The 2026 Founder’s Guide to Free AI/API Credits
Updated: 27 May 2026
Free AI credits are still everywhere, but they are no longer as simple as “sign up and get $100.” Most serious credits now fall into four buckets: free API tiers, trial credits, student perks, and startup/research grants. The smartest move is not to chase one provider. It is to stack multiple small free tiers for prototyping, then apply to larger startup programs once you have a working demo.
1. The fastest free AI APIs to use today
For immediate building, start with providers that do not require a long approval process.
| Provider | Free / low-cost access | Best use |
|---|---|---|
| Google Gemini API / AI Studio | New accounts begin on a Gemini API Free Tier for certain models; Gemini 3 Flash and Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite have free API tiers, while Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview does not. | General chat, coding, image/PDF reasoning, fast prototyping. (Google AI for Developers) |
| GroqCloud | Free tier with rate limits; docs mention accounts can return to Free tier limits if billing is removed. | Very fast open-model inference for apps, bots, and coding agents. (GroqCloud) |
| OpenRouter | Free models are limited to 20 RPM; 50 free-model requests/day unless you have purchased at least $10 credits, then 1,000/day. | Testing many LLMs through one OpenAI-compatible API. (OpenRouter) |
| Mistral AI | Free “Experiment” API tier for evaluation/prototyping with limited rate limits. | EU-friendly LLMs, coding models, OCR/document work. (Mistral AI) |
| Cohere | Free trial/evaluation API keys; production keys are paid and trial keys cannot be used commercially. | RAG, embeddings, reranking, enterprise-style search. (Cohere Documentation) |
| Cerebras Cloud | Free API access to Cerebras-powered models; paid Developer tier starts with self-serve payment and higher limits. | Ultra-fast inference and coding-agent experiments. (Cerebras) |
| Hugging Face Inference Providers | Monthly credits: Free users get $0.10/month, Pro users get $2/month, Teams get $2/seat/month. | Testing open models through one hub. (Hugging Face) |
| Fireworks AI | $1 free starter credit for serverless inference. | Fast open-source model inference, agents, structured output. (Fireworks AI) |
| Novita AI | Signup page currently advertises $1 free credit. | Cheap LLM/image/video API experiments. (Novita AI) |
| Deepgram | $200 free credit, no credit card needed, for voice APIs. | Speech-to-text, TTS, voice agents. (Deepgram) |
| AssemblyAI | Signup page advertises up to 330 free hours; startup program offers up to 200K hours. | Speech-to-text, audio intelligence, voice apps. (AssemblyAI) |
| Replicate | “Try for free” model collection, then pay-as-you-go. | Image/video/model demos without infrastructure. (Replicate) |
The best immediate stack for a student/founder is: Gemini + Groq + OpenRouter + Mistral + Cerebras + Cohere + Hugging Face. This gives you enough free/low-cost API access to build MVPs, agents, demos, SEO tools, chatbots, and content pipelines.
2. The biggest startup credit programs
This is where the real money is. These programs usually require a startup website, product idea, company profile, GitHub/demo, and sometimes incorporation or VC/accelerator backing.
| Program | Credit / benefit | Who should apply |
|---|---|---|
| AWS Activate | Founders package offers $1,000 AWS credits for self-funded startups; Portfolio package can go up to $100,000 for eligible startups connected to Activate providers. | Any serious startup, especially if you need Bedrock, Lambda, S3, GPUs, or hosting. (Amazon Web Services, Inc.) |
| Google for Startups Cloud Program | Up to $200,000 credits for startups; up to $350,000 for AI startups over two years. | AI-first startups using Gemini, Vertex AI, Firebase, BigQuery, Cloud Run. (Google for Startup) |
| Microsoft for Startups | Portal currently says startups can access up to $5,000 Azure credits; investor-network startups can unlock enhanced benefits. | Azure AI Foundry, Azure hosting, Microsoft ecosystem apps. (portal.startups.microsoft.com) |
| OpenAI for Startups | OpenAI says founders should reach out to their VC to unlock API credits. | VC-backed or accelerator-backed AI startups. (OpenAI) |
| OpenAI Researcher Access Program | Researchers can apply for up to $1,000 API credits, valid for 12 months. | Academic/independent researchers doing responsible AI work. (OpenAI) |
| Claude for Startups | Anthropic’s program offers API credits, priority rate limits, founder tools, community and resources. | AI startups building with Claude. (Claude) |
| Anthropic External Researcher Access | Anthropic support says successful applicants get $1,000 API credits. | Researchers studying Claude / AI safety / AI systems. (Claude Help Center) |
