Free LLM API Models

Most have rate limits — requests per minute, daily caps, or context-length limits — and many require account signup with a verified phone or payment method. Some are time-limited promotions. Always read the provider's terms and quotas before depending on a free endpoint.

Some entries are community-run relays ("公益站") that bundle paid upstream keys and redistribute access for free at the operator's expense. They often advertise larger quotas and a broader model list than official free tiers, but reliability is much lower: operators can pull the plug or disappear overnight, pricing and quotas can change without notice, and many sites are invite-only — requiring a GitHub invite, a forum referral, or a closed community to register. Some keep signups disabled indefinitely. Treat them as best-effort backup channels; keep anything important on official paid endpoints.

Speed varies by model and provider. Sort the table by Most tested for the most reliable benchmarks, or pick a model family from the chips above to drill in. Each row shows median tokens per second and first-token latency from real API tests.

We send identical prompts to each provider through a five-round stress test, count output tokens with tiktoken, and measure both throughput (tokens per second) and time to first token. Numbers are aggregated as medians to resist outliers and refresh on a regular cadence.

For prototypes, side projects, and low-traffic tools, yes. Production traffic will usually hit a rate limit quickly. Treat the free tier as an evaluation channel: validate the model and provider, then move to a paid endpoint with the same model when you scale.

Either no provider currently offers it for free, the free promotion ended, or it has not been benchmarked yet. Open the model's main page to compare paid options, or let us know about a missing free provider via the feedback link in the footer.