Best offer on record: freellmcredits.com directory status. 15 verified findings, checked 2026-10-22.
Offers
freellmcredits.com directory status high confidence
The site is a curated directory of genuine no-cost/discounted LLM and AI API offers, 'primary sources only; never a guessed figure,' unaffiliated with providers, affiliate links disclosed when used. Machine-readable dataset at https://freellmcredits.com/api/offers.json and /api/offers.csv (schema v2, JSON envelope + CSV), 25 published unexpired offers as of its 21 Oct 2026 last update; ended offers are tagged then hidden. Publicly logged a Sept 2026 correction to its Cerebras entry (card now required; the 1M tokens/day figure is a trial rate limit, not an ongoing quota). Every offer page carries a last-verified date (21 Oct 2026 on all pages checked this pass). Confirmed useful as a dated cross-check for the LLM & AI APIs front; it is a secondary source — verify against the official URLs it links before publishing figures.
Eligibility
N/A (directory, not an offer)
How to claim
Read-only: fetch pages or /api/offers.json for dated listings.
A few directory figures are unconfirmed on primary pages (noted per-finding below, e.g. Google Start-tier $2,000). Groq free-plan numbers are labeled Developer-plan base limits in official docs.
Google AI Pro student offer (12 months free) high confidence
1 year of Google AI Pro (consumer Gemini subscription, NOT API credits) free. Directory lists SheerID verification; the offer page states eligibility is re-verified each year. Redemption window: until December 31, 2026. Also available to new users and to students whose 2025 AI Pro trial expired.
Eligibility
U.S. college students, 18+, verified academic status; annual re-verification.
How to claim
Sign up at https://gemini.google/us/students/ ; a valid payment method is required at sign-up.
Expiry
Redeem by 31 Dec 2026; 12-month free term, then auto-billed at $19.99/month unless cancelled.
Google for Startups Cloud Program medium confidence
Bootstrapped tier ('Build your prototype'): free Gemini API access through Google AI Studio, no dollar figure stated. Grow & Scale tier: up to $350,000 over two years for AI-first startups (footnote: up to $250K year one + up to $100K year two) and up to $200,000 for non-AI; pre-seed to Series A, founded within 3–5 years. The directory's GCP page also lists a 'Start tier up to $2,000 credit, 12-month expiry' — that figure is NOT confirmed on the program page fetched this pass.
Eligibility
Early-stage startups: bootstrapped/self-funded concepts (prototype tier); pre-seed to Series A, founded in the last 3–5 years (Grow & Scale).
How to claim
Apply at https://startup.google.com/cloud/ ; approval-dependent.
Expiry
Grow & Scale: up to two years; no deadline stated on the page. Directory lists 12 months for the Start tier (unconfirmed).
Gotchas
Approval-dependent; 'up to' amounts; directory-only Start-tier figures should not be published without re-confirmation.
Microsoft for Startups (Azure credits) high confidence
$200 starter Azure credits without an investor referral code (immediate, after account creation); $1,000 starter credits with a 10-character investor/accelerator/VC referral code; up to $150,000 in expanded credits after program approval (review typically within 3 business days). Azure Sponsorship subscription auto-converts to pay-as-you-go when credits are exhausted or expire.
Eligibility
Independent B2B startups, pre-seed through Series B, headquartered in a region where the program operates; personal consumer Microsoft account (work/school email not accepted).
How to claim
Apply at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/startups ('Get started now'); card required for account setup; ask a Microsoft-network investor/accelerator for a referral code for the higher path.
Expiry
Credit validity not stated in the fetched docs; the directory lists 90 or 180 days for credits — confirm at claim time.
Gotchas
Card required; converts to pay-as-you-go; starter credits are available before approval, expanded credits require it; business name/address must match legal documents.
AWS Activate startup credits (covers Claude on Bedrock) high confidence
Founders tier (self-serve, self-funded): starts at $1,000, up to $5,000. Portfolio tier (pre-Series B, via VC/angel/accelerator): up to $200,000. Invite-only 'AWS Credits for AI Startups': $200,000+ for scaling AI companies. Credits usable on AWS infrastructure, data, and AI/ML services, including Bedrock (i.e., Claude models on Bedrock). Separately, new AWS accounts get up to $200 in Free Tier credits usable on Bedrock.
Eligibility
Founded within the past 10 years, pre-Series B, on a paid AWS plan, first-time applicant or seeking more than a prior award; Portfolio requires an Activate Provider Org ID.