| NVIDIA Inception | Free program with partner cloud credits, preferred pricing, technical training and startup resources. | AI/ML startups, GPU-heavy products, computer vision, agents. (NVIDIA) |
| Together AI Startup Accelerator | Compute credits for inference, fine-tuning, dedicated endpoints and clusters; note: normal Together platform currently says no free trial and $5 minimum purchase. | Selected AI-native startups. (Together AI) |
| Fireworks for Startups | Build credits, higher rate limits, applied-AI support, community and GTM help. | Startups using open models at production scale. (Fireworks AI) |
| DeepInfra DeepStart | Up to 1B tokens for free inference. | Startups needing cheap open-model inference. (DeepInfra) |
| Deepgram Startup Program | Up to $100,000 Deepgram credits, usable within 12 months. | Voice AI, transcription, call agents. (Deepgram) |
| ElevenLabs Startup Grants | 33M characters of audio generation credits over 12 months for eligible startups/small companies. | AI voice agents, narration, dubbing, audio apps. (ElevenLabs) |
| Sarvam Startup Program | Up to 12 months of credits, priority support, infra across speech, vision and LLM APIs. | Indian-language AI apps, voice bots, local language tools. (Sarvam AI) |
| AssemblyAI Startup Program | Up to 200K hours of free credits. | Audio intelligence, meeting tools, transcription, voice analytics. (AssemblyAI) |
3. Best free API directories for non-AI apps
For web apps, dashboards, tools and content sites, you also need normal APIs: weather, finance, mock data, countries, movies, quotes, facts, news, etc.
Use these first:
| Resource | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| public-apis GitHub repo | A large community-curated list of free public APIs. (GitHub) |
| free-for.dev | Huge curated list of free developer SaaS/PaaS/IaaS tiers. (Free for Developers) |
| API Ninjas | Many APIs under one key, with a free tier and no credit card required. (API Ninjas) |
| RapidAPI free APIs collection | Marketplace-style discovery for free/testable APIs. (RapidAPI) |
| Free Public APIs | Has its own API and claims 1,000 requests/day limit for the directory API. (Free Public APIs) |
4. The best application strategy
Do not apply randomly. Build a small proof first.
Your application should have five things:
One-line product
Example: “IndexFast helps websites get discovered by Google and AI search engines faster.”Working demo or GitHub repo
Even a simple Next.js app with login, dashboard, and 1–2 working API features improves approval chances.Usage plan
Mention expected API usage: “We need LLM inference for content analysis, embeddings for semantic search, and speech APIs for voice summaries.”Why credits matter
Say: “Credits will extend runway while we validate with early users.”Proof of seriousness
Add Product Hunt / Peerlist / GitHub / users / waitlist / screenshots / revenue / hackathon wins.
5. What I’d do in your case
For you, I would stack credits like this:
Today: use Gemini, Groq, OpenRouter free models, Mistral Experiment tier, Cerebras free tier, Cohere trial key, Hugging Face free credits, Fireworks $1, Novita $1.
This week: apply to GitHub Student Developer Pack if you still have valid student proof; it remains one of the best student bundles for developer tools and partner credits. (GitHub)
For your startups/tools: prepare a clean one-page website for each real product, then apply to AWS Activate, Microsoft for Startups, NVIDIA Inception, Sarvam, Deepgram, ElevenLabs, and AssemblyAI.
For larger AI credits: apply to Google for Startups only after you can show an AI-first product, demo, and usage plan, because the AI tier can go up to $350,000 but is meant for serious AI startups. (Google Cloud)
6. Important warning
Avoid random YouTube/GitHub “unlimited free API key” hacks. Many violate provider terms, leak keys, or route your data through unknown servers. Use official free tiers, grants, startup programs, student packs, or open-source/local models. Also do not create multiple accounts to bypass free-tier limits; providers like Groq explicitly warn against circumventing free-tier limits. (GroqCloud)
Conclusion
The best free AI credit strategy in 2026 is a stack:
For instant building: Gemini, Groq, OpenRouter, Mistral, Cerebras, Cohere, Hugging Face, Fireworks.
For serious startup credits: AWS Activate, Google for Startups, Microsoft for Startups, NVIDIA Inception, OpenAI/Anthropic startup programs.
For voice/audio products: Deepgram, ElevenLabs, AssemblyAI, Sarvam.
For normal app APIs: public-apis, free-for.dev, API Ninjas, RapidAPI.
The biggest unlock is not just finding credits. It is packaging yourself like a real builder: product page, demo, repo, screenshots, users, and a clear credit usage plan.
