# Free AI Tokens and Free AI Models in October 2026: Verified Access, Limits and Official Links
*Verified against published provider documentation on 9 October 2026. This guide distinguishes free API usage, free models in a hosted gateway, and free credits inside a coding product. Availability can change. No plan is described as unlimited unless its provider explicitly says so.*
Direct answer: Where can you get free AI tokens today?
Free AI tokens are available through eligible free-tier API plans, restricted free model gateways, and monthly product allowances. Google AI Studio and the Gemini API offer free input and output tokens for supported models. Groq and OpenRouter provide access subject to account and rate limits. OpenCode Zen marks selected models as Free, sometimes temporarily. GitHub Copilot Free is a coding-product allowance, not a general-purpose API credit.
What “free AI tokens” actually means
A token is a unit of text processing used for metering input, output, and sometimes cached context. A prompt can use many tokens before the model writes an answer; a long document, a retrieved file, or an agent history consumes context even when the user writes only a short question. The number of free tokens is therefore not a universal quantity that can be transferred between services. A provider can offer zero-priced input and output for a specific model, a monthly credit allowance inside its own product, a temporary model preview, or a free interface with no downloadable API key. These are different products and must be compared separately. A provider might also offer a free plan but charge for premium models or additional requests. At FreeAITokens we use the phrase “verified free access” only when the provider currently publishes an official source describing its terms. “Free” never means unlimited capacity, unrestricted commercial use, or guaranteed availability.
The verified OpenCode Zen free model list
The OpenCode Zen documentation publishes a pricing table where several named models have Free input and output pricing. The list includes Ling 3.0 Flash Fin Free, Ling 3.1 Flash Free, LongCat 2.5 Preview Free, MiMo-V2.6-Flash Free, Muse Spark 1.3 Contributor Free, Nemotron 3 Ultra Free, and Nemotron 3.5 Lightning Free. These match the type of model selections shown in the screenshot attached by a user, but the screenshot alone is not the evidence of ongoing availability. The controlling reference is the provider's live documentation: https://opencode.ai/docs/zen . Model IDs are displayed in the Zen documentation; they should be copied from that page instead of guessed from a marketing name. Access starts at https://opencode.ai/zen and in the OpenCode application through its provider connection interface. A model marked Free may be a limited-time evaluation and may later move to paid pricing. Check the actual model selected before sending a request, because similarly named non-Free variants can carry a charge.
OpenCode access steps and real constraints
Begin by reading the current Zen price table rather than selecting a model solely because its name contains “Flash”, “Preview”, or “Free”. Sign in to Zen, follow the provider's account and API-key instructions, then connect the OpenCode application using its documented workflow. The provider documentation discusses billing details during setup; do not assume a payment card is never requested simply because one model's token tariff is free. Confirm that the connected model ID itself is labelled Free and that the displayed input, output and cache pricing are zero before relying on the offer. Do not preload a balance to test a supposedly free option. Trial and contributor models can have usage rules: the Muse Spark contributor offer, for example, is associated with additional data-use conditions that deserve attention. For sensitive source code, personal records, customer files or unreleased work, read the provider's privacy and retention notices before submitting data. Use an isolated prompt first, and watch the account usage meter after the response.
Google AI Studio and the Gemini API free tier
Google's official Gemini API pricing reference confirms that eligible models have a Free Tier with zero-priced input and output tokens. AI Studio provides the entry point for trying supported models and obtaining the relevant developer configuration: https://aistudio.google.com/ . The authoritative model-by-model price and availability page is https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing . Not all Gemini models and features are free. Some tools, advanced modalities or high-volume throughput may be paid, region-restricted or excluded from the free tier. Review the actual model row, free-tier rate limits and data-use column rather than extrapolating from a single free model to the complete catalogue. Creating a Google account does not itself guarantee a fixed, permanent quantity of tokens. When comparing products, identify whether you are using an interactive experience, an API project, or a billed project; the charging rules differ. The privacy column on Google's free-tier pricing page should be checked before sending confidential content.
GroqCloud free plan: rate limits instead of a gift balance
Groq documents Free Plan inference rate limits on https://console.groq.com/docs/rate-limits . It distinguishes requests per minute, requests per day, tokens per minute and tokens per day, with values specific to each model. This makes Groq useful for testing latency and compatible API workflows, but it is misleading to summarize the plan as a fixed bundle of transferable free dollars or an unlimited token supply. The true limit depends on the selected model and an organization's shared quota. A fast sequence of prompts might hit the requests-per-minute boundary while a long-context workload hits the tokens-per-minute boundary first. Treat HTTP 429 responses as a signal to wait according to the provider's instructions, not as a reason to create throwaway accounts or bypass throttling. The most useful link for an engineer is the official limits table; access and keys are managed at https://console.groq.com/ . Verify model names and free availability again each time you revise a deployment.
OpenRouter free model collection: a gateway with separate rules
OpenRouter maintains a discoverable collection of free models at https://openrouter.ai/collections/free-models , with general plan information at https://openrouter.ai/pricing . This is a gateway that may route models from different upstream providers; a model listed as free in its collection should not be assumed to have the same latency, data policy, context allowance or uptime as a directly hosted API. Some available model names may change as upstream suppliers change their pricing and availability. Check both the provider's current free collection and the account's applicable daily limits before recommending a model to a user. If you are building a production product, implement graceful fallbacks and clear error messages instead of depending on a temporary free identifier forever. Where data privacy matters, inspect the upstream provider conditions, not only the gateway landing page. The free option is useful for experiments and prototyping, but the terms must accompany the recommendation.