How to claim
Self-serve at https://aws.amazon.com/activate/ ; Portfolio via a participating VC/angel/accelerator.
Expiry
Not stated on the primary page; directory notes 'typically 1–2 years'; Free Tier is 6 or 12 months (directory flags the AWS FAQ wording as inconsistent).
Gotchas
Card + paid plan required; Portfolio requires a provider referral; free-tier Bedrock credit coverage of specific Claude models was flagged as unconfirmed by the directory.
Claude Startups — partner-VC route (Anthropic) high confidence
Startups backed by a partner-network VC may get up to $100,000 in additional first-party Claude API credits, claimed via that VC; separate third-party 'Stack perks' worth up to $45,000 (claimed with codes from Claude Console). Credits apply only to Anthropic's own API via Claude Console — NOT Bedrock, Vertex AI, or Azure. General Claude Startups cohort: no new applications (cohort full); the earlier $1,000 credit deal per the directory can no longer be applied for; existing members keep access by logging in.
Eligibility
Early-stage startups developing on Claude; the $100K route requires a partner-network VC backer.
How to claim
Route eligibility and conditions through the VC; members use Claude Console.
Expiry
No public validity period stated.
Gotchas
'Up to' amounts — not a guaranteed grant; general cohort closed; Console-only, not a Bedrock/Vertex credit; partner list not public.
Gemini API free tier (Google AI Studio) high confidence
Ongoing free tier: most listed models free, including Gemini 3.8 Flash, 3.6 Flash, 2.5 Pro and Gemma 4 (plus Live, TTS, and embedding entries); 'generous limits' (no per-model RPM/RPD figures published on the pricing page). 'Google AI Studio usage is free of charge in all available regions.'
Eligibility
Anyone 18+ with a Google account in a supported region; no credit card.
How to claim
Create an API key in Google AI Studio / at https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing .
Expiry
Ongoing, no deadline; free-tier limits can change.
Gotchas
Free-tier content may be used by Google to improve its products ('Content used to improve our products'); some models are paid-only (e.g., image/Nano Banana models, Lyria, Gemini 4 Argon per the page); model caps rotate.
No-cost evaluation API keys issued at sign-up, capped at 1,000 API calls per month in one shared pool across Command/Embed/Rerank models. Per-endpoint rate limits: chat 20 req/min, rerank 10 req/min, embed 2,000 inputs/min, parse/other 500 req/min.
Eligibility
Anyone who creates a free Cohere dashboard account; evaluation use (paid keys for production).
How to claim
Create a dashboard account; trial keys issued at https://dashboard.cohere.com/api-keys .
Expiry
Monthly reset (date/timezone unstated); no sign-up deadline.
Gotchas
Monthly pool is shared across models; not intended for live production; card requirement not stated; terms can change.
Cloudflare Workers AI free daily allocation high confidence
10,000 Neurons per day at no charge, included in both Free and Paid Workers plans; all limits reset daily at 00:00 UTC. 'No credit card required' to start. Neurons are compute units, not tokens.
Eligibility
Any Cloudflare account (free plan holders).
How to claim
Sign up at https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers-ai/ ; use the included allocation via the Workers AI API — no separate claim step.
Expiry
Recurs daily; no stated deadline.
Gotchas
Eight models require a paid billing method even with Neurons left (Kimi K2.6, Kimi K2.7-code, GLM-5.2, GLM-5.3, GLM-5.3-flash, DeepSeek V4 Flash, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, DeepSeek V4 Pro — via Workers Paid or prepaid AI Gateway credits); overage on Workers Paid is $0.011 per 1,000 Neurons.
No-cost ':free' model variants (25+ free models listed) with a daily limit of 50 requests/day (capped at 20 requests/minute) when the account has never purchased credits; 1,000 requests/day after a one-time top-up of at least $10 of credits.
Eligibility
Any OpenRouter account; no card or payment method needed for the free tier.
How to claim
Sign up at openrouter.ai, create an API key, and call any model ID ending in ':free'.
Expiry
No stated deadline; daily quota (reset hour/timezone unspecified).
Gotchas
Failed/errored requests still consume the daily quota; a negative balance locks out free models; the free model roster rotates and a model may stop being free; the $10 is a one-time requirement.
