AI & Tech
Freebies

Free AI APIs without a credit card

A lot of AI APIs say “free”, but the useful question is what kind of free. This comparison separates recurring free usage from one-time credits and shows whether you can start without attaching a payment method.

Documentation checked 20 Oct 2026. Provider terms can change.

The short version

If you need usage that comes back after a reset, start with Groq, Cloudflare Workers AI, OpenRouter or an eligible Gemini model. If you need a larger amount for a short experiment, AssemblyAI and Deepgram give more upfront usage but do not behave like recurring monthly plans.

Quick comparison

ProviderOffer typeFree usageResetCardAt the limit
GroqRecurring free quotaGPT-OSS 120B: 200k tokens/dayDaily, plus per-minute limitsNo credit cardRequests are rate-limited by model. A 429 is returned at the cap.
Cloudflare Workers AIRecurring free quota10,000 Neurons/dayDaily at 00:00 UTCNo credit cardFree-plan requests stop when the daily Neuron quota is used.
OpenRouterRecurring free quota50 requests/day across free modelsDailyNo credit cardFree-model requests stop when the daily request cap is reached.
Gemini APIRecurring free quotaModel-specific free quotasRecurring rate limits; check your project in AI StudioNo credit cardLimits are model-specific. Paid billing is separate from the Free tier.
AssemblyAIOne-time credit185 hours pre-recorded + 333 hours streamingFree usage, no monthly reset statedNo credit cardTreat the published free usage as a starting balance, not a monthly refill.
DeepgramOne-time credit$200 free creditOne-time creditNo credit cardThe $200 credit is one-time. Continued usage is pay-as-you-go.

Free is not one category. A recurring quota comes back after a reset. A one-time credit does not. That difference matters more than whichever headline number looks largest.

Which one fits what you are building?

Recurring free usage

Groq publishes model-specific request and token limits rather than one universal daily number. Cloudflare Workers AI gives a daily Neuron budget shared across its models. OpenRouter gives a small daily request quota across free models. Gemini API has model-specific Free-tier limits, so the exact model matters.

One-time starting credit

Deepgram gives a $200 starting credit. It is useful for a larger experiment, but it does not reset. AssemblyAI publishes substantial starting transcription usage with no card, but does not document a monthly refill. Treat both as finite starting balances.

What “no credit card” means here

It means the documented free offer can be started without first attaching a payment method. It does not mean every model or paid feature from that provider is available without billing. Check the exact model and project settings before sending production traffic.

What to check before choosing

  1. Reset behaviour. Decide whether you need recurring usage or only enough to validate an idea.
  2. The exact model. Platform-level marketing can hide model-specific limits.
  3. What happens at the cap. Prefer a hard stop when accidental billing matters.
  4. Data terms. Free tiers can have different data-use rules from paid plans.

Why this page stays short

This is not a list of every API with the word “free” on a pricing page. It only includes providers in the directory whose no-card starting access is documented well enough to compare. Unknown details stay unknown rather than being filled with estimates.

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