UNIFYYou commented this keyword
FreeLLMAPI
Runs on your computer and combines free tiers from many AI providers into one OpenAI-compatible endpoint, switching providers when one hits its limit.
- macOS 12+ or Windows (desktop app), or Docker
- Free API keys from the providers you pick
- Setup
- 20 min
- Level
- Intermediate
- Stars
- 31.3k
- License
- MIT
What it does
Many AI labs offer a free tier with a small monthly allowance. FreeLLMAPI lets you add your free keys from many providers, then gives you one endpoint and one key. A router picks a model for each request and moves on to the next provider when one is rate-limited.
It also speaks Anthropic's message format, so Claude Code can run against your pool of free models. Your provider keys are stored encrypted on your own machine, and there is a dashboard to manage keys, test prompts and see usage.
Install it
- Easiest: download the desktop app from the Releases page. There is a macOS .dmg (pick arm64 for Apple Silicon or x64 for Intel) and a Windows .exe installer.
- Open the dashboard from the tray icon. On the Keys page, add API keys for the free providers you signed up for.
- Copy your unified API key from the Keys page header (or from the tray popover in the desktop app).
- To point Claude Code at it, run the setup command below with your unified key. It backs up your existing config before changing it.
Connect Claude Code
npx freellmapi setup-claude --url http://localhost:3001 --api-key <unified-key>
Alternative: run it with Docker
- If you have Docker, this one-liner sets up ~/freellmapi, creates an encryption key, pulls the image and starts it. You can read the script first at freellmapi.co/install.sh.
- Then open http://localhost:3001, create your account, and add keys on the Keys page.
Docker one-liner
curl -fsSL https://freellmapi.co/install.sh | bash
Use it
- Use the Playground page in the dashboard to send a test prompt and see which provider answered.
- Any app that accepts an OpenAI-compatible base URL can use it: set the base URL to http://localhost:3001/v1 and use your unified key.
- Use the model name "auto" to let the router choose.
Good to know
The README says this is for personal experimentation and learning, not production. Free tiers have no frontier models, latency varies, and quality can dip late in the day as top models hit their daily caps (they reset at UTC midnight).
The router is free and MIT-licensed. An optional Premium plan ($19/year or $49 once) only gets new models into your catalog the same day instead of 30 days later. Each provider's own terms still apply to you.
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