve Google products, so sensitive or customer data usually belongs on a paid tier.
