The best free AI model APIs
Dozens of providers now serve real models at $0. Most lists stop there. This one adds the part that matters: independent proof that the model behind each free tier is actually good, ranked on a single benchmark that scores every one of them. The weak free models are left off.
What is the best free AI model API right now?
The best free AI model APIs in 2026 pair a genuinely capable model with a real zero-cost tier. Ranked on the one benchmark that scores them all, the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index: Google AI Studio's Gemini 3.5 Flash leads (50 of 100), followed by Xiaomi MiMo V2.5 and NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Ultra, with OpenAI gpt-oss-120b the fastest free option via Groq and Cerebras. Every model on this page scores at least 20, so the weak free models are filtered out.
Every free model on one yardstick
The Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index is the one independent benchmark that scores all of these models, so it is the only fair way to rank them together. It is a demanding scale: the best paid model scores about 60 and the strongest open-weight model about 51, so a free model in the 20s to 50 is genuinely capable.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | 50 |
| MiMo V2.5 | 40 |
| Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B | 38 |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | 29 |
| Gemma 4 31B | 29 |
| Nemotron 3 Super 120B | 25 |
| Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite | 25 |
| gpt-oss-120b | 24 |
| Qwen3 Next 80B A3B | 20 |
The free models, ranked
Sort by intelligence, coding, or context window, and filter to open-weight models. Coding is shown explicitly in two columns from the same Artificial Analysis source: Agentic (Terminal-Bench v2.1, real coding and terminal use) and SciCode. Each row links to the providers that serve it free.
Good free models, ranked by intelligence
Every model here clears the quality bar (Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index of at least 20) and is callable at $0 on at least one hosted provider. Sort, or show only open-weight models.
| # | Model | AA Index | Agenticcoding | SciCode | Context | Free via |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Google | 50 | 79% | 53% | 1M | Google AI Studio |
| 2 | MiMo V2.5 Xiaomi | 40 | — | 43% | 1M | OpenCode Zen |
| 3 | Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B NVIDIA· open weight | 38 | 54% | 40% | 1M | OpenRouterOpenCode ZenNVIDIA NIM (build.nvidia.com) |
| 4 | DeepSeek V4 Flash DeepSeek· open weight | 29 | — | 37% | 1M | OpenCode Zen |
| 5 | Gemma 4 31B Google· open weight | 29 | 43% | 43% | 262K | OpenRouter |
| 6 | Nemotron 3 Super 120B NVIDIA· open weight | 25 | 39% | 36% | 1M | OpenRouterNVIDIA NIM (build.nvidia.com) |
| 7 | Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite Google | 25 | 31% | 42% | 1M | Google AI Studio |
| 8 | gpt-oss-120b OpenAI· open weight | 24 | 26% | 39% | 131K | GroqCerebrasCloudflare Workers AIOpenRouter |
| 9 | Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Qwen (Alibaba)· open weight | 20 | — | 39% | 262K | OpenRouter |
AA Index is the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (0-100, v4.1): one independent score that blends reasoning, knowledge and coding, so it ranks every model on the same yardstick (the scale runs low: the best model scores about 60). Agentic and SciCode are the two coding evals inside that index, shown explicitly: Agentic is Terminal-Bench v2.1 (real coding and terminal use), SciCode is scientific code generation, both 0-100. A dash means Artificial Analysis has not published Terminal-Bench for that model's default config. Free-via links open each provider; verify current limits at the source, as free tiers change often.
The free tiers, and their limits
The same model is often free on several providers, each with its own catch. Here is what each free tier actually gives you, verified against the provider source on June 28, 2026. Free tiers change often: confirm at the link before you build on one.
| Provider | Free tier | Catch |
|---|---|---|
| Google AI Studio | Gemini Flash and Flash-Lite free (Pro tiers left the free tier on 2026-04-01); roughly 5-15 req/min and 20-1,500 req/day depending on model | Inputs may be used to improve the model. |
| OpenRouter | Models tagged :free at 20 req/min, 50 req/day (1,000/day after a one-time $10 credit purchase) | Account signup only. |
| OpenCode Zen | Five free coding models (incl. MiMo V2.5, DeepSeek V4 Flash, Nemotron 3 Ultra trial, North Mini Code) via the OpenCode CLI and Desktop | Inputs may be used to improve the model. |
| NVIDIA NIM (build.nvidia.com) | Open models free at about 40 req/min after phone verification | Phone verification. |
| GroqFastest-class inference on custom LPU hardware | Open models free at roughly 1,000 req/day on larger models, up to 14,400 on small ones; 12K tokens/min | Account signup only. |
| CerebrasAmong the fastest output speeds available | Open models free at 30 req/min, 14,400 req/day, 60K tokens/min | Account signup only. |
| Cloudflare Workers AI | 10,000 neurons/day free across the model catalog (a usage credit, not a request cap) | Account signup only. |
How this list is built
Two grounded inputs. First, which providers serve a model at $0, checked against each provider's own rate-limit documentation and the live OpenRouter API, and dated. Second, how good that model actually is, measured by the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, read from the public Artificial Analysis leaderboard. This site does not run the evaluations.