Cerebras Cloud $5 trial credit (card required) high confidence
$5 trial credit on newly created Cerebras Cloud accounts, spendable on any public model (gpt-oss-120b and qwen-3.8-27b documented at verification). Trial rate limits: 5 req/min, 30,000 uncached tokens/min, 90,000 total tokens/min, 1M tokens/hour, 1M tokens/day. 'Cerebras doesn't currently offer a no-cost tier that renews automatically or a per-model always-free allowance.'
Eligibility
New Cerebras Cloud accounts with a verified payment method (Playground and API stay disabled without one).
How to claim
Sign up at https://cloud.cerebras.ai/ and attach a verified payment method; credits arrive after verification.
Expiry
Credits expire 30 days from grant; then paid credits are required to continue on Shared Inference (you are not auto-billed).
Gotchas
Card required — NOT a no-card offer. The directory publicly corrected this listing in September 2026 (earlier shown as card-free with up to 1M tokens/day per model; that figure is a trial rate limit, not a quota).
Free $0 plan on GroqCloud with no fixed credit value; directory lists openai/gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b (and qwen3.8-27b) at 30 req/min, 1,000 req/day, 8K tokens/min, 200K tokens/day, per model; account Limits page shows organization-specific quotas. Upgrade to the Developer tier requires a valid payment method.
Eligibility
Anyone who registers a GroqCloud account; provider usage conditions apply.
How to claim
Register at https://console.groq.com/ , generate a key at console.groq.com/keys, call the OpenAI-compatible API.
Expiry
No stated end date; daily quota (reset time/timezone unspecified).
Gotchas
The official rate-limits docs table is labeled 'base limits for the Developer plan,' so the free-plan figures above are directory-sourced and should be reconfirmed; the free model lineup changed twice in 2026 — Llama chat models dropped off the free list by September, and groq/compound and compound-mini were retired on 21 Sep 2026; groq.com/pricing does not publish the free tier.
Google Cloud $300 free trial (not for the standalone Gemini API) high confidence
$300 Welcome credit valid 90 days from signup, usable on Google Cloud products including Google's Gemini models in Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform (formerly Vertex AI); explicitly NOT usable for Gemini API costs in AI Studio (the standalone API), and excludes third-party generative models sold as managed APIs.
Eligibility
First-time customers who have never paid for Google Cloud, Google Maps Platform, or Firebase and never claimed the trial.
How to claim
Enroll at the Google Cloud free-trial page; a credit card or other payment method is required and stays valid throughout the trial (temporary authorization hold only; bank check may be required in some countries).
Expiry
90 days from signup.
Gotchas
Most common confusion: $300 does NOT cover AI Studio / standalone Gemini API usage; card required; one trial per person ever.
Programs closed or changed in 2025–2026 (per the directory's dated listings, cross-checked against primary pages on 2026-10-22): (1) Hugging Face Inference Providers: free accounts' recurring monthly inference allowance ENDED 7 Oct 2026 — free users now get $0 and must purchase credits or upgrade to PRO ($9/mo, which includes $2.00/month general-purpose compute credits; Team/Enterprise get $2.00/seat). Confirmed on the official pricing page ('Free Users: None'). (2) Mistral: the free API 'Free mode' allowance (roughly $10/month API credit through Sept 2026) was removed from the pricing page on 10 Oct 2026; the current page shows only a consumer 'Free plan' with 'limited access to Vibe' and paid tiers with $15/$25.50 monthly API credits — treat free API access as likely discontinued (medium confidence; no explicit 'free API' statement either way). Mistral's student offer is a discount (verified students $5.99/mo Pro, max 12 months), not a free tier. (3) Cerebras: September 2026 correction logged by the directory — trial now requires a verified payment method; the 'up to 1M tokens/day' figure is a trial rate limit, and Cerebras has no ongoing free tier. (4) Claude Startups (Anthropic): general cohort is closed/full; the earlier $1,000 credit deal is no longer available; the live route is the partner-VC path (up to $100K first-party API credits). (5) Groq: groq/compound and compound-mini models retired 21 Sep 2026; Llama chat models dropped off the free list by Sep 2026. (6) OpenAI: its pricing page returned HTTP 403 to automated fetching, so its trial-credit status was NOT re-verified in this pass — flag as unverified rather than assume. Process notes: WebSearch was unavailable for this pass (session budget exhausted), so all verification was done via direct WebFetch of the directory pages and the official provider sources; some directory pages hit a client-side output-token limit, worked around with constrained fetch prompts. The directory itself states 25 published unexpired offers in its 21 Oct 2026 dataset and is the right cross-check source for this front, but per its own methodology it is a secondary source — publish figures only against the linked official URLs.