# Claude API free tier

Anthropic publishes no free API tier. New users receive a small amount of free credits to test the API; the amount is not stated on the pricing page, and extended trials are arranged through sales.

Read from the provider page 2026-09-11.

## Signup credit: Claude API

Published on the provider page.

- Free credit: Unpublished — The pricing FAQ says a small amount of free credits; no figure is published.

- What moves you past this tier: Adding a payment method and using the API; organizations start in an Evaluation or Start tier and move up automatically with usage history.
- Card required: Not stated by the provider
- Source: [Claude API pricing, FAQ 'Are there free tiers or trials?'](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/about-claude/pricing), read 2026-09-11

## Paid entry tier: Claude API, Start tier

Published on the provider page.

The Start tier carries a $500 monthly spend cap and per-model rate limits; Build ($1,000 cap) and Scale ($200,000 cap) follow with usage history. New organizations may begin in an Evaluation tier with lower limits. Cache reads do not count toward input-token limits on current models.

- Monthly spend cap: $500 — Start tier
- Requests per minute (Claude Sonnet 5): 1,000 — Start tier
- Input tokens per minute (Claude Sonnet 5): 2,000,000 — Start tier; uncached input only
- Output tokens per minute (Claude Sonnet 5): 400,000 — Start tier
- Requests per minute (Claude Haiku 4.5): 1,000 — Start tier
- Input tokens per minute (Claude Haiku 4.5): 2,000,000 — Start tier; uncached input only
- Output tokens per minute (Claude Haiku 4.5): 400,000 — Start tier
- Requests per minute (Claude Opus 5): 1,000 — Start tier
- Input tokens per minute (Claude Opus 5): 2,000,000 — Start tier; uncached input only
- Output tokens per minute (Claude Opus 5): 400,000 — Start tier
- Requests per minute (Claude Fable 5.x): 1,000 — Start tier; combined across Fable 5.1 and Fable 5
- Input tokens per minute (Claude Fable 5.x): 500,000 — Start tier; combined
- Output tokens per minute (Claude Fable 5.x): 100,000 — Start tier; combined

- What moves you past this tier: Tiers advance automatically on usage history and account standing; higher limits can be requested from the Console.
- Card required: Yes
- Source: [Claude API rate limits and spend limits](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/api/rate-limits), read 2026-09-11

Build and Scale tier tables are on the same page; only the entry tier is recorded here.

## Related

- [Claude API pricing](https://benchlm.ai/anthropic/api-pricing)
- [Compare paid LLM API rates](https://benchlm.ai/llm-pricing)
- [All free tiers](https://benchlm.ai/free-tier)

## FAQ

### Is there a free Claude API tier?

No. Anthropic’s pricing page lists no free production tier. New users receive a small amount of free credits to test the API, an amount the page does not state, and extended trials go through sales. Claude’s free consumer plan is a separate product and does not include API access.

### How many free credits does Anthropic give new accounts?

Anthropic does not publish the figure. Its pricing FAQ says only that new users receive a small amount of free credits. We record the value as unpublished; any number you see elsewhere is not from Anthropic’s page.

### What are the Claude API rate limits on the Start tier?

A $500 monthly spend cap, and per model 1,000 requests a minute with 2,000,000 uncached input tokens and 400,000 output tokens a minute for Claude Sonnet 5, Opus 5 and Haiku 4.5; the Fable 5 family shares 500,000 input and 100,000 output tokens a minute. Cache reads do not count toward input limits.

Canonical page: https://benchlm.ai/free-tier/anthropic