# Penny-Pincher Provider Curated list of affordable and free LLM API providers — Claude Code guest passes, coding-plan subscriptions, and free-tier APIs. Maintained for developers who want capable models without premium pricing. Contributions welcome — open a pull request or [issue](https://github.com/tiennm99/penny-pincher-provider/issues/new) to add or update an entry. --- ## Claude Code Guest Passes One week of free Claude Pro (includes Claude Code). New users only; requires payment info but can be cancelled before the trial ends. **My passes:** - ~~~~ — out of stock as of 2026-04-30 **Friend's passes:** - ~~~~ — out of stock as of 2026-05-31 Have a spare pass? Open a PR adding your link under *Friend's passes*, or open an issue. ## Claude AI Ecosystem ### [ClaudeKit](https://claudekit.cc/) ClaudeKit provides tools and resources to work with Claude AI more effectively — including prompt templates, workflows, and extensions. > Referral: **20% off** your first purchase via (code: `BWA910UK`). *Checked Jun 5, 2026.* --- ## Providers with Coding Plans Monthly subscriptions with request-based (not token-based) quotas, compatible with Claude Code, Cursor, Cline, and similar tools. ### [Z.ai](https://z.ai/subscribe) Plans from **$18/month** (Lite/Pro/Max). OpenAI-compatible + Anthropic-compatible endpoint. Models: GLM-5.1, GLM-5-Turbo, GLM-4.7, GLM-4.5-Air. > Referral: *Checked Jun 5, 2026.* ### [MiniMax](https://platform.minimax.io) Token Plan — priced per **API call**, not token. $20–$120/month. - Plus ($20): 4-5 agents, all models on the API platform - Max ($50): 6-7 agents, all models on the API platform - Ultra ($120): 6-7 agents, all models on the API platform Models: M3 (frontier multimodal coding, 1M context), M2.7 (language), M2.7-highspeed, speech-2.8-hd/turbo, Music-2.6, Hailuo 2.3 (video). Yearly plans ~17% off. > Referral (10% off) until **Jul 1, 2026** — **For Referred Users:** 10% off subscription + become a dev ambassador. **For Referrers:** 10% back in API voucher per paid referral, usable across all MiniMax models, plus priority access to events and model previews. [View details](https://platform.minimax.io/subscribe/token-plan?code=CAQ5sxHAq6&source=link) *Checked Jun 5, 2026.* ### [Kimi Code](https://www.kimi.com/code) Moonshot's coding perk bundled with Kimi membership. Models: Kimi K-series. Rolling 5-hour quota window. Tiers: Adagio (free), Andante, Presto. Pay-as-you-go also at `platform.moonshot.ai`. *Checked Jun 5, 2026.* ### Alibaba Cloud Model Studio > Referral: Up to **$1,700** in free trial credits via (code: `A92LU5`). #### [Token Plan (Team Edition)](https://www.alibabacloud.com/help/en/model-studio/token-plan-overview) Credit-based, per-seat subscription (Singapore region only): - Standard: **$30/seat/month** — 25,000 Credits/seat - Advanced: **$100/seat/month** — 100,000 Credits/seat - Premium: **$200/seat/month** — 250,000 Credits/seat - Shared quota pack: **$700** — 625,000 Credits (1-month validity; unused Credits expire) Models: qwen3.6-plus, glm-5, MiniMax-M2.5, deepseek-v3.2 (text); qwen-image-2.0/2.0-pro, wan2.7-image/image-pro (image). #### [Coding Plan](https://www.alibabacloud.com/help/en/model-studio/coding-plan) Pro plan: **$50/month** — 6,000 req/5-hour, 45,000 req/week, 90,000 req/month. Models: qwen3.5-plus, kimi-k2.5, glm-5, MiniMax-M2.5. Tools: Claude Code, Cursor, Cline, Codex, and more. Lite plan no longer accepting new subscribers. **Note (as of Jun 5, 2026):** effectively unbuyable — perpetually out of stock. Claimed restock at 00:00 GMT+8, but repeated attempts still fail to purchase. *Checked Jun 5, 2026.* ### [opencode — Go](https://opencode.ai/go) Open-source `opencode` CLI subscription. $5 first month, **$10/month** thereafter. Models: GLM-5/5.1, Kimi K2.5/K2.6, MiniMax M2.7/M3, Qwen3.5/3.6/3.7 Plus, MiMo-V2.5(-Pro), DeepSeek V4 Flash/Pro. Per-5-hour limits vary (200–10,200 req). API key portable — works with Claude Code via LiteLLM proxy or `oc-go-cc`. Model format: `opencode-go/`. My referral: > Invite friends to OpenCode Go. Earn $5 when a friend subscribes, and they'll get $5 too. Share your referral link; your friend joins and subscribes to Go; you both get a $5 usage credit to apply toward your Go usage limits. > > Referral link: *Checked Jun 5, 2026.