# Is the xAI Grok API free?

xAI's API page states that API usage is billed per token rather than free, and that the Playground comes with every Console account. Neither the API page nor the developer pricing page publishes a free tier, a signup credit amount or per-model rate limits; xAI's console shows an account's own limits.

Read from the provider page 2026-09-14.

## No free tier: xAI API (Grok)

Provider states it is not offered.

- Provider states it is not offered.

- What moves you past this tier: Usage bills per token from the first request at the rates on xAI's pricing page.
- Card required: Not stated by the provider
- Source: [xAI API](https://x.ai/api), read 2026-09-14

Third-party pages describe promotional credits tied to data sharing; xAI's own pages we read do not, so we record none.

## Related

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

## FAQ

### Is the Grok API free?

No, by xAI’s own description. The API page states that API usage is billed per token rather than free, and that the Playground comes with every Console account. Grok inside the X app is a separate consumer product and is not API access. Paid use starts at the rates on xAI’s pricing page.

### Does xAI give free API credits?

xAI’s API page and its developer pricing page, both read on September 14, 2026, publish no signup credit and no free-credit programme. Third-party pages describe promotional credits tied to data sharing. Because none of that appears on xAI’s pages, we record no credit rather than repeat an unverified amount.

### What are the xAI API rate limits?

xAI does not publish per-model requests-per-minute or tokens-per-minute figures on the pages we read; the developer pricing page only notes that Batch API requests do not count towards rate limits. An account’s own limits are shown in the xAI Console, which is where to check before planning a workload.

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