Free LLM APIs · checked 2026-10-22
Cerebras: what “free” actually gets you
Cerebras serves open models on its wafer-scale chips, very fast. It's often listed among free LLM APIs, but its own documentation says there is no permanently free tier: what you get is a trial.
- Free allowance
- $5 of credits, expiring after 30 days
- Card needed
- Yes
- Trains on prompts
- Not stated on the pages we checked
- Main catch
- A trial, not a free tier
- Base URL
https://api.cerebras.ai/v1
Limits
- Free-trial limits for gpt-oss-120b and qwen-3.8-27b: 5 requests per minute, 30,000 uncached tokens per minute, 1 million tokens per hour and per day.
The fine print
- API access stays inactive until you add a verified payment method. Then you get $5 of credits.
- The credits expire 30 days after they are granted. After that, or once they're spent, you buy credits to continue.
- Cerebras states there is no permanently free tier and no allowance that renews.
Your data
- The rate-limit page doesn't cover retention or training. Read Cerebras's terms before sending anything sensitive.
Get started
- Create an account at cloud.cerebras.ai and add a payment method.
- Use base URL https://api.cerebras.ai/v1 with an OpenAI-compatible client.
Questions
- Is the Cerebras API free?
- Not permanently. New accounts get $5 of credits after adding a payment method, and they expire after 30 days.
- Do I need a credit card for Cerebras?
- Yes. Without a verified payment method the API and the playground stay inactive.
Sources
Read on 2026-10-22. Providers change limits and terms often; the linked pages are what applies.
Which free models are worth using today, and who serves them: state of free LLM APIs and the open ranking on GitHub. One endpoint across free models, with your own Groq or OpenRouter key if you have one: ZeroLimitAI.