How to Get a Free OpenRouter API Key (2026)
39 free models available — no credit card required. Get your OpenRouter API key → Test free models →
OpenRouter FreeLLM Score
All Free OpenRouter Models — Context Windows & Rate Limits
| Model | Context | Max Output | Modality | Rate Limit | Released | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA: Nemotron 3 Ultra (free) | 1.0M | 66K | 200 req/day (free tier) | Jun 4, 2026 | Online | |
| Cohere: North Mini Code (free) | 256K | 64K | 200 req/day (free tier) | Jun 9, 2026 | Online | |
| Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B | 1.0M | 128K | 200 req/day (free tier) | Jun 4, 2026 | Online | |
| Google: Gemma 4 31B (free) | 262K | 8K | 200 req/day (free tier) | Apr 2, 2026 | Online | |
| Google: Gemma 4 26B A4B (free) | 262K | 33K | 200 req/day (free tier) | Apr 2, 2026 | Online | |
| NVIDIA: Nemotron 3 Nano Omni (free) | 256K | 66K | 200 req/day (free tier) | Apr 28, 2026 | Online | |
| NVIDIA: Nemotron 3 Super (free) | 1.0M | 262K | 200 req/day (free tier) | Mar 11, 2026 | Online | |
| Poolside: Laguna XS.2 (free) | 262K | 33K | 200 req/day (free tier) | Apr 28, 2026 | Online | |
| Poolside: Laguna M.1 (free) | 262K | 33K | 200 req/day (free tier) | Apr 28, 2026 | Online | |
| Gemma 4 31B IT | 262K | 33K | 200 req/day (free tier) | Apr 2, 2026 | Online | |
| Gemma 4 26B A4B IT | 262K | 33K | 200 req/day (free tier) | Apr 3, 2026 | Online | |
| Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B | 262K | 262K | 200 req/day (free tier) | Mar 11, 2026 | Online | |
| Qwen: Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B (free) | 1.0M | 262K | 200 req/day (free tier) | Jul 23, 2025 | Online | |
| Nous: Hermes 3 405B Instruct (free) | 131K | 8K | 200 req/day (free tier) | Aug 16, 2024 | Online | |
| OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (free) | 131K | 131K | 200 req/day (free tier) | Aug 5, 2025 | Online | |
| NVIDIA: Nemotron 3.5 Content Safety (free) | 128K | 8K | 200 req/day (free tier) | Jun 4, 2026 | Online | |
| Qwen: Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct (free) | 262K | 8K | 200 req/day (free tier) | Sep 11, 2025 | Online | |
| Google: Lyria 3 Pro Preview | 1.0M | 66K | 200 req/day (free tier) | Mar 30, 2026 | Online | |
| Google: Lyria 3 Clip Preview | 1.0M | 66K | 200 req/day (free tier) | Mar 30, 2026 | Online | |
| NVIDIA: Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B (free) | 256K | 8K | 200 req/day (free tier) | Dec 14, 2025 | Online | |
| NVIDIA: Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) | 128K | 128K | 200 req/day (free tier) | Oct 28, 2025 | Online | |
| GPT OSS 120B | 131K | 33K | 200 req/day (free tier) | — | Online | |
| OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (free) | 131K | 33K | 200 req/day (free tier) | Aug 5, 2025 | Online | |
| Venice: Uncensored (free) | 33K | 8K | 200 req/day (free tier) | Jul 9, 2025 | Online | |
| NVIDIA: Nemotron Nano 9B V2 (free) | 128K | 8K | 200 req/day (free tier) | Sep 5, 2025 | Online | |
| nousresearch/hermes-3-llama-3.1-405b | 8K | 4K | 200 req/day (free tier) | — | Online | |
| LiquidAI: LFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking (free) | 33K | 8K | 200 req/day (free tier) | Jan 20, 2026 | Online | |
| Meta: Llama 3.3 70B Instruct (free) | 131K | 8K | 200 req/day (free tier) | Dec 6, 2024 | Online | |
| LiquidAI: LFM2.5-1.2B-Instruct (free) | 33K | 8K | 200 req/day (free tier) | Jan 5, 2026 | Online | |
| Free Models Router | 200K | 8K | 200 req/day (free tier) | Feb 1, 2026 | Online | |
| qwen/qwen3-coder | 8K | 4K | 200 req/day (free tier) | Jul 23, 2025 | Online | |
| Meta: Llama 3.2 3B Instruct (free) | 131K | 8K | 200 req/day (free tier) | Sep 25, 2024 | Online | |
| Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B | 262K | 262K | 200 req/day (free tier) | Dec 14, 2025 | Online | |
| openai/gpt-oss-20b | 8K | 4K | 200 req/day (free tier) | — | Online | |
| poolside/laguna-xs.2 | 8K | 4K | 200 req/day (free tier) | — | Online | |
| poolside/laguna-m.1 | 8K | 4K | 200 req/day (free tier) | — | Online | |
| qwen/qwen3-next-80b-a3b-instruct | 8K | 4K | 200 req/day (free tier) | Sep 11, 2025 | Online | |
| meta-llama/llama-3.3-70b-instruct | 8K | 4K | 200 req/day (free tier) | Dec 6, 2024 | Online | |
| meta-llama/llama-3.2-3b-instruct | 8K | 4K | 200 req/day (free tier) | Sep 25, 2024 | Online |
What is OpenRouter?
Single API key for 300+ models from every major lab.
OpenRouter is a unified API gateway that routes requests to models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, Mistral, and dozens of other providers. With a single API key and one base URL, developers can switch between models without changing code. The free tier (marked :free) offers 200 requests/day — or 1,000/day with a $10 lifetime top-up.
- 35+ permanently free models
- OpenAI-compatible endpoint
- 200 RPD free, 1,000 RPD with $10 lifetime credit
- One key for 300+ models
API Compatibility: OpenAI SDK-compatible (Chat Completions)
How to Get a OpenRouter API Key
- 1 Sign up at openrouter.ai No credit card. $10 lifetime top-up for 5× more rate limits.
- 2 Go to Keys page
- 3 Create a new API key
- 4 Find free models Look for :free suffix in model name, or browse our list below.
- 5 Configure OpenAI client Base URL: https://openrouter.ai/api/v1
OpenRouter Free Tier Limits & Pricing
OpenRouter API Setup Tutorial & Tools
OpenRouter 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 OpenRouter's free models are best for, based on aggregated model capabilities:
Limitations & Caveats
- 200 RPD on free tier (1,000 with $10 lifetime credit)
- Free models may change without notice
- Some free models have shorter context windows than paid variants
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens when I hit the 200 RPD limit on OpenRouter?
You'll get a 429 rate limit error. You can either wait for the daily reset (midnight UTC) or make a one-time $10 lifetime top-up to get 1,000 RPD permanently.
Do free models on OpenRouter cost anything?
No — models marked with :free in their ID are completely free to use within the rate limit. OpenRouter subsidizes free models through paid model margins.
Can I use OpenRouter with Claude Code?
Yes. Set ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL to https://openrouter.ai/api and your OpenRouter API key. Claude Code will route through OpenRouter. Note: free models won't work for Claude Code as it requires Anthropic Claude models specifically.