* ### [Synthetic](https://synthetic.new/) Privacy-first inference (no training on prompts/responses). **$30/month** subscription or pay-as-you-go. Models: Kimi K2.6, MiniMax M2.5, GLM 5.1, GLM 4.7 Flash, vLLM-compatible open-source models. OpenAI-compatible — works with Roo, Cline, Octofriend. > Referral: **$10.00** in subscription credit via *Checked Jun 5, 2026.* ### [BigModel.cn — GLM Coding Plan](https://www.bigmodel.cn/glm-coding) The Chinese (mainland) counterpart of Z.ai's GLM Coding Plan — same underlying Zhipu AI models, but billed in CNY through bigmodel.cn. Suited for users who can pay via Alipay / WeChat Pay or already have a 智谱 AI account. Plans (monthly, after the 2026 price adjustment): - **Lite**: ¥49/month - **Pro**: ¥149/month - **Max**: ¥469/month All tiers support GLM-5.1, GLM-5-Turbo, GLM-4.7, and GLM-4.5-Air. Compatible with Claude Code, Cline, and 20+ coding tools via OpenAI-compatible API plus an Anthropic-compatible endpoint. Referral program (challenge-based, resets every 30 invitees): - Invited friend gets **5% off** their first GLM Coding Plan order. - Referrer gets **10% cashback** once 3 friends subscribe, plus an **additional 10%** of the total paid amount for every 30 invitees. - Rebate credit is usable for resource packs, API calls, and subscription renewals on the BigModel platform. Source: , [^bigmodel] Homepage: My referral: >🚀 Join the GLM Coding Plan via my link — get 5% off your first order. Subscribe at https://www.bigmodel.cn/glm-coding?ic=VGRZKHKNKW (invitation code: `VGRZKHKNKW`). [^bigmodel]: Checked on Jun 5, 2026 ### [BytePlus ModelArk — Coding Plan](https://www.byteplus.com/en/activity/codingplan) ByteDance. Lite: **$15/month**, Pro: **$35/month** (intro promo $5/$25 ended early 2026). Models: ByteDance-Seed-2.0, DeepSeek-V3.2, GLM-5.1, Kimi-K2.5. Tools: Claude Code, Cursor, Cline, Roo Code, OpenCode. > Referral: *Checked Jun 5, 2026.* ### [Xiaomi MiMo Open Platform](https://platform.xiaomimimo.com) I'm on Xiaomi MiMo Open Platform — running Xiaomi's flagship MiMo V2.5 and the rest of the lineup. Sign up with my code and you'll instantly get $2 in API credits. After signup, enter the code at the bottom-left of the console. Credits valid 40 days. **Token Plan** (monthly, launched May 2026): Lite ¥39 (60M credits), Standard ¥99 (200M), Pro ¥329 (700M), Max ¥659 (1,600M). Models: MiMo-V2.5, MiMo-V2.5-Pro (2× credit cost). Annual plans discounted. > Referral: Code `T8ESAY` · *Checked Jun 5, 2026.* --- ## Free Providers ### [OpenRouter](https://openrouter.ai) Free models (`:free` suffix): 20 RPM, 50 req/day (free accounts); 1,000 req/day after $10 top-up. *Checked Jun 5, 2026.* ### [NVIDIA NIM](https://build.nvidia.com) Free for NVIDIA Developer Program members, no credit card. ~40 RPM. 1,000 inference credits at signup (consumption-based, not a fixed monthly request cap). Models: Kimi K2.5, GPT-OSS, DeepSeek-V3.2, Llama 3.x, Mistral, Phi, Nemotron. OpenAI-compatible. *Checked Jun 5, 2026.* ### [OpenCode Zen](https://opencode.ai/docs/zen) Hand-picked free models that change periodically. Optimized for coding agents. | Model | Status | |---|---| | `Big Pickle` | Free | | `DeepSeek V4 Flash Free` | Free | | `MiMo-V2.5 Free` | Free | | `Nemotron 3 Ultra Free` | Free | OpenAI/Anthropic compatible endpoints at `https://opencode.ai/zen/v1/`. *Checked Jun 5, 2026.* ### [Google AI Studio](https://aistudio.google.com/) Google's developer platform for Gemini models. Generous free tier with pay-as-you-go available. Free-tier limits vary by model (check the AI Studio dashboard for your project): | Model (Free) | RPM | RPD | |---|---|---| | Gemini 2.5 Pro | 5 | 100 | | Gemini 2.5 Flash | 10 | 250 | | Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite | 15 | 1,000 | Paid tier: higher limits, usage-based billing. Models: Gemini 2.5 Pro/Flash/Flash-Lite. OpenAI-compatible endpoint available. **Warning:** In the Free tier, Google may use your prompts and responses to improve their products. Use the Paid tier or Vertex AI for privacy. *Checked Jun 5, 2026.