Free LLM API Comparison
A detailed comparison of rate limits, pricing, and features across the top free and paid LLM API providers.
Cohere
Models
Command A, Command R+, Aya Expanse 32B
RPM
20Context
128KBest For
Lightweight tasks, embedding
Pricing: Free tier, then pay-as-you-go
Verdict: Limited free tier
✓ Good optionGoogle Gemini
Models
Gemini 2.5 Pro, Gemini 2.5 Flash, Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite
RPM
15Context
1MBest For
Multimodal tasks, long context
Pricing: Free tier available
Verdict: Limited RPM on free tier
⚠️ LimitedMistral AI
Models
Mistral Large 3, Small 3.1, Ministral 8B
RPM
VariableContext
128KBest For
European data, reasoning
Pricing: Free tier + paid
Verdict: Generous free tier
✓ Good optionGroq
Models
Llama 3.3 70B, Llama 4 Scout, Mixtral 8x7B
RPM
30 (free)Context
8K-32KBest For
Speed-critical applications
Pricing: Very generous free tier
Verdict: Best free tier for speed
✓ Good optionHugging Face
Models
Llama 3.3 70B, Qwen2.5 72B, Mistral 7B
RPM
Rate limitedContext
VariesBest For
Experiments, testing
Pricing: Free with rate limits
Verdict: Can be unreliable
⚠️ LimitedOpenRouter
Models
DeepSeek R1, Llama 3.3 70B, GPT-4o
RPM
20 (free)Context
Varies by modelBest For
Model diversity
Pricing: Free credits + paid
Verdict: Good variety, limited free
⚠️ LimitedCerebras
Models
Llama 3.3 70B, Qwen3 235B
RPM
30 (free)Context
8KBest For
High-volume, speed-critical
Pricing: Extremely generous free tier
Verdict: Best pure free option
✓ Good optionMiniMax
RecommendedModels
GPT-01, MiniMax-M3.5, MiniMax-M2.7
RPM
Unlimited*Context
1MBest For
Production, reliability
| Provider | RPM | RPD | Context Window | Latency | Reliability | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CG Cohere | 20 | 1,000 | 128K | Fast | Good | Limited free tier |
| GL Google Gemini | 15 | 100-1,500 | 1M | Fast | Excellent | Limited RPM on free tier |
| MT Mistral AI | Variable | 1B tokens/mo | 128K | Fast | Good | Generous free tier |
| GQ Groq | 30 (free) | 14,400 | 8K-32K | Very Fast | Good | Best free tier for speed |
| HF Hugging Face | Rate limited | Unknown | Varies | Variable | Unreliable | Can be unreliable |
| OR OpenRouter | 20 (free) | 50 | Varies by model | Variable | Good | Good variety, limited free |
| CB Cerebras | 30 (free) | 14,400 | 8K | Ultra Fast | Excellent | Best pure free option |
| MX MiniMax | Unlimited* | Unlimited* | 1M | Fast | Excellent | Best value for production |
* MiniMax offers pay-as-you-go pricing with no monthly commitment. Use code CXWzfLSdF5 for 10% off.
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