How to Get a Free NVIDIA NIM API Key (2026)
61 free models available — no credit card required. Get your NVIDIA NIM API key → Test free models →
NVIDIA NIM FreeLLM Score
All Free NVIDIA NIM Models — Context Windows & Rate Limits
What is NVIDIA NIM?
100+ open models from NVIDIA — no credit card, 40 RPM.
NVIDIA NIM (NVIDIA Inference Microservices) provides API access to 100+ open-weight models hosted on NVIDIA infrastructure. The free tier is available to all NVIDIA Developer Program members (free sign-up) with a limit of ~40 requests/minute. Models include Llama, Mistral, DeepSeek-R1, Nemotron, and domain-specific variants. All endpoints are OpenAI-compatible.
- 100+ open models available
- No daily token cap
- ~40 RPM free tier
- No credit card required
API Compatibility: OpenAI SDK-compatible (Chat Completions)
How to Get a NVIDIA NIM API Key
- 1 Sign up at build.nvidia.com Free NVIDIA Developer account. No credit card.
- 2 Go to Settings → API Keys
- 3 Generate an API key
- 4 Browse available models 100+ open models. Nemotron Super 49B recommended.
- 5 Configure OpenAI client Base URL: https://integrate.api.nvidia.com/v1
NVIDIA NIM Free Tier Limits & Pricing
NVIDIA NIM API Setup Tutorial & Tools
NVIDIA NIM is fully compatible with popular AI coding assistants like Cursor, Claude Code, and more. To see step-by-step API configuration instructions for your favorite tool, please visit our Global Configuration Guide →
Use Cases
What NVIDIA NIM's free models are best for, based on aggregated model capabilities:
Limitations & Caveats
- ~40 RPM shared across all models, not per-model
- Some models require additional registration per model family
- Unavailable models listed in catalog but uncallable with standard key
Frequently Asked Questions
Why can't I call certain models on NVIDIA NIM even though they're listed?
NVIDIA NIM's catalog includes all models, but some require additional per-model-family registration. If you get a 403 error, go to the model's page and click "Try API" to register for that specific model family.
Is the 40 RPM limit shared across all models?
Yes — NVIDIA NIM applies a global ~40 RPM limit to your API key, shared across all model calls. If you're using multiple models in parallel, the combined rate cannot exceed ~40 RPM.
Does NVIDIA NIM require phone verification?
Yes, NVIDIA Developer account signup requires phone number verification. This is a one-time step during account creation.