Free LLM API models (18)
Every model below costs $0 for both input and output tokens via OpenRouter. Perfect for prototyping, hobby projects, and high-volume low-stakes workloads. Free tiers usually have rate limits and may use your prompts for training — check each provider's terms. Verified 2026-08-23.
| Model | Context | Max output | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA: Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (free) nvidia/nemotron-3.5-lightning:free | 1M | 66K | FREE |
| NVIDIA: Nemotron 3 Ultra (free) nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b:free | 1M | 66K | FREE |
| Dots Studio: Dots3-Note Preview (free) dots-studio/dots-3-note-preview:free | 512K | 512K | FREE |
| Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (free) thinkingmachines/inkling-small:free | 262K | 262K | FREE |
| Poolside: Laguna S 2.1 (free) poolside/laguna-s-2.1:free | 262K | 33K | FREE |
| Thinking Machines: Inkling (free) thinkingmachines/inkling:free | 262K | 262K | FREE |
| Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1 (free) poolside/laguna-xs-2.1:free | 262K | 33K | FREE |
| Google: Gemma 4 26B A4B (free) google/gemma-4-26b-a4b-it:free | 262K | 33K | FREE |
| Google: Gemma 4 31B (free) google/gemma-4-31b-it:free | 262K | 33K | FREE |
| NVIDIA: Nemotron 3 Super (free) nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b:free | 262K | 262K | FREE |
| Cohere: North Mini Code (free) cohere/north-mini-code:free | 256K | 64K | FREE |
| Z.ai: GLM 5.2 (free) z-ai/glm-5.2:free | 256K | 256K | FREE |
| NVIDIA: Nemotron 3 Nano Omni (free) nvidia/nemotron-3-nano-omni-30b-a3b-reasoning:free | 256K | 66K | FREE |
| NVIDIA: Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B (free) nvidia/nemotron-3-nano-30b-a3b:free | 256K | — | FREE |
| NVIDIA: Nemotron 3.5 Content Safety (free) nvidia/nemotron-3.5-content-safety:free | 128K | 8K | FREE |
| NVIDIA: Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) nvidia/nemotron-nano-12b-v2-vl:free | 128K | 128K | FREE |
| NVIDIA: Nemotron Nano 9B V2 (free) nvidia/nemotron-nano-9b-v2:free | 128K | — | FREE |
| LiquidAI: LFM2.5-2.6B (free) liquid/lfm-2.5-2.6b:free | 66K | 8K | FREE |
When should you use free models?
- Prototyping — validate your app before spending a cent
- High-volume classification/extraction — where quality bar is low
- Learning & experiments — zero-risk API practice
When you outgrow free tiers, check the cost calculator to find the cheapest paid model for your workload — often just a few dollars a month.