Free access · Free model catalog · verified 2026-09-17

OpenRouter free-model catalog

Exact :free model variants list $0 input and output pricing. Accounts with under $10 in lifetime credit purchases receive 20 requests/minute and 50 requests/day; accounts with at least $10 purchased receive 1,000 requests/day.

Get a key ↗Provider page ↗Compare all programs
Free allowance50 requests / dayA one-time $10 purchase raises this to 1,000 requests / day
Tightest limit20 requests / min
Context cap on the free routeNone stated
To startSignup, no payment
Your dataVaries by route
TypeStanding
Checkedverified 2026-09-17recheck due 2026-10-17
APIOpenAI-compatible API, per the provider.
01

The terms in full

Exact :free model variants list $0 input and output pricing. Accounts with under $10 in lifetime credit purchases receive 20 requests/minute and 50 requests/day; accounts with at least $10 purchased receive 1,000 requests/day.

  • When it runs out Requests are rejected (429) until the window resets.
  • Clock Standing platform program with a changing model catalog.
  • Region No region restriction stated by the provider.
02

Models

Every model OpenRouter currently lists as a :free variant. The children below are read from OpenRouter's public model listing each morning, so the roster changes as models enter and leave the free catalog.

Free modelIf the free route is not enough
Apodex: Apodex 1.1 Mini
apodex/apodex-1.1-mini:free		no paid listing tracked
Cohere: North Mini Code
cohere/north-mini-code:free		no paid listing tracked
Dots Studio: Dots3-Note Preview
dots-studio/dots-3-note-preview:free		no paid listing tracked
Google: Gemma 4 26B A4B
google/gemma-4-26b-a4b-it:free		paid route $0.14 / 1M blended →
Google: Gemma 4 31B
google/gemma-4-31b-it:free		paid route $0.15 / 1M blended →
LiquidAI: LFM2.5-2.6B
liquid/lfm-2.5-2.6b:free		no paid listing tracked
NVIDIA: Nemotron 3 Nano Omni
nvidia/nemotron-3-nano-omni-30b-a3b-reasoning:free		no paid listing tracked
NVIDIA: Nemotron 3 Super
nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b:free		paid route $0.17 / 1M blended →
NVIDIA: Nemotron 3 Ultra
nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b:free		paid route $0.93 / 1M blended →
NVIDIA: Nemotron 3.5 Content Safety
nvidia/nemotron-3.5-content-safety:free		paid route $0.20 / 1M blended →
NVIDIA: Nemotron 3.5 Lightning
nvidia/nemotron-3.5-lightning:free		paid route $0.069 / 1M blended →
Poolside: Laguna S 2.1
poolside/laguna-s-2.1:free		paid route $0.11 / 1M blended →
Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1
poolside/laguna-xs-2.1:free		paid route $0.075 / 1M blended →
Thinking Machines: Inkling
thinkingmachines/inkling:free		paid route $1.76 / 1M blended →
Thinking Machines: Inkling Small
thinkingmachines/inkling-small:free		paid route $0.64 / 1M blended →
03

Signup, payment, data

  • Signup OpenRouter account and API key required.
  • Card / payment not required for the free variants; accounts with under $10 in lifetime purchases get the lower daily limit
  • Training Depends on the upstream model provider the request is routed to.
  • Data terms Varies by routed provider and model; apply OpenRouter privacy/provider filters when data handling matters.
04

What the provider's page says

Every structured number above is backed by one of these quotes, checked verbatim against the page our crawler fetched. A field with no quote is shown as not stated.

  • payment “purchase at least 10 credits to raise your daily limit” source
  • allowance “| Less than 10 | 20 | 50 |” source
  • limits “| Less than 10 | 20 | 50 |” source
  • at exhaustion “when you hit one of the platform limits above (free-model requests per minute or per day, or DDoS protection)” source
  • deposit unlock “| At least 10 | 20 | 1000 |” source

Evidence pages, re-read nightly

05

Change history

  1. Free model removed: Qwen: Qwen3.8 27B (left OpenRouter's free catalog)
  2. Free model added: Apodex: Apodex 1.1 Mini (joined OpenRouter's free catalog)
  3. Free model removed: inclusionAI: Ling 3.0 Flash Fin (left OpenRouter's free catalog)
  4. Free model removed: Nex AGI: Nex-N2.5-Mini (left OpenRouter's free catalog)
  5. Free model removed: Nex AGI: Nex-N2.5-Pro (left OpenRouter's free catalog)
  6. Free model removed: Z.ai: GLM 5.2 (left OpenRouter's free catalog)
  7. Free model removed: inclusionAI: Ling 3.0 Flash VL (left OpenRouter's free catalog)
  8. Free model removed: DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 (left OpenRouter's free catalog)
  9. Free model added: DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 (joined OpenRouter's free catalog)
  10. Free model added: Qwen: Qwen3.8 27B (joined OpenRouter's free catalog)
  11. Free model removed: MiniMax: MiniMax M2.7 (left OpenRouter's free catalog)
  12. Free model removed: MiniMax: MiniMax M3 (left OpenRouter's free catalog)
  13. Free model added: inclusionAI: Ling 3.0 Flash VL (joined OpenRouter's free catalog)
  14. Free model added: Nex AGI: Nex-N2.5-Pro (joined OpenRouter's free catalog)
  15. Free model added: Nex AGI: Nex-N2.5-Mini (joined OpenRouter's free catalog)
  16. Free model added: inclusionAI: Ling 3.0 Flash Sante (joined OpenRouter's free catalog)
  17. Free model added: Ling 3.0 Flash Fin (joined OpenRouter's free catalog)
  18. Free model removed: NVIDIA: Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (left OpenRouter's free catalog)
  19. Free model removed: NVIDIA: Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B (left OpenRouter's free catalog)
  20. Free model added: MiniMax: MiniMax M2.7 (joined OpenRouter's free catalog)
06

Evidence and scope

Last verified
2026-09-17 (recheck due 2026-10-17)
Evidence standard
Provider-owned pricing, quota, limits, model or account pages only; third-party lists are never evidence.
Data
program.json, and the whole inventory at free-access.json (CC BY 4.0)

LLM Price Index lists what the provider publishes and links the page it came from. It does not test speed or quality, and a free route can change or end without notice; the change history above records what the nightly re-read confirmed.