Unofficial · not affiliated with any providerFree AI API credits, tracked weekly · Last updated: Oct 9, 2026
Last updated: · 7 entries
Free Chinese AI model APIs
Free tiers and limited-time promos for models from Chinese vendors (Alibaba Qwen, Zhipu GLM, StepFun, Meituan LongCat, Ant Ling and others), whether offered on the vendor's own platform or through a partner.
Unofficial, not affiliated with any provider; offers change often — check the official link.
Free use of Qwen 3.8 Max, Qwen 3.8 Flash and Wan3.0-video through GMI Cloud's OpenAI-compatible API during the promotion. Enterprise teams can also apply for voucher credits using a form on the same page.
Limits
Your account balance must be at least $10. The $10 isn't spent and stays in your balance. GMI raised rate limits on Oct 7, 2026 but hasn't published the exact numbers.
How to claim
Sign up at GMI Cloud → Make sure your balance is at least $10 (top up if you're new) → Call the models through the OpenAI-compatible API with your GMI key
Deadline / expiry
Oct 11, 2026 (per GMI's reply on X; timezone not stated)
Extended?
Yes. Free access was extended by 7 more days on Oct 7, 2026, with higher rate limits.
Commercial use?
Not specified. The offer is "for legitimate use only" and subject to GMI Cloud and Alibaba Cloud Terms of Service and Acceptable Use Policy.
During the promotion, calls to Qwen3.8-Flash in Qoder International products cost 0 Credits (the Credit rate drops from 0.1x to 0.0x). Free accounts and accounts with zero Credits qualify.
Limits
Only works inside Qoder products (Qoder IDE, JetBrains plugin, CLI, QoderWake, Cloud Agents, Mobile, web app); it isn't an exportable API. Individual accounts only; Teams and Enterprise are excluded. Qoder warns responses may be slower at peak times. Usage caps aren't published.
How to claim
Create or sign in to a Qoder International individual account → Select Qwen3.8-Flash as the model → Use it normally; nothing to claim
Deadline / expiry
Extended past Sep 30, 2026; Qoder says it will post the end date on the page in advance
Extended?
Yes. Originally ended Sep 30, 2026 23:59:59 (UTC+8).
Commercial use?
Not specified on the official page; check the provider's terms.
StepFun announced a week of free access to Step 5 Preview starting Oct 8, 2026 in coding tools including OpenCode, Cline, Nous Research (Nous Portal) and Kilo Code. Step 5 Preview is also listed on OpenRouter, but the announcement doesn't say OpenRouter access is free.
Limits
Free use happens inside the partner tools. Per-tool usage caps aren't published.
How to claim
Open one of the partner tools (OpenCode, Cline, Kilo Code or Nous Portal) → Select Step 5 Preview in the model picker → Use it during the free week
Deadline / expiry
About Oct 15, 2026 ("a week" from Oct 8; exact end time not published)
Extended?
No (as of this check)
Commercial use?
Not specified on the official page; check the provider's terms.
Alibaba Cloud Model Studio (Qwen): Qwen and other Model Studio models in the Singapore region (international deployment scope…
What's free
When you first activate Model Studio in the Singapore region, Alibaba Cloud gives you a separate free token quota for each eligible model (typically 1,000,000 tokens per model, input and output combined). Dated snapshot versions get their own quota.
Limits
The quota is valid for 90 days from activation, the model's release or your request approval, whichever is later. It covers real-time inference only (not batch, fine-tuning or deployment). Quotas are per model and aren't transferable. An Alibaba Cloud account and its RAM users share one quota, and re-registering doesn't grant a new one. Token Plan and Coding Plan keys don't use the free quota.
How to claim
Complete your Alibaba Cloud account information → Open Model Studio (Singapore) and accept the service agreement; the quota is granted automatically, usually within two hours → Check remaining quota on the model usage page (Free Quota tab) → Turn on "Free Quota Only" to stop the service instead of billing you when the quota runs out
Deadline / expiry
Quota expires 90 days after activation
Extended?
Validity was changed to 90 days for users activating from Sep 8, 2026 (03:00 UTC); earlier users are unaffected
Commercial use?
Not specified on the official page; check the provider's terms.
Card required?
The free-quota page doesn't say; you must complete your account information before activation.
Zhipu AI / Z.ai (GLM): GLM-4.7-Flash, GLM-4.5-Flash, GLM-4.6V-Flash (Z.ai); also GLM-4-Flash-250414, GLM-Z1-Flash…
What's free
Zhipu's international platform Z.ai lists GLM-4.7-Flash, GLM-4.5-Flash and GLM-4.6V-Flash as Free for input, cached input and output. The China platform (BigModel, bigmodel.cn) also lists several Flash models as 免费 (free), including the CogView-3-Flash image model and the CogVideoX-Flash video model.
Limits
Each model has a concurrency limit (simultaneous requests) that depends on your account level. You can see your limits in the console; the docs don't publish the numbers. Note that the "限时免费" (limited-time free) labels on BigModel's price table refer to cache storage on paid models, not to the models themselves.
How to claim
Create an account on Z.ai (international) or BigModel (China) → Create an API key in the console → Call a model listed as Free, such as glm-4.7-flash → Check your concurrency limit on the rate-limits page in the console
Deadline / expiry
Ongoing (no end date published)
Extended?
Not applicable
Commercial use?
Not specified on the official page; check the provider's terms.