Free limits of AI services — 2026
What the free tier of each chatbot, coding agent, API and automation service actually gives, what it is best for, and when we last checked the limit.
-
ChatGPT
- Free limit
- Unlimited text chats (fair use) · 500 MB file storage Source
- Best for
- OpenAI's AI assistant for the web, Windows, macOS and phones, used for everyday questions, writing, images and voice conversations.
- Kind
- AI apps
- From, per month
- $8
- Checked
- October 1, 2026
-
Claude
- Free limit
- Limited usage · resets every 5 h Source
- Best for
- Anthropic's assistant for the web, desktop and phones, often chosen for long documents, writing and analysis. It runs in the cloud, not as a local model.
- Kind
- AI apps
- From, per month
- $20
- Checked
- October 1, 2026
-
Gemini
- Free limit
- Limited usage · 32K context Source
- Best for
- Google's AI assistant on the web and in the Android app, connected to Google services — a good match for people who live in Google's apps.
- Kind
- AI apps
- From, per month
- $7.99
- Checked
- October 1, 2026
-
Microsoft Copilot
- Free limit
- Limited usage Source
- Best for
- Microsoft's consumer assistant, available in Windows, on the web and on phones, and tied to your Microsoft account.
- Kind
- AI apps
- From, per month
- $9.99
- Checked
- October 1, 2026
-
Perplexity
- Free limit
- Free plan Source
- Best for
- Answer engine that searches the web and cites its sources, so every claim comes with a link you can check.
- Kind
- AI apps
- From, per month
- $20
- Checked
- September 30, 2026
-
DeepSeek
- Free limit
- Free, no published limit Source
- Best for
- Free chat assistant from DeepSeek on the web and on phones, giving access to the company's own models.
- Kind
- AI apps
- Checked
- October 1, 2026
-
Grok
- Free limit
- Limited usage Source
- Best for
- Grok is xAI's assistant, available in its own app and built into X, with a focus on current topics.
- Kind
- AI apps
- From, per month
- $30
- Checked
- October 1, 2026
-
Mistral Vibe (Le Chat)
- Free limit
- Limited messages and searches · $10/month in API credits Source
- Best for
- Mistral AI's assistant, which used to be called Le Chat, offering a European alternative to ChatGPT.
- Kind
- AI apps
- From, per month
- $5.99
- Checked
- October 1, 2026
-
OpenAI Codex CLI
- Free limit
- Included in ChatGPT Free Source
- Best for
- OpenAI's open-source coding agent for the terminal, released under Apache-2.0, which you use with a ChatGPT plan or an API key.
- Kind
- Coding agents
- From, per month
- $8
- Checked
- September 30, 2026
-
Gemini CLI
- Free limit
- 1,000 requests/day · with a Google account Source
- Best for
- Google's open-source terminal agent built on Gemini models, released under Apache-2.0. A personal Google account allows free use within limits.
- Kind
- Coding agents
- Checked
- September 30, 2026
-
Cursor
- Free limit
- Hobby · Limited agent requests Source
- Best for
- Code editor based on VS Code with an AI agent, chat and tab completion woven into everyday editing.
- Kind
- Coding agents
- From, per month
- $20
- Checked
- September 30, 2026
-
Devin Desktop (Windsurf)
- Free limit
- Limited agent requests · Unlimited Tab completions Source
- Best for
- Formerly Windsurf, this AI code editor is now Devin Desktop from Cognition, the company behind the Devin agent, built for agent-driven coding.
- Kind
- Coding agents
- From, per month
- $20
- Checked
- September 30, 2026
-
Cline
- Free limit
- Free, bring your own API key Source
- Best for
- Open-source coding agent that lives in VS Code and other editors as an extension, working with your own API key or a local model.
- Kind
- Coding agents
- Checked
- September 30, 2026
-
Aider
- Free limit
- Free, bring your own API key Source
- Best for
- Open-source pair programmer for the terminal that edits files in a git repository and commits each change, compatible with many cloud and local models.
- Kind
- Coding agents
- Checked
- September 30, 2026
-
OpenHands
- Free limit
- Free when run locally · Free, bring your own API key Source
- Best for
- Open-source platform, formerly OpenDevin, for autonomous coding agents that work in a sandbox and start from a local interface, a CLI or the cloud.
- Kind
- Coding agents
- Checked
- September 30, 2026
-
GitHub Copilot
- Free limit
- 2,000 completions/month · 50 chat requests/month Source
- Best for
- GitHub's assistant for editors and github.com: completions, chat and a coding agent that opens pull requests. A free plan with limits is available.
- Kind
- Coding agents
- From, per month
- $10
- Checked
- September 30, 2026
-
CrewAI
- Free limit
- 50 cloud executions/month Source
- Best for
- Open-source Python framework for orchestrating teams of AI agents, each with its own role and tasks, when one agent is not enough.
- Kind
- Coding agents
- Checked
- September 30, 2026
-
OpenRouter
- Free limit
- :free · 20 requests/min · 50 requests/day · 1,000/day after $10 of credits Source
- Best for
- One account and one API key for models from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google and open-weight families, with each request routed to a provider that serves the model. Handy when you want to switch models without signing up again.
- Kind
- API providers
- Checked
- September 30, 2026
-
Google AI Studio
- Free limit
- Gemini Flash, Flash-Lite, Gemma Source
- Best for
- Google's web studio for trying Gemini and Gemma models and creating Gemini API keys. Some models have a free tier with rate limits; paid use runs through Google Cloud billing.
