Free OpenAI-Compatible API in 2026: Dozens of Models, No Credit Card

FreeTheAI started as a free API for people who want to try modern AI models without a credit card. Today it is one account and one API that works with almost every AI app and SDK. The free tier needs a verified email and a quick daily check-in; there is no billing and no card on file.

Because it speaks the same protocol as OpenAI, anything that lets you change the "base URL" can use it: roleplay apps like JanitorAI and SillyTavern, chat apps like Open WebUI and LibreChat, and coding agents like Claude Code, Codex, Cline, and Aider. There are step-by-step guides for 24 apps.

1. Sign up at freetheai.org/signup and confirm your email.
2. Create a key in Dashboard > API keys.
3. Do today's check-in at freetheai.org/checkin.

Then call the API. With curl:

curl https://api.freetheai.org/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FREETHEAI_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"model": "fta/zai/glm-5.3", "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}]}'

With the official OpenAI Python SDK, only the base URL and key change:

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(base_url="https://api.freetheai.org/v1", api_key="ftai_your_key_here")
reply = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="fta/zai/glm-5.3",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Explain recursion in one paragraph."}],
)
print(reply.choices[0].message.content)

And in JavaScript or TypeScript:

import OpenAI from 'openai'

const client = new OpenAI({ baseURL: 'https://api.freetheai.org/v1', apiKey: process.env.FREETHEAI_API_KEY })
const reply = await client.chat.completions.create({
  model: 'fta/kimi/k3',
  messages: [{ role: 'user', content: 'Write a haiku about the sea.' }],
})
console.log(reply.choices[0].message.content)

Every free model answers on all three chat formats, streamed or not, so you can keep whichever SDK you already use. Full request and response details are in the API docs.

The Models page lists every model with its context size and supported endpoints, and filters by company and endpoint type.

• 50 free requests a day for every verified account, resetting at 00:00 UTC.
• +50 a day for linking Discord in Settings.
• More for members with the Valid role in our Discord, and for donating an unused API key.
• One request at a time on the free tier.

Failed requests on our side and "model is busy" refusals do not count toward the daily limit. Your dashboard updates your usage live.

FreeTheAI does not store prompts or replies. We keep what we need to run the service and stop abuse, such as request counts, timing, and IP addresses, as described in the privacy policy.