Free AI LLM API Platforms Comparison: 2026 Best Free Tier Guide

In 2026, how competitive have free AI LLM API tiers become? We reviewed 20+ mainstream platforms, from RPM limits to TPM caps, from free model count to entry barriers, to help you find the best free solution.

🏆 Free Tier Rankings (by overall score)

Rank	Platform	Free Tier	RPM	TPM	Credit Card Needed
1	SiliconFlow	Unlimited free models	500	2M	No
2	Groq	1000/day	30	30K	No
3	GitHub Models	150/day	15	-	No
4	NotebookLM	Completely free	-	-	No
5	FreeTheAI	50/day	-	-	No
6	Cline.bot API	Forever free	-	-	No
7	Tencent Marvis	Completely free	-	-	No
8	Tencent Yuanbao	Completely free	-	-	No
9	Coze	Completely free	-	-	No
10	Cloudflare Workers AI	10K Neurons/day	-	-	No

🥇 Tier 1: Most Generous Free Tiers

1. SiliconFlow — The King of Free Tiers

SiliconFlow is currently the most generous free AI API platform. The free tier offers RPM 500 and TPM 2 million in ultra-high concurrency, supporting DeepSeek, Qwen, GLM, and multiple open-source Chinese models. No VPN needed, direct access from China, extremely developer-friendly.

Free tier details:

RPM (requests per minute): 500
TPM (tokens per minute): 2 million
Free models: Filter by free-text-model tag (GLM-Z1-9B, etc.)
Commercial use: Allowed
Paid pricing: From ¥0.006/1K tokens

Best for: High-frequency calls, China-direct access needs, scenarios requiring multiple model switching. RPM 500 is unmatched among free APIs.

2. Groq — The Fastest Free API

Groq uses custom LPU (Tensor Processing Unit) chips to deliver inference speeds far beyond competitors. The free tier offers 1000 requests per day, with RPM 30 and TPM 30K. While the quota is not the largest, the speed advantage is significant.

Free tier details:

Daily free requests: 1000
RPM: 30
TPM: 30,000
Supported models: Llama, Mixtral, Gemini, and more
Pricing: Pay-as-you-go

Best for: Latency-sensitive applications, real-time conversation systems, production environments requiring fast responses.

3. GitHub Models — Free GPT-4.1 Access

GitHub Models is Microsoft's free AI inference service. You only need a GitHub account — no credit card required. The free tier supports GPT-4.1, GPT-4o, and other OpenAI models with 150 daily requests.

Free tier details:

Daily free requests: 150
RPM: 15
Supported models: GPT-4.1, GPT-4o, and others
Credit card required: No
Pricing: None (forever free)

Best for: Personal developers learning GPT-series models, prototype development, scenarios not requiring high-frequency calls.

4. NotebookLM — Google's Completely Free AI Tool

NotebookLM is Google's AI note-taking tool, completely free. Upload PDFs and documents as knowledge bases, and let Gemini answer questions based on your materials. While it does not offer a traditional API, it is fully free as an AI tool.

Free tier details:

Usage: Completely free
Supported file types: PDF, Google Docs, and more
Underlying model: Google Gemini
VPN needed: Yes (for most regions outside US)

5. Cline.bot API — Forever Free

Cline.bot API offers permanent free usage with a 1 million token context window and zero credit consumption. A relatively new platform with an aggressive free strategy.

Free tier details:

Free model: Forever free, zero credit consumption
Context window: 1 million tokens
Signup bonus: $0.5 for paid models

🥈 Tier 2: Limited but Useful Free Tiers

6. Cloudflare Workers AI — 10,000 Neurons/Day

Cloudflare's Workers AI platform provides 10,000 Neurons/day in free credits, supporting multiple open-source models. The unique Neuron-based billing is ideal for small-batch inference tasks.

Free tier details:

Daily free: 10,000 Neurons
Pricing: $0.011/1000 Neurons
Supported models: Multiple open-source LLMs

7. FreeTheAI — 50/day

FreeTheAI provides 50 free requests per day, completely free with no payment required. Suitable for light daily use.

8. Tencent Marvis — Completely Free

Tencent's AI assistant Marvis is currently completely free, supporting various AI features. Direct access from China, no VPN needed.

9. iFlytek Spark MaaS — 6 calls/5 hours

iFlytek Spark MaaS platform provides free API calls. Paid plans use a monthly Token Plan subscription.

10. ModelScope — 2000/day

ModelScope (Modao Community) provides 2000 free API calls per day, with pay-as-you-go pricing beyond that. Supports multiple open-source models, a great choice for Chinese developers.

🥉 Tier 3: Entry-Level Free Tiers

11. AI21 Labs — 10 credits on signup

Get 10 free credits on registration, no credit card needed. Jamba models excel at long-context processing. Pay-as-you-go pricing.

12. FreeModel — 5 credits on signup

5 credits on registration, 1 month Pro on email verification, $10 per friend referral. Pro plan pricing not publicly disclosed.