One benchmark, so the ranking is fair
Earlier versions of this page mixed coding benchmarks because no single coding test scored every model. The fix is to rank on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, the one independent benchmark that scores all of them. It is a single 0-100 number that blends nine evaluations, including coding (Terminal-Bench at 16% and SciCode at 8%, about a quarter of the score), graduate-level reasoning (GPQA Diamond) and broad knowledge, so coding ability is already folded into the figure and every model is judged on the same yardstick. For readers who want coding called out directly, the table also shows the two coding evals from the same source as their own columns: Agentic (Terminal-Bench v2.1) and SciCode. The quality gate is The index is demanding: the best model scores about 60 and the strongest open-weight model about 51, so the 0-100 scale runs low. A free model scoring at least 20 is genuinely capable; smaller and older free models (Gemma 4 E-series, tiny Qwen, Llama 3.x) fall below and are not listed.
Why "free" has a catch
A free API tier is a customer-acquisition cost for the provider, not charity. That shapes the three catches in the table above: rate limits (requests per minute and per day, often tightened over time),data use (several free tiers may train on your inputs, so never send confidential data), and availability (community-funded free pools can be throttled without notice). For anything beyond prototyping or low-volume personal use, price the paid tier with the cost-per-task calculatorbefore you depend on a free one.
Most of these free models are open-weight, part of a wider shift: open-source LLMs are overtaking closed models, and many are now good enough to run locally if a hosted free tier ever disappears.
Free, but not ranked
A model is ranked only once the Artificial Analysis index scores it. These are offered free but not yet scored on that benchmark, so they are not ranked here:
- North Mini Code (OpenCode Zen / OpenRouter). A Cohere coding model offered free on OpenCode Zen and OpenRouter (cohere/north-mini-code:free), but Artificial Analysis does not score it, so it cannot be ranked on the same index as the rest.
For per-token rates once you outgrow the free tiers, see the AI model release tracker, or rank paid models by value on the value leaderboard.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the best free AI model API in 2026?
- For raw quality, Gemini 3.5 Flash on Google AI Studio leads at 50 of 100 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index. For an open-weight model you can also self-host, Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B is the strongest at 38. For speed, OpenAI gpt-oss-120b runs far faster than most paid endpoints on Groq and Cerebras. The best one depends on whether you optimize for capability, open weights, or latency.
- Are free AI models good enough for real work?
- Increasingly, yes. The top free model here, Gemini 3.5 Flash, scores 50 of 100 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, a demanding scale where the best paid model scores about 60 and the strongest open-weight model about 51. So the leading free models sit within striking distance of the frontier. The real limit is not quality but throughput: free tiers cap requests per minute and per day, so they suit prototyping, low-volume tools and personal use more than high-traffic production.
- What is the catch with free AI model APIs?
- Three things. First, rate limits: most free tiers cap requests per minute and per day (often tightened over time, as Groq did in 2026). Second, data use: several free tiers (Google AI Studio outside the EEA, the OpenCode Zen free models) may use your inputs to improve their models, so do not send confidential data. Third, availability: community-funded free pools such as OpenRouter free models can be throttled or rotated without notice.
- Which of these free models are open-weight?
- 6 of the 9 ranked models are open-weight (NVIDIA Nemotron Ultra and Super, DeepSeek V4 Flash, Google Gemma 4, OpenAI gpt-oss-120b, and Qwen3 Next), meaning you can also download and self-host them. The closed exceptions are Gemini 3.5 Flash and 3.1 Flash-Lite (free on Google AI Studio) and Xiaomi MiMo V2.5 (free on OpenCode Zen). Open weights matter for free use because if a hosted free tier disappears, the model itself does not.
- How are these free models graded?
- On a single benchmark that scores every model here: the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (v4.1). It is one 0-100 number that blends nine independent evaluations, including coding (Terminal-Bench at 16% and SciCode at 8%, about a quarter of the score), reasoning (GPQA Diamond) and knowledge, so one figure ranks the whole table on the same yardstick. Scores are read from the public Artificial Analysis leaderboard; this site does not run the evaluations. A model is listed only if it scores at least 20.
Sources
- Artificial Analysis (2026). Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (v4.1). Scores read 2026-06-28 from the public leaderboard. https://artificialanalysis.ai/leaderboards/models
- Google AI Studio (2026). Free-tier terms and rate limits. Verified 2026-06-28. https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/rate-limits
- OpenRouter (2026). Free-tier terms and rate limits. Verified 2026-06-28. https://openrouter.ai/docs/api-reference/limits
- OpenCode Zen (2026). Free-tier terms and rate limits. Verified 2026-06-28. https://opencode.ai/docs/zen/
- NVIDIA NIM (build.nvidia.com) (2026). Free-tier terms and rate limits. Verified 2026-06-28. https://build.nvidia.com/
- Groq (2026). Free-tier terms and rate limits. Verified 2026-06-28. https://console.groq.com/docs/rate-limits
- Cerebras (2026). Free-tier terms and rate limits. Verified 2026-06-28. https://inference-docs.cerebras.ai/support/pricing
- Cloudflare Workers AI (2026). Free-tier terms and rate limits. Verified 2026-06-28. https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers-ai/platform/pricing/
- OpenRouter (2026). Models API (used to verify which models are currently $0). https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/models
Machine-readable data: /free-ai-models.json. Methodology and the benchmark source are documented in the site repo.