API KEYS · GUIDE 4 OF 7
How to get a free Mistral API key
Free “Experiment” plan covering Mistral’s model line-up, with phone verification.
- You need
- Email plus a phone number for SMS verification. No card.
- Free allowance
- The Experiment plan is free and rate-limited (exact limits are shown per workspace in the console). Intended for evaluation and prototyping, not production.
- Best for
- European-hosted models; coding help with Codestral; a second opinion on drafts.
- Region notes
- Phone verification works with most international numbers but not all. If yours is rejected, use Groq.
Step by step
- Open console.mistral.ai and create an account.
- Choose the free “Experiment” plan when asked, and verify your phone number by SMS.
- Open “API keys” and click “Create new key”.
- Copy the key immediately (it is shown once).
- Keys can take a minute to activate.
- On Open Practice, choose Mistral in Key settings, paste and press “Test key”.
Use it on Open Practice
Paste the key into Key settings and press Test key. Then open any free tool and choose “Draft with my AI key”. The key stays in your browser.
If something goes wrong
| 401 unauthorized | Key not active yet or copied incorrectly — wait a minute and retry. |
|---|---|
| 429 | Rate limit on the free plan. Slow down. |
| Phone not accepted | Use another provider; do not use someone else’s number. |
Keep your 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.
Other free keys
GUIDEGroqThe easiest first key: email signup, no card, very fast open models.GUIDEGoogle Gemini (AI Studio)Generous free tier on Gemini Flash models with a Google account.GUIDEOpenRouterOne key for many models, including a rotating set of free ones.GUIDECerebrasExtremely fast inference — but check whether a card is now required.GUIDECloudflare Workers AIFree daily AI allowance inside the same account that hosts your Workers and bots.GUIDEHugging FaceThe home of open models. Great for discovery; hosted inference now needs credits.
Questions people ask
Is Mistral free?
The Experiment plan is free and rate-limited (exact limits are shown per workspace in the console). Intended for evaluation and prototyping, not production.
Do I need a credit card for Mistral?
Email plus a phone number for SMS verification. No card.
Is Mistral available in my country?
Phone verification works with most international numbers but not all. If yours is rejected, use Groq.