The spreadsheet no one wanted to maintain: free LLM APIs, updated daily

What it does This repo is a structured, machine-readable directory of free LLM APIs across 30+ providers, tracking rate limits, context windows, and whether you need a credit card or phone number to sign up. It powers freellm.net, which offers side-by-side model comparison and ready-to-copy configuration snippets for Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, and a dozen other tools. The data is refreshed daily via automated monitoring rather than rotting in a static markdown table.

The interesting bit The project treats “free tier” as a moving target. It flags which providers demand a credit card, phone verification, or just an email—saving you from the usual signup surprise. Most listed endpoints expose an OpenAI-compatible API, so swapping base_url and api_key is usually enough to redirect your favorite tool.

Key highlights

• 30+ providers catalogued, from Groq and Google Gemini to NVIDIA NIM and Cloudflare Workers AI
• Daily automated updates via freellm.net; the README badges show the last refresh date
• One-click config generator for Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Aider, Cline, and Open WebUI
• Credit-card transparency: each provider is tagged for payment or verification requirements
• Most endpoints are OpenAI-compatible, so existing SDKs work with a two-line swap

Caveats

• OpenRouter’s Anthropic-compatible models require a $10 one-time top-up, which the README notes explicitly
• Some providers (NVIDIA NIM, ModelScope) require phone verification rather than just email
• The repo is fundamentally a curated list and config generator, not a unified API or client library

Verdict Worth bookmarking if you’re tired of maintaining spreadsheet tabs for free model tiers. Skip it if you already pay for a single provider and don’t need to comparison-shop.