Pretty much every AI provider I know of requires you to pay for API access. What are you looking for in an AI? Do you need just a general purpose LLM? Answer from naomi-lgbt on reddit.com
Reddit
reddit.com › r/freecodecamp › how do i get free ai api keys to use for my projects as a startup
r/FreeCodeCamp on Reddit: How do I get free ai API keys to use for my projects as a startup
May 10, 2025 -
How do I get free ai API keys to use for my projects as a startup
Top answer 1 of 8
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Pretty much every AI provider I know of requires you to pay for API access. What are you looking for in an AI? Do you need just a general purpose LLM?
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Depends on what you're looking for specifically. There are a few open source APIs that are free, like Wikipedia or some government sites. Some companies that have an API have a free tier, with a small number of family uses (like 100 requests). Other APIs, like Spotify, are free always. They enable people to look up song metadata and build playlists (with user permission via oAuth2). Here is a giant list of public/free APIs: https://github.com/public-apis/public-apis Note: many APIs will require you to create an account and get an API key. This is to allow the provider to cut you off if you exceed their usage limitations. Best of luck and happy coding!
GitHub
github.com › dan1471 › FREE-openai-api-keys
GitHub - dan1471/FREE-openai-api-keys: collection for free openai keys to use in your projects · GitHub
Here you can find a collection of free OpenAI API keys for your projects. Feel free to use them and share with others.
Starred by 3.9K users
Forked by 450 users
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Google AI
ai.google.dev › gemini api › using gemini api keys
Using Gemini API keys | Google AI for Developers
January 19, 2026 - Get your Gemini API key and start building in less than 5 minutes.
xAI
x.ai › api
API: Frontier Models for Reasoning & Enterprise | xAI
19 hours ago - Our API is compatible with OpenAI and Anthropic’s SDKs. Migrating is as easy as generating an API key and changing a URL.Start building
AIMLAPI
aimlapi.com › best-ai-apis-for-free
Best AI API's 2026 For Free | AIMLAPI.com
December 15, 2025 - Get your API key for free access to top LLMs including GPT-5, Claude 4, OpenClaw, DeepSeek, Gemini. Start building AI apps with the best AI technologies of 2026.
Google AI
ai.google.dev › gemini api › gemini developer api pricing
Gemini Developer API pricing | Gemini API | Google AI for Developers
2 days ago - [*] Google AI Studio usage is free of charge in all available regions.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/commandline › free ai model (free api keys) for aichat
r/commandline on Reddit: Free ai model (free api keys) for aichat
March 18, 2025 -
Hi all,
are you aware of any free ai models which I could use for aichat? Or how did you do it? Are you paying for api keys? I want to just use it for my private projects. If I for example would use openai how much does it cost for let's say 50 prompts a month?
Sorry completely new to this.
Top answer 1 of 2
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Use mistrals API for no nonsense. Completely free and has plenty of good models, but no o3 mini level ones. All you need to do is define the base_url as https://api.mistral.ai/v1 and plug in your API key. https://github.com/cheahjs/free-llm-api-resources Here are more tho This isn't the sub for this tho. r/localllama ironically might be the place
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Replicate
replicate.com
Replicate - Run AI with an API
Cog takes care of generating an API server and deploying it on a big cluster in the cloud. We scale up and down to handle demand, and you only pay for the compute that you use. ... Thousands of businesses are building their AI products on Replicate.
Analytics Vidhya
analyticsvidhya.com › home › 15 free llm apis you can use in 2026
15 Free LLM APIs You Can Use in 2026
January 14, 2026 - Google AI Studio is a powerful platform for AI model experimentation, offering generous limits for developers. It allows up to 1,000,000 tokens per minute and 1,500 requests per day. ... Access to powerful models. High token limits. Pricing: Free tier available. from google import genai client = genai.Client(api_key="YOUR_API_KEY") response = client.models.generate_content( model="gemini-2.0-flash", contents="Explain how AI works", ) print(response.text)
Medium
medium.com › data-science-in-your-pocket › how-to-use-glm5-free-api-key-4c07c38f37e2
How to use GLM5 free API key?. How to use GLM5 for free? | by Mehul Gupta | Data Science in Your Pocket | Feb, 2026 | Medium
3 weeks ago - ... APIs unlock access → Test, build, and integrate agentic workflows without infrastructure headaches · You don’t need to run 744B parameters locally to experience the power of GLM-5. Just grab a free API key, call it at Z.ai, and start ...
DEV Community
dev.to › itshayder › breaking-free-ai-api-keys-2025-3-secret-platforms-replacing-paid-services-2708
BREAKING: Free AI API Keys 2025: 3 Secret Platforms Replacing Paid Services - DEV Community
July 12, 2025 - Here are 3 platforms that give you powerful AI access for free, no credit card needed: 1. Google AI Studio Think of it as Google’s AI playground. You sign up in minutes and get an API key that works with top-tier models like Gemini 2.5. No ...
ChatGPT
z.ai › manage-apikey › apikey-list
Free AI Chatbot & Agent powered by GLM-5 & GLM-4.7
Each API key issued by the platform consists of an API Key ID and a signature secret, in the following format: {API Key ID}.{secret}.
Mistral
admin.mistral.ai › organization › api-keys
API Keys
Login or signup below · Terms of Service
Claude API Reference
platform.claude.com › docs › en › api › admin › api_keys › retrieve
Get API Key - Claude API Reference
The ID and type of the actor that created the API key.
JavaScript in Plain English
javascript.plainenglish.io › 7-free-ai-apis-most-developers-dont-know-about-4e37f05f5504
7 Free AI APIs Most Developers Don’t Know About | by Somanath diksangi | Jan, 2026 | JavaScript in Plain English
January 15, 2026 - 7 Free AI APIs Most Developers Don’t Know About How I stopped burning money on AI tools and built powerful workflows for free Last month, I opened my AI dashboard and froze. $110. That was my …
Jina AI
jina.ai › reader
Reader API
The new pricing only applies if you modify your auto-recharge settings or purchase a new API key. ... Reader API is free for basic usage - simply prepend 'https://r.jina.ai/' to your URL.
NVIDIA
build.nvidia.com › settings › api-keys
Try NVIDIA NIM APIs
Free serverless APIs for development · Accelerated by DGX Cloud · Self-Host on your GPU infrastructure · Continuous vulnerability fixes · Next · Next ·
OpenAI
platform.openai.com › api-keys
OpenAI Platform
Explore resources, tutorials, API docs, and dynamic examples to get the most out of OpenAI's developer platform.
Puter
developer.puter.com › tutorials › free-unlimited-openai-api
Free, Unlimited OpenAI API
1 week ago - This tutorial will show you how to use Puter.js to access OpenAI API for free, without needing an OpenAI API key. Puter.js allows you to provide your users with powerful AI capabilities.
StrongDM
strongdm.com › tools › api-key-generator
API Key Generator: Random, Online, Free
Use our free API Key Generator to create secure, random, and unique keys for your apps and integrations—no sign-up required.