- Kind
- API providers
- Checked
- September 30, 2026
-
Groq
- Free limit
- 30 requests/min · 1,000 requests/day · gpt-oss-20b Source
- Best for
- Open-weight models served on Groq's own LPU chips, reachable through an OpenAI-compatible API. A free plan with rate limits makes it easy to test fast responses.
- Kind
- API providers
- Checked
- September 30, 2026
-
Fireworks AI
- Free limit
- Trial credit only Source
- Free credit
- $1
- Best for
- Inference platform for open-weight models: a serverless API, fine-tuning and dedicated deployments for production apps, with a small credit to start.
- Kind
- API providers
- Checked
- September 30, 2026
-
Mistral AI Studio
- Free limit
- Free API tier, no card Source
- Best for
- Mistral AI's developer platform, formerly La Plateforme, with the API for Mistral models. A free mode works without a payment card.
- Kind
- API providers
- Checked
- September 30, 2026
-
Cerebras Inference
- Free limit
- Trial credit only Source
- Free credit
- $5 trial, 30 days
- Best for
- Open-weight models running on Cerebras wafer-scale chips, offered as an inference API built for very quick responses. New accounts get trial credit.
- Kind
- API providers
- Checked
- September 30, 2026
-
Cloudflare Workers AI
- Free limit
- 10,000 Neurons/day Source
- Best for
- Runs models on Cloudflare's GPU network, called from Workers or a REST API, with a daily free allowance measured in Neurons. A natural fit for apps already on Cloudflare.
- Kind
- API providers
- Checked
- September 30, 2026
-
Hugging Face Inference Providers
- Free limit
- Trial credit only Source
- Free credit
- $0.10/month (PRO: $2/month)
- Best for
- A single Hugging Face account and token to call models of the Hub through partner inference providers, with a small monthly credit for free experiments.
- Kind
- API providers
- Checked
- September 30, 2026
-
n8n
- Free limit
- Free self-hosted edition · Community Edition Source
- Best for
- Workflow automation with a visual node editor and AI agent nodes, run on your own server under a fair-code licence or as n8n Cloud. Aimed at technical teams.
- Kind
- Automation
- Checked
- September 30, 2026
-
Make
- Free limit
- 1,000 credits/month · 2 active scenarios Source
- Best for
- Visual no-code builder of scenarios linking apps, data and AI models, available only as a cloud service. Common for automating business processes without code.
- Kind
- Automation
- From, per month
- $9
- Checked
- September 30, 2026
-
Zapier
- Free limit
- 100 tasks/month · 2-step Zaps Source
- Best for
- No-code automation between web apps, now with AI steps and agents, offered only in the cloud. Quick to set up for linking popular services.
- Kind
- Automation
- From, per month
- $29.99
- Checked
- September 30, 2026
-
Activepieces
- Free limit
- 1,000 credits/month Source
- Best for
- Open-source automation builder you can host yourself or use in the cloud, with AI pieces and MCP support — an open alternative to Zapier.
- Kind
- Automation
- From, per month
- $20
- Checked
- September 30, 2026
-
Dify
- Free limit
- Sandbox · 200 message credits Source
- Best for
- Open-source platform for building LLM apps from agents, RAG knowledge bases and visual workflows, self-hosted or in the cloud, for chatbots over your own data.
- Kind
- Automation
- Checked
- September 30, 2026
Limits change often: each one carries the date it was last confirmed and a link to the vendor's page. A limit we could not confirm is marked as such and is not a fact.
Updated · Sources: activepieces.com , ai.google.dev , aider.chat , claude.com , cline.bot , console.groq.com , crewai.com , cursor.com , deepseek.com , developers.cloudflare.com , developers.openai.com , devin.ai , dify.ai , docs.mistral.ai , fireworks.ai , geminicli.com , github.com , help.openai.com , huggingface.co , inference-docs.cerebras.ai , make.com , microsoft.com , mistral.ai , n8n.io , openhands.dev , openrouter.ai , perplexity.ai , support.google.com , x.ai , zapier.com
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What does this chart compare?
It gathers AI services that have a free tier and sorts them into four groups: chat apps, coding agents, model APIs and automation services. For each one you see what the free tier gives, any trial credit, what the service is best at, the lowest monthly price of the paid plan and the date we last confirmed the limit, with a link to the vendor's page.
How do I read the limits?
- RPM means requests per minute; a daily quota resets once a day.
- A credit is money placed in your account, and it runs out.
- "Bring your own API key" means the tool is free, but the model behind it is paid to its provider — or runs on your computer at no cost.
- API providers bill per token, so they have no monthly price; apps and automation services sell monthly plans.
Chat apps rarely publish exact numbers for their free plans. Typically the strongest model and the number of messages are capped, and the caps move often.
Why do some limits say "Not confirmed yet"?
Every limit carries the date it was last checked on the vendor's page. When we cannot find the number there, the cell says so instead of repeating a figure from a forum or an old review. Treat such a cell as unknown, not as a fact.
What should I check before relying on a free tier?
Limits differ by country and change without notice, so open the vendor's page before you build a project on one. Read the privacy terms as well: some free tiers may use your prompts to train models. For a model-by-model list of free API offers ranked by quality, see free AI models; to run models with no limits at all, start with which model fits your hardware.