GitHub Copilot Free is not generic API tokens
GitHub Copilot Free offers a limited monthly allowance for coding assistance, including a documented number of code completions and an AI-credit allowance. See https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/concepts/billing-and-usage/individuals/billing and access the product at https://github.com/features/copilot . GitHub calls the metered allowance AI credits, and model selection for the free tier is constrained. That should not be marketed as a downloadable block of API tokens that you can move into another vendor's application. For a developer working in an editor, it may still be highly valuable: the product supplies suggestions and model interactions inside the supported tools. The correct decision is whether you need help coding in GitHub's ecosystem or a programmable endpoint with your own API key. Compare the relevant measurement units, reset dates and overage behaviour, and avoid promotional wording that collapses these products into a single interchangeable “free tokens” category.
What about Claude, Anthropic and other free chat apps?
A free chat interface does not imply that its API provides free tokens. Anthropic's Claude consumer interface, its API billing, and any separately advertised credits must be checked as different offers. We do not list an Anthropic API-credit amount here because this article does not have a verified current primary offer establishing one. Likewise, a no-cost tier for a coding assistant or a web chatbot can be limited to interactive use; it may prohibit API automation, resale or abusive account rotation. Before making a claim, demand an official page with the product name, type of benefit, eligibility, requirement for a payment method, geographical restrictions, usage caps, expiry and update timestamp. For all providers, distinguish account registration from actually usable model access. A registration form that requires a card or paid subscription is not equivalent to a free, no-card developer API plan. This distinction protects users who came looking for zero-cost experiments.
A practical workflow for choosing the right free model
First decide your task: a coding assistant, a programmable language-model API, an agent that calls tools, experimentation with model behaviour, or repeated inference in an application. Next select an official provider page from the table below and read the current free-model row. Write down the exact model ID, supported region, rate-limit units, input/output tariffs, whether an account or card is needed, and any special retention rules. Only then create a minimal test prompt. Keep the input short at first and inspect the provider usage dashboard afterwards. For long conversations, control context growth; for tool-using agents, cap the maximum number of turns and implement backoff for 429 errors. Set a spending cap or disabled paid billing where the provider supports it. When the service changes its published terms, remove or update the recommendation rather than silently treating historical screenshots as proof. A good free tier supports a specific task within explicit limits; it is not a lifetime contractual guarantee.
Official URLs and verified offer types
| Provider or product | What is free according to its documentation | Official entry | Conditions to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenCode Zen | Selected named Free models, with zero-priced token tariff on the current list | https://opencode.ai/docs/zen | Time-limited status, billing setup, data use, selected model |
| Google Gemini API | Eligible free-tier model input/output and AI Studio access | https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing | Model, region, rate limits, data policy |
| GroqCloud | Model-specific Free Plan inference | https://console.groq.com/docs/rate-limits | RPM, RPD, TPM, TPD and shared account quotas |
| OpenRouter | Free-model collection with provider-specific restrictions | https://openrouter.ai/collections/free-models | Account limits, model changes, upstream terms |
| GitHub Copilot Free | Monthly coding-product allowance | https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/concepts/billing-and-usage/individuals/billing | Not a general-purpose API allowance |
How we verify offers and avoid fake free-token deals
Every entry needs a primary provider URL and a claim that can be found in its current documentation. We record the access route, whether the benefit is an API free tier, temporary gateway model, product allowance, trial or grant, and whether money, a billing method, a region restriction or application approval is involved. We do not classify benchmarks, GitHub repositories, press releases or discussions as free-token credits merely because they contain the words “free”, “GPU” or “API”. We also avoid claiming that a limited-time experiment still exists merely because it was free yesterday. If a source becomes unavailable or its model price changes, the entry should enter review and stop appearing as verified. Daily Telegram reminders should point to verified access information, explicitly say they are recurring reference posts rather than newly launched deals, and never repeatedly broadcast a model that the provider has withdrawn. The goal is dependable discovery rather than inflated publication counts.
Frequently asked questions
Can I get unlimited free AI tokens?
Do not assume so. The verified offers above have model-specific restrictions, quotas, changing provider conditions or product limits. A price of zero per token in one model row does not promise unlimited requests, commercial rights or perpetual access.
Which free models can I use in OpenCode?
The current Zen documentation includes Ling 3.0/3.1 Flash, LongCat 2.5 Preview, MiMo-V2.6-Flash, Muse Spark 1.3 and Nemotron 3 variants labelled Free. Check the exact official model ID and free pricing before each use.
Is Gemini API free without payment?
Google documents a Free Tier for eligible Gemini API models, but card requirements, project billing settings, geography and model availability need to be checked in your own account before relying on a zero-cost setup.
Is Copilot Free the same as free API tokens?
No. Its allowance belongs to the GitHub Copilot coding product; it cannot be treated as transferable model API credit.
Why did a free model disappear?
Some gateways label models Free only during previews or evaluation periods. Availability can be revoked or changed. Use the provider's pricing page and update the recommendation promptly.
Methodology, update date and editorial responsibility
This page was researched on 9 October 2026, using documentation published by the providers, not social screenshots as a source of truth. Links are shown as plain URLs so readers, search engines and AI answer systems can verify each assertion. The page is an evergreen guide: future changes should update this canonical URL with a visible review date, a change history, and corrected model rows. Publishing near-identical pages every day would create duplicate thin content and could make the information harder, not easier, to discover. Separate daily editorial articles should address fresh user questions with new evidence, original comparisons and genuinely different search intents. For offer discovery, consult our free AI API offers, free tiers, news and guides sections. We separate provider claims from our interpretation and do not promise that any free model will remain free tomorrow.