Free LLM APIs — live status, side-by-side, with code. We probe every provider every 5 minutes and publish uptime, latency, and free-tier limits — so you can pick one in 60 seconds.
10 free LLM APIs that are actually usable in 2026. Sorted by inference speed by default. Live status, free-tier limits, and quick-start code on every provider page. For raw speed: Groq and Cerebras. Most generous free volume: Mistral (1B tok/mo). Try every model with one key: OpenRouter. Free GPT-4o: GitHub Models. Free Llama 3.1 405B: SambaNova.
| Provider | Status | Latency | Uptime 24h | Free limits | Top model |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Groq | … | — | — | 30 RPM · 14,400 RPD | llama-3.3-70b-versatile |
| Cerebras Inference | … | — | — | 30 RPM | llama-3.3-70b |
| Together AI | … | — | — | 60 RPM | meta-llama/Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct-Turbo |
| Google AI Studio (Gemini) | … | — | — | 15 RPM · 1,500 RPD | gemini-2.0-flash |
| OpenRouter | … | — | — | 20 RPM · 200 RPD | meta-llama/llama-3.3-70b-instruct:free |
| SambaNova Cloud | … | — | — | 10 RPM | Meta-Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct |
| Mistral La Plateforme | … | — | — | 60 RPM | mistral-large-latest |
| Cohere | … | — | — | 20 RPM · 1,000 RPD | command-r-plus-08-2024 |
| Hugging Face Inference | … | — | — | 1,000 RPD | meta-llama/Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct |
| GitHub Models | … | — | — | 15 RPM · 150 RPD | gpt-4o |
The fastest LLM inference on the planet (LPU)
→ Cerebras InferenceWafer-scale chips → fastest open-model inference (often >2,000 tok/s)
→ Together AIWide open-source model catalog with serverless + dedicated
→ Google AI Studio (Gemini)Free Gemini API access — 1M-token context, multimodal
→ OpenRouterOne API, 300+ models — including many free ones
→ SambaNova CloudRDU-accelerated Llama 3 with very high tok/s
→ Mistral La PlateformeEU-based; Mistral Small / Codestral with experimental free tier
→ CohereTrial keys for Command R+, Embed, Rerank — RAG-friendly
→ Hugging Face Inference300k+ open-source models, free serverless inference
→ GitHub ModelsFree GPT-4o, Llama, Mistral via your GitHub PAT
Which free LLM API should you use in 2026? A side-by-side review of Groq, Gemini, OpenRouter, Together, Cerebras, Mistral, Cohere, Hugging Face, GitHub Models, and SambaNova — by latency, free-tier limits, and ecosystem fit.
→ Free LLM APIs with No Credit Card Required (2026)Which LLM APIs let you sign up and start building with zero credit-card friction in 2026? A complete list with rate limits, model lists, and quick-start code.