API KEYS ✦ FREE
Free AI API keys — where to get them and how
Step-by-step guides for the free AI providers that work best for learners, plus a checked directory of free APIs for your own projects. Get a key in five minutes, test it here, then use it in every free tool.
Which key first? Our recommendation
| If you… | Get | Why |
|---|---|---|
| are new to AI APIs | Groq | Email only, no card, fast, works in most countries. |
| work with long documents or many languages | Google Gemini | Free Flash models with a huge context window (region list applies). |
| want a backup or to try many models | OpenRouter | One key, many free models (50 requests/day free). |
| build bots and websites on Cloudflare | Cloudflare Workers AI | Free daily allowance in the same account as your Worker. |
| cannot get any key right now | Guided templates | Every tool works without AI. You still learn the skill. |
Step-by-step key guides
WORKS IN OUR TOOLSGroqThe easiest first key: email signup, no card, very fast open models.WORKS IN OUR TOOLSGoogle Gemini (AI Studio)Generous free tier on Gemini Flash models with a Google account.WORKS IN OUR TOOLSOpenRouterOne key for many models, including a rotating set of free ones.WORKS IN OUR TOOLSMistralFree “Experiment” plan covering Mistral’s model line-up, with phone verification.WORKS IN OUR TOOLSCerebrasExtremely fast inference — but check whether a card is now required.FOR YOUR PROJECTSCloudflare Workers AIFree daily AI allowance inside the same account that hosts your Workers and bots.FOR YOUR PROJECTSHugging FaceThe home of open models. Great for discovery; hosted inference now needs credits.
Free API directory 47
Tick the APIs you already have — your list stays on this device. Free tiers change often; open the provider page before you build.
| Have | API | Category | Access | What it does | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Groq | AI & language models | Free tier | Fast open models (Llama, GPT-OSS, Qwen). Rate-limited free plan, no card. | Sign up ↗ | |
| Google Gemini API | AI & language models | Free tier | Gemini Flash models with a free tier; limits per project; region list applies. | Sign up ↗ | |
| OpenRouter | AI & language models | Free tier | Hundreds of models, a set of :free ones (50/day free). | Sign up ↗ | |
| Mistral | AI & language models | Free tier | Free Experiment plan with phone verification. | Sign up ↗ | |
| Cerebras | AI & language models | Free tier | Very fast inference; check current signup requirements. | Sign up ↗ | |
| Cloudflare Workers AI | AI & language models | Free tier | Daily free Neuron allowance for text, image and speech models. | Sign up ↗ | |
| Cohere | AI & language models | Free with key | Trial key for evaluation (rate-limited, non-production). | Sign up ↗ | |
| Hugging Face Inference Providers | AI & language models | Paid / credits | Many open models via one API; free accounts need credits since Oct 2026. | Sign up ↗ | |
| DeepSeek API | AI & language models | Paid / credits | Low-cost pay-as-you-go reasoning and chat models. | Sign up ↗ | |
| OpenAI API | AI & language models | Paid / credits | GPT models; pay-as-you-go, no lasting free tier. | Sign up ↗ | |
| Anthropic API | AI & language models | Paid / credits | Claude models; pay-as-you-go. | Sign up ↗ | |
| GitHub Models | AI & language models | Retired | Retired on 30 July 2026 — do not build new projects on it. | Sign up ↗ | |
| Pexels API | Images & media | Free with key | Free stock photos and videos; attribution requested. | Sign up ↗ | |
| Unsplash API | Images & media | Free with key | Free photos; demo apps are rate-limited until approved. | Sign up ↗ | |
| Pixabay API | Images & media | Free with key | Free images, illustrations and videos. | Sign up ↗ | |
| Cloudflare Workers AI image models | Images & media | Free tier | Text-to-image (e.g. FLUX) inside the daily Neuron allowance. | Sign up ↗ | |
| Openverse API | Images & media | No key needed | Search openly licensed images and audio (rate-limited without a key). | Sign up ↗ | |
| Groq speech-to-text (Whisper) | Speech & audio | Free tier | Transcribe audio on Groq’s free plan with its own limits. | Sign up ↗ | |
| ElevenLabs | Speech & audio | Free with key | Text-to-speech with a small free monthly allowance (attribution on free plan). | Sign up ↗ | |
| Cloudflare Workers AI Whisper | Speech & audio | Free tier | Speech-to-text within the daily allowance. | Sign up ↗ | |
| Wikipedia / MediaWiki API | Search, news & knowledge | No key needed | Search and read Wikipedia articles. Send a descriptive User-Agent. | Sign up ↗ | |
| Wikidata Query Service | Search, news & knowledge | No key needed | Structured facts with SPARQL. | Sign up ↗ | |
