# OpenRouter free models

Models whose ID ends in :free cost nothing per token and are limited per account: 20 requests per minute, and 50 requests per day until the account has bought $10 of credits in its lifetime, after which the daily limit is 1,000. Limits are global per account; extra accounts or keys do not add capacity, and a negative balance returns 402 even on free models.

Read from the provider page 2026-09-11.

## Free tier: OpenRouter API, models with the :free suffix

Published on the provider page.

- Requests per minute: 20 — Free-model variants, regardless of purchase history
- Requests per day: 50 — Accounts with under $10 lifetime credit purchases
- Requests per day: 1,000 — Accounts that have purchased at least $10 of credits at any point

- What moves you past this tier: Buying $10 of credits once raises the daily free-model limit from 50 to 1,000; paid models bill per token.
- Card required: No
- Source: [OpenRouter API limits](https://openrouter.ai/docs/api-reference/limits), read 2026-09-11

## Related

- [OpenRouter alternatives audit](https://benchlm.ai/openrouter-alternatives)
- [Compare paid LLM API rates](https://benchlm.ai/llm-pricing)
- [All free tiers](https://benchlm.ai/free-tier)

## FAQ

### Is OpenRouter free?

Models whose ID ends in :free cost nothing per token. They are rate-limited per account: 20 requests a minute, and 50 requests a day until the account has purchased $10 of credits at any point, after which the daily limit is 1,000. Paid models bill per token from a prepaid balance.

### How many free requests does OpenRouter allow per day?

Fifty a day on free models for accounts that have never bought $10 of credits, and 1,000 a day once they have. The 20-requests-a-minute limit applies either way. The limits are enforced per account across every key, so extra accounts or keys do not add capacity.

### What happens with a negative OpenRouter balance?

Requests return HTTP 402 Payment Required, even on free models, until the balance is positive again. Keeping a small positive balance is part of using the free variants, and buying $10 of credits once is also what unlocks the 1,000-requests-a-day allowance on them.

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