> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/cheahjs/free-llm-api-resources/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# OpenRouter

> Free tier access to multiple open-source LLM models with shared quota

<Note>
  OpenRouter provides free access to various open-source models with a shared quota system.
</Note>

## Overview

OpenRouter offers a generous free tier that allows you to access multiple state-of-the-art open-source language models through a single API endpoint.

## Rate Limits

<Warning>
  All models share a common quota on the free tier.
</Warning>

| Limit Type          | Free Tier | With \$10 Lifetime Top-up |
| ------------------- | --------- | ------------------------- |
| Requests per minute | 20        | 20                        |
| Requests per day    | 50        | Up to 1,000               |

<Info>
  [Full rate limit documentation](https://openrouter.ai/docs/api-reference/limits)
</Info>

## Available Models

OpenRouter provides free access to the following models:

### Featured Models

* **Gemma 3 12B Instruct** - [View model](https://openrouter.ai/google/gemma-3-12b-it:free)
* **Gemma 3 27B Instruct** - [View model](https://openrouter.ai/google/gemma-3-27b-it:free)
* **Gemma 3 4B Instruct** - [View model](https://openrouter.ai/google/gemma-3-4b-it:free)
* **Hermes 3 Llama 3.1 405B** - [View model](https://openrouter.ai/nousresearch/hermes-3-llama-3.1-405b:free)
* **Llama 3.2 3B Instruct** - [View model](https://openrouter.ai/meta-llama/llama-3.2-3b-instruct:free)
* **Llama 3.3 70B Instruct** - [View model](https://openrouter.ai/meta-llama/llama-3.3-70b-instruct:free)
* **Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct** - [View model](https://openrouter.ai/mistralai/mistral-small-3.1-24b-instruct:free)

### Additional Free Models

* arcee-ai/trinity-large-preview:free
* arcee-ai/trinity-mini:free
* cognitivecomputations/dolphin-mistral-24b-venice-edition:free
* google/gemma-3n-e2b-it:free
* google/gemma-3n-e4b-it:free
* liquid/lfm-2.5-1.2b-instruct:free
* liquid/lfm-2.5-1.2b-thinking:free
* nvidia/nemotron-3-nano-30b-a3b:free
* nvidia/nemotron-nano-12b-v2-vl:free
* nvidia/nemotron-nano-9b-v2:free
* openai/gpt-oss-120b:free
* openai/gpt-oss-20b:free
* qwen/qwen3-4b:free
* qwen/qwen3-coder:free
* qwen/qwen3-next-80b-a3b-instruct:free
* stepfun/step-3.5-flash:free
* z-ai/glm-4.5-air:free

## API Usage

<CodeGroup>
  ```python Python theme={null}
  import openai

  client = openai.OpenAI(
      base_url="https://openrouter.ai/api/v1",
      api_key="YOUR_OPENROUTER_API_KEY"
  )

  response = client.chat.completions.create(
      model="meta-llama/llama-3.3-70b-instruct:free",
      messages=[
          {"role": "user", "content": "Hello, how are you?"}
      ]
  )

  print(response.choices[0].message.content)
  ```

  ```javascript JavaScript theme={null}
  import OpenAI from 'openai';

  const client = new OpenAI({
      baseURL: 'https://openrouter.ai/api/v1',
      apiKey: process.env.OPENROUTER_API_KEY
  });

  const response = await client.chat.completions.create({
      model: 'meta-llama/llama-3.3-70b-instruct:free',
      messages: [
          { role: 'user', content: 'Hello, how are you?' }
      ]
  });

  console.log(response.choices[0].message.content);
  ```

  ```bash cURL theme={null}
  curl https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/chat/completions \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_OPENROUTER_API_KEY" \
    -d '{
      "model": "meta-llama/llama-3.3-70b-instruct:free",
      "messages": [
        {"role": "user", "content": "Hello, how are you?"}
      ]
    }'
  ```
</CodeGroup>

## Getting Started

<Steps>
  <Step title="Create an Account">
    Sign up at [OpenRouter](https://openrouter.ai)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Get API Key">
    Navigate to your dashboard and generate an API key
  </Step>

  <Step title="Start Making Requests">
    Use the API key with the OpenAI-compatible endpoint
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Additional Resources

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="OpenRouter Documentation" icon="book" href="https://openrouter.ai/docs">
    Official API documentation
  </Card>

  <Card title="Model Catalog" icon="database" href="https://openrouter.ai/models">
    Browse all available models
  </Card>
</CardGroup>