Is the OpenAI API free?

OpenAI's rate-limits guide lists a Free usage tier for organizations in an allowed geography, with a $100 a month usage limit. The GPT-5.6 Terra and GPT-5.6 Luna model pages list the Free tier as not supported, so a Free-tier organization cannot call those models.

Free tier: OpenAI API, Free usage tier

Published on the provider page

OpenAI API, Free usage tier: each limit with its value, scope and note.
Limit	Value	Applies to	Note
Monthly spend cap	$100	Account	Free usage tier; the organization must be in an allowed geography

What moves you past this tier: $5 in total credit purchases moves the organization to the Build tier ($500 a month); $100 reaches Launch ($5,000 a month) and $500 reaches Grow ($200,000 a month).
Card required: Not stated by the provider
Source: OpenAI rate limits guide Read 2026-10-16

The guide does not state a free signup credit; we record none. Free-tier support for the GPT-6 models is not checked here.

Paid entry tier: OpenAI API, Build tier

Published on the provider page

The Build tier starts once $5 of credits has been purchased: a $500 a month usage limit and standard rate limits of 5,000 requests and 1,000,000 tokens a minute for Astra, Sol and Terra models, and 5,000 requests and 2,000,000 tokens a minute for Luna models.

OpenAI API, Build tier: each limit with its value, scope and note.
Limit	Value	Applies to	Note
Monthly spend cap	$500	Account	Build tier usage limit
Requests per minute	5,000	Astra, Sol and Terra models	Build tier standard limit
Tokens per minute	1,000,000	Astra, Sol and Terra models	Build tier standard limit
Requests per minute	5,000	Luna models	Build tier standard limit
Tokens per minute	2,000,000	Luna models	Build tier standard limit

What moves you past this tier: Total credit purchases move the organization up: $100 for Launch ($5,000 a month), $500 for Grow ($200,000 a month).
Card required: Yes
Source: OpenAI rate limits guide Read 2026-10-16

Tier names, thresholds, usage limits and the standard rate-limit table are from the rate-limits guide; the GPT-5.6 Terra and Luna model pages show the same Build figures.

Questions

Does the OpenAI API have a free tier?

OpenAI’s rate-limits guide lists a Free usage tier for organisations that have not paid, limited to allowed geographies and to $100 of usage a month. The model pages for GPT-5.6 Terra and Luna publish rate limits from Tier 1 upward only, so which models the Free tier can call is not stated on those pages.

Does OpenAI give free API credits to new accounts?

The rate-limits guide does not state a signup credit, and the pricing page we read does not either. We record none rather than repeat a figure from a third-party page. If you see a promotional credit inside your own account, it is account-specific and not a published policy.

What are the OpenAI API Tier 1 limits?

Tier 1 begins once $5 has been paid and carries a $100 a month usage limit. Per model, the published Tier 1 limits are 500 requests and 500,000 tokens a minute for GPT-5.6 Terra and the same for GPT-5.6 Luna, with batch queue limits listed separately on each model page.

How do the OpenAI usage tiers increase?

By cumulative payments, not by time. $50 paid moves an organisation to Tier 2 with a $500 monthly limit, $100 to Tier 3 at $1,000, $250 to Tier 4 at $5,000, and $1,000 to Tier 5 at $200,000 a month. Rate limits per model rise with each tier and are listed on the model pages.