* ### [Kilo Code — Gateway](https://kilo.ai/gateway) VS Code + JetBrains coding extension with built-in gateway. Free: `:free` models, 200 req/hour per IP. First top-up: $20 bonus credits (60-day expiry). BYOK supported — no Kilo subscription required for your own provider keys. *Checked Jun 5, 2026.* ### [Cloudflare Workers AI](https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers-ai/) 10,000 Neurons/day (resets 00:00 UTC). ~150 LLM responses/day on Llama 3.3 70B. Models: Llama 3.3 70B, Gemma 3, Qwen2.5-Coder, DeepSeek R1, BGE embeddings, Whisper. *Checked Jun 5, 2026.* ### [DeepSeek Platform](https://platform.deepseek.com) 5M free tokens at signup (no code needed). OpenAI + Anthropic compatible. PAYG: V4 Flash $0.14/M in, $0.28/M out; V4 Pro $0.435/M in, $0.87/M out (cached: $0.03/M). *Checked Jun 5, 2026.* ### [Groq](https://console.groq.com) LPU inference. Free tier, no credit card. | Model | RPM | RPD | TPM | TPD | |---|---|---|---|---| | `llama-3.1-8b-instant` | 30 | 14,400 | 6K | 500K | | `llama-3.3-70b-versatile` | 30 | 1,000 | 12K | 100K | | `whisper-large-v3` | 20 | 2,000 | — | — | *Checked Jun 5, 2026.* ### [GitHub Models](https://github.com/marketplace/models) Free for all GitHub accounts. OpenAI-compatible at `https://models.github.ai/inference`. Covers OpenAI, Anthropic, Llama, Mistral, DeepSeek, Grok, Phi. Rate limits vary per model (e.g. GPT-4o: 10 RPM/50 RPD; DeepSeek-R1: 15 RPM/150 RPD). Requires PAT with `models:read`. *Checked Jun 5, 2026.* ### [xAI Grok API](https://x.ai/api) $25 signup credits + $150/month via Data Sharing Program (eligible countries). Models: Grok 4, Grok 4.1 Fast (2M ctx), Grok Code Fast. OpenAI + Anthropic compatible. **Warning:** Data Sharing opt-in is irreversible and lets xAI train on your prompts. *Checked Jun 5, 2026.* ### [Mistral La Plateforme](https://console.mistral.ai) Free Experiment plan — up to ~1B tokens/month, no credit card (phone verification only). Models: Mistral Large 3, Medium 3, Small 3.1, Codestral, Pixtral, embeddings. OpenAI-compatible. *Checked Jun 5, 2026.* ### [Google Cloud Vertex AI](https://cloud.google.com/vertex-ai) $300 free credits for 90 days (new GCP customers). Not a recurring free tier. Models: Gemini 3 Pro/Flash, Anthropic Claude on Vertex, DeepSeek, GLM, Qwen via MaaS. Express Mode available without billing for limited evaluation quotas. *Checked Jun 5, 2026.* ### [Hugging Face Inference Providers](https://huggingface.co/docs/inference-providers) Routes across Together, Fireworks, Novita, Cerebras, Replicate, DeepInfra, Scaleway. Free: 100K monthly credits. PRO ($9/month): 2M credits. OpenAI-compatible at `https://router.huggingface.co/v1`. *Checked Jun 5, 2026.* ### [Cerebras Cloud](https://cloud.cerebras.ai) Wafer-scale chip inference. Free tier, no credit card. | Model | RPM | TPD | |---|---|---| | `gpt-oss-120b` | 30 | — | | `llama3.1-8b-instant` | 30 | 500K | | `qwen-3-235b-a22b-instruct-2507` | 30 | — | | `zai-glm-4.7` | 10 | — | 1M tokens/day shared cap. 8K context limit on free tier. *Checked Jun 5, 2026.* ### [BigModel.cn](https://www.bigmodel.cn/) Zhipu AI (智谱 AI). 25M free tokens for new users to explore the API, playground, and AGI apps. GLM-4.7-Flash and GLM-4.5-Flash are permanently free. > Referral: *Checked Jun 5, 2026.* ### [Fireworks AI](https://fireworks.ai) $1 starter credits. 50+ models. Function calling, MCP support. OpenAI-compatible. *Checked Jun 5, 2026.* ### [Scaleway Generative APIs](https://www.scaleway.com/en/generative-apis/) EU/GDPR, Paris. 1M free tokens for new customers (no time limit advertised). Models: Qwen3 (235B/397B/coder), Llama 3.3 70B, Mistral Small 3.2, DeepSeek R1 distill, Pixtral. *Checked Jun 5, 2026.* --- ## License Apache 2.0