| Tavily | Search, news & knowledge | Free with key | Search API built for AI agents; free monthly credits. | Sign up ↗ | |
| The Guardian Open Platform | Search, news & knowledge | Free with key | Free developer key for Guardian articles (non-commercial). | Sign up ↗ | |
| Hacker News API | Search, news & knowledge | No key needed | Tech news stories and comments. | Sign up ↗ | |
| GDELT | Search, news & knowledge | No key needed | Global news event and tone data. | Sign up ↗ | |
| Open Library API | Search, news & knowledge | No key needed | Books, authors and covers. | Sign up ↗ | |
| Open-Meteo | Data, maps & weather | No key needed | Weather forecasts and history; free for non-commercial use. | Sign up ↗ | |
| OpenStreetMap Nominatim | Data, maps & weather | No key needed | Geocoding (address ↔ coordinates). Max 1 request/second, User-Agent required. | Sign up ↗ | |
| REST Countries | Data, maps & weather | No key needed | Country names, codes, currencies and flags. | Sign up ↗ | |
| World Bank Indicators API | Data, maps & weather | No key needed | Development indicators for every country. | Sign up ↗ | |
| Frankfurter | Data, maps & weather | No key needed | Reference exchange rates (ECB-published currencies). | Sign up ↗ | |
| NASA Open APIs | Data, maps & weather | Free with key | Astronomy picture, Mars photos and more; DEMO_KEY for testing. | Sign up ↗ | |
| GitHub REST API | Developer & hosting | Free with key | Repos, issues and Actions with a personal access token. | Sign up ↗ | |
| Cloudflare Workers | Developer & hosting | Free tier | Serverless functions: 100,000 requests/day on the free plan. | Sign up ↗ | |
| Cloudflare Pages | Developer & hosting | Free tier | Free static site hosting with a *.pages.dev address. | Sign up ↗ | |
| GitHub Pages | Developer & hosting | Free tier | Free static hosting for public repositories. | Sign up ↗ | |
| Supabase | Developer & hosting | Free tier | Postgres database, auth and storage; free projects pause when idle. | Sign up ↗ | |
| Firebase (Spark plan) | Developer & hosting | Free tier | Auth, Firestore and hosting with free quotas. | Sign up ↗ | |
| Telegram Bot API | Messaging & email | Free tier | Free bots via @BotFather. See our Telegram Bot Creator. | Sign up ↗ | |
| Discord API | Messaging & email | Free tier | Free bots and slash commands. See our Discord Bot Creator. | Sign up ↗ | |
| WhatsApp Cloud API (Meta) | Messaging & email | Paid / credits | Business messaging; many message types are charged per message by Meta — check current pricing. | Sign up ↗ | |
| Brevo | Messaging & email | Free with key | Transactional and marketing email with a free daily sending allowance. | Sign up ↗ | |
| Resend | Messaging & email | Free with key | Developer email API with a free monthly tier. | Sign up ↗ | |
| Paystack | Payments | Free with key | African payments (Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire…). Test mode free. | Sign up ↗ | |
| Flutterwave | Payments | Free with key | Payments across many African countries. Test mode free. | Sign up ↗ | |
| Stripe | Payments | Free with key | Test mode free; live accounts only in supported countries. | Sign up ↗ |
Keep every key safe
- Treat a key like a password: never post it in chats, screenshots, GitHub or website code.
- Create one key per project so you can delete just that one if it leaks.
- If a key leaks, delete it in the provider console immediately and create a new one.
- Prefer free-only keys (for example, OpenRouter with a $0 credit limit) so a leak cannot cost money.
- On a shared or public computer, do not tick “remember on this device”, and press “Forget all keys” when you finish.
Questions people ask
What is an API key?
A long secret code that identifies you to an AI provider, like a password for programs. Tools use it to send your request to the provider’s models on your behalf.
Which free AI key should I get first?
Groq: email signup, no card, fast, and every Open Practice tool supports it. Add Google Gemini second for long documents, and OpenRouter as a backup.
Is it safe to paste my key into Open Practice?
Your key is kept in your browser (this tab only, unless you choose to remember it) and is sent only to the provider you selected, straight from your browser. Open Practice servers never receive it. Still, only use keys on devices you trust.
Why is the AI not available in my country?
Some providers restrict countries for legal or business reasons. Each guide lists region notes; Groq and OpenRouter work in most countries. Never use VPNs or false details to get around restrictions — choose a provider that serves you.
Can I use these tools with no key at all?
Yes. Every free tool has a guided template route that needs no AI. You learn the same skill; the key only adds AI drafting.