# Cohere API free tier

Every new Cohere account gets a Trial API key. Calls from a Trial key are free, rate-limited and not permitted for production or commercial use: 20 requests a minute on the Chat API for most models, 10 a minute on Rerank, and 1,000 API calls a month in total.

Read from the provider page 2026-09-14.

## Free tier: Cohere API, Trial key

Published on the provider page.

- Requests per minute: 20 — Chat API, most models, Trial key
- Requests per minute: 10 — Rerank endpoint, Trial key
- Requests per month: 1,000 — All API calls on a Trial key

- What moves you past this tier: A Production key lifts the Chat API to 500 requests a minute on standard models with no stated monthly cap; newer model variants and audio transcription go through sales.
- Card required: Not stated by the provider
- Source: [Cohere rate limits](https://docs.cohere.com/docs/rate-limits), read 2026-09-14

The free and non-commercial statements come from Cohere's pricing page FAQ, read the same day.

## Related

- [Cohere models and prices](https://benchlm.ai/providers/cohere)
- [Compare paid LLM API rates](https://benchlm.ai/llm-pricing)
- [All free tiers](https://benchlm.ai/free-tier)

## FAQ

### Is the Cohere API free?

Every new Cohere account is issued a Trial API key, and Cohere’s pricing page says calls made from a Trial key are free. They are rate-limited and not permitted for production or commercial use. Paid, production use goes through a Production key at the per-token rates on Cohere’s pricing page.

### What are the Cohere trial key limits?

The rate-limits page lists 20 requests a minute on the Chat API for most models, 10 a minute on Rerank, 100 a minute on Tokenize, 2,000 inputs a minute on text Embed, and a cap of 1,000 API calls a month across everything on a Trial key. The numbers were read on September 14, 2026.

### What changes with a Cohere production key?

The Chat API limit rises to 500 requests a minute on standard models, Rerank to 1,000 a minute and Tokenize to 2,000, with no monthly call cap stated. Newer model variants and audio transcription limits are set through sales. Whether a card is required is not stated on the pages we read.

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