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Free AI inference without the hidden catches

Compare useful capacity, model access, account requirements, rate limits, and post-allowance behavior. Permanent free tiers stay separate from temporary credits and experiments.

Read the full comparison guide How verification works

Latest source check: 2026-09-05 UTC.

Capacity over marketing

“Free” means little without daily tokens, requests, model access, and reset behavior.

Prototype vs production

Experimental endpoints and rotating models are useful, but clearly labeled as unstable.

Official evidence

Every changing claim links to the provider and carries a verification date.

Clear categories

Different kinds of “free” are not interchangeable

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TypeUse caseRegionAudienceValueExpiry

Verified offers

Showing 5 of 5; commission never affects ranking.

Free Tier

Hetzner

Verified

Free experimental OpenAI-compatible inference

Hetzner's hosted inference experiment remains free while in experimental status. Live docs (last change 2026-07-24) expose OpenAI-compatible endpoints with Qwen/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-FP8 and Qwen3.8-27B at $0.

Value: OpenAI-compatible hosted inference at inference.hetzner.com/api/v1 with two Qwen models (262K context, vision-capable MoE + dense); rate-limit table caps 10 req per 60s window. EU-hosted in Germany/Finland.
Who qualifies: Anyone with an experiments.hetzner.com account; experimental status only — not for production.
Expiry: free while 'experimental'; Hetzner promises advance email notice before any status change
Checked: Sep 5, 2026

PrototypingMultimodalOpenai Compatible

Details Open offer

Official source

Smartoolbox does not currently earn a commission from this offer.

Free Tier

Cloudflare Workers AI

Verified

10,000 Workers AI Neurons free each day

Cloudflare Workers AI bills inference in neurons. Every Workers Free plan account gets 10,000 neurons/day at no charge, usable across the Workers AI text/image/speech model catalog without a credit card.

Value: 10,000 neurons/day included free on Workers Free; $0.011 per 1,000 neurons above the daily free allocation on Workers Paid; daily limits reset at 00:00 UTC.
Who qualifies: Any Cloudflare account with the Workers Free plan activated; no credit card required for the free allocation
Expiry: Not stated (ongoing free allocation)
Checked: Sep 4, 2026

PrototypingEdge AiMultimodal

Details Open offer

Official source

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Free Tier

Nous Research

Verified

Nous Portal rotating free-model catalog (6 zero-priced models)

Nous Portal hosts a rotating catalog of recommended free models at $0/M input and $0/M output tokens. The current snapshot exposes six zero-priced recommended models accessible without a paid plan.

Value: Six hosted models at $0 prompt and $0 completion token pricing (rotating; down from 7). Current zero-priced IDs: inclusionai/ling-3.0-flash-fin:free, meituan/longcat-2.0:free, poolside/laguna-s-2.1:free, poolside/laguna-xs-2.1:free, stepfun/step-3.7-flash:free, upstage/solar-pro4:free.
Who qualifies: Any signed-in Nous Portal user; no credit card required for the $0 catalog
Expiry: Not stated (rotating catalog; availability can change)
Checked: Sep 4, 2026

Ai Inference

Open offer

Official source

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Free Tier

Nous Research

Verified

Nous Portal rotating free-model catalog now lists 7 zero-priced models (incl. ling-3.0-flash-sante:free)

Authenticated live pull from Nous Portal shows 7 models at $0 prompt and $0 completion, including the newly-listed inclusionai/ling-3.0-flash-sante:free alongside the previously-tracked six.

Value: Seven zero-priced hosted models on Nous Portal: inclusionai/ling-3.0-flash-fin:free, inclusionai/ling-3.0-flash-sante:free, meituan/longcat-2.0:free, poolside/laguna-s-2.1:free, poolside/laguna-xs-2.1:free, stepfun/step-3.7-flash:free, upstage/solar-pro4:free.
Who qualifies: Anyone with a Nous Portal account (free signup); no credit card needed for the zero-priced models.
Expiry: not stated; catalog rotates while in free promotion
Checked: Sep 5, 2026

Ai Inference

Open offer

Official source

Smartoolbox does not currently earn a commission from this offer.

Free Tier

OpenRouter

Verified

OpenRouter Free Models Router auto-selects among 20+ zero-cost models

OpenRouter publishes a `openrouter/free` router that automatically picks a random free model from those matching the request's capabilities, giving zero-cost inference with one model string.

Value: Free router (`openrouter/free`) auto-selects from 20+ zero-cost models; no API key charges, no credit card; typical free-model limits around 20 requests/minute and 200 requests/day (per OpenRouter docs/community listings).
Who qualifies: Any OpenRouter account holder with an API key; no payment required for free router traffic
Expiry: Not stated
Checked: Sep 4, 2026

Ai Inference

Open offer

Official source

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Need a durable comparison?

The maintained guide compares model access, useful capacity, card requirements, data treatment, regions, and what happens when the free allowance ends.

Open the 2026 free inference guide