13. ZenMux — $5 on signup

$5 credit on signup, billed at $0.001/1K tokens. Suitable for short-term testing.

14. OpenRouter — 50/day

50 free requests per day. After $10 top-up, increases to 1000/day. Supports multiple model aggregation.

15. Cohere — 20 RPM

Enterprise AI platform with 20 RPM free tier. Command models excel in enterprise document processing, RAG, and search scenarios.

16. Scaleway — Free beta period

French cloud provider's AI inference platform, currently in free beta. 100 RPM, 200K tokens/min, European data centers.

17. OVH AI Endpoints — 12 RPM

French cloud veteran OVH's AI inference endpoints. Free tier: 12 RPM, European data centers, suitable for GDPR compliance.

18. Mistral — 500K tokens/min

Europe's strongest open-source model provider. Free tier: 1 req/s, 500K tokens/min. Credit card verification required, ideal for EU data compliance projects.

19. Cerebras — 30 RPM

Custom WSE (Wafer-Scale Engine) chip delivers extreme inference speeds. Free tier: 30 RPM, 60K tokens/min. Waitlist required.

20. HuggingFace Serverless — Monthly variable credits

The supermarket of open-source models. Free serverless inference for hundreds of models. Free credits vary by account tier monthly, only supports models under 10GB.

🇨🇳 Chinese Platforms Spotlight

DeepSeek — Free Models

DeepSeek's open-source large models with extremely low API pricing ($0.14/million tokens). Some models are free to use. Ideal for cost-conscious developers.

Tongyi Qianwen (Qwen) — Free Tier

Alibaba's Tongyi Qianwen offers free credits, supporting watermark-free image and video generation. API pricing: $0.12/million tokens.

ERNIE Bot — Free Models

Baidu's ERNIE Bot provides some free models, API pricing: $0.12/million tokens. Direct access from China with strong Chinese language understanding.

Kimi — Free Models

Moonshot AI's Kimi large model, API pricing: $0.12/million tokens. Outstanding long-context capability, ideal for processing large documents.

SenseNova — Free beta

SenseNova platform offers 5 calls/5 hours during free beta. Future Lite/Pro plans coming. Direct access from China.

📊 Key Metrics Explained

RPM (Requests Per Minute)

Requests per minute. Higher values mean stronger concurrency. SiliconFlow's 500 RPM is far ahead of all free APIs, while Groq's 30 RPM is sufficient for most personal projects.

TPM (Tokens Per Minute)

Tokens per minute. Determines how much text can be processed in a single request. SiliconFlow's 2 million TPM means you can process extremely long documents in one go.

Daily/Monthly Quotas

Some platforms allocate free quotas daily or monthly, such as Groq's 1000/day and Cloudflare's 10,000 Neurons/day. These quotas typically reset at midnight UTC.

🎯 Recommended Solutions

For Personal Developers

High-frequency calls: SiliconFlow (RPM 500, China-direct)
Need GPT-series: GitHub Models (free GPT-4.1, no credit card)
Speed matters: Groq (1000/day, LPU acceleration)
Notes/document processing: NotebookLM (completely free)

For Enterprise Use

China business: SiliconFlow + iFlytek Spark combo
EU compliance: Scaleway free beta, Mistral for production
Hybrid deployment: Cloudflare Workers AI global edge network

Best Budget Combination

If you want to maximize free tiers, combine multiple platforms:

SiliconFlow as primary (RPM 500, multiple models)
Groq as backup (1000/day, fast speed)
GitHub Models for GPT-series needs (150/day)
NotebookLM for non-API AI assistance (completely free)

With this combination, you can get over 1,500 free API calls per day, which basically meets the needs of most personal and small projects.

⚠️ Important Notes

Free tiers and policies may change at any time — always confirm the latest information before use
Some platforms auto-charge when free tiers are exceeded — set usage alerts
Certain platforms require credit card verification even for free tiers
Chinese platforms usually work without VPN; foreign platforms may require one
Review each platform's terms of service for commercial usage rights

❓ FAQ

Q: Which AI API platform has the most generous free tier?

A: SiliconFlow offers the highest free tier with RPM 500 and TPM 2 million, supporting DeepSeek, Qwen, and multiple models. Groq provides 1000 requests/day, GitHub Models 150 requests/day.

Q: Can I use free APIs for commercial purposes?

A: It depends on the specific platform. SiliconFlow allows commercial use, but GitHub Models and Groq generally do not. Always review each platform's terms of service.

Q: How should Chinese users choose free AI APIs?

A: Prioritize platforms with direct China access like SiliconFlow (RPM 500), iFlytek Spark, DeepSeek, and Tongyi Qianwen. These platforms work without VPN and have fast access speeds.

Q: How to avoid being charged after free tier is exhausted?

A: Set usage alerts and spending limits in each platform's dashboard. Cloudflare and OpenRouter support budget caps to prevent unexpected charges.

Q: What is the difference between RPM and TPM?

A: RPM (Requests Per Minute) controls concurrency capacity; TPM (Tokens Per Minute) controls the processing volume per request. Together they determine the API's performance ceiling.