{"rid":"inference/openrouter-free-ids","card":{"rid":"inference/openrouter-free-ids","eid":"openrouter","topic":"inference","slug":"openrouter-free-ids","provider":"OpenRouter :free model ids","url":"https://openrouter.ai/api/v1","domain":"openrouter.ai","category":"inference endpoint, keyed","tier":null,"verdict":"qualifies-with-caveat","vorder":1,"grp":"usable","confidence":"documented","binding":"request-rate","identity_kind":"email","identity_basis":"stated","needs_card":0,"needs_phone":0,"needs_id":0,"needs_institution":0,"country":null,"crypto":null,"interfaces":"rest","egress_metered":0,"per_object_bytes":null,"retention_days":null,"verified_at":"2026-10-22T04:32:22.000Z","verified_basis":"live","checked_on":"2026-10-23","stale_on":"2026-11-22","n_evidence":2,"usd_month":null,"usd_per_tb_month":null,"summary":"free-model request caps stated for model IDs ending in :free, selected by all-time credits purchased","duplicate_of":null,"n_unknown":2},"record":{"topic":"inference","per_object_cap":{"stated":"not applicable: an inference endpoint stores nothing for the caller"},"retention":{"stated":"not applicable"},"egress":{"terms":"the response is the payload; no separate egress term is published","metered":false},"interface":["rest"],"tooling":"any OpenAI-compatible client; curl against POST {base}/chat/completions","chaining":"pairs with an agent after a key; the scarce link is the key plus the ':free' suffix, because a zero-priced id without the suffix is a different quota class","limits":[{"kind":"request-rate","value":"per-minute and per-day caps for :free ids, both selected by all-time credits purchased; the values did not render","source":"https://openrouter.ai/docs/api-reference/limits, read 2026-10-22"}],"slug":"openrouter-free-ids","provider":"OpenRouter :free model ids","url":"https://openrouter.ai/api/v1","category":"inference endpoint, keyed","free_tier":{"stated":"free-model request caps stated for model IDs ending in :free, selected by all-time credits purchased","unit":"requests","metered_on":"request-count","source_url":"https://openrouter.ai/docs/api-reference/limits","read_on":"2026-10-22","notes":"the two thresholds and their request caps render as empty cells in the served page, so the table's numbers could not be read today"},"endpoint":"https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/chat/completions","identity_cost":{"kind":"email","detail":"an account and an API key. An unauthenticated call returns 401 'No cookie auth credentials found'","country":null},"reliability_note":"no reliability event; the endpoint was never reached with a key","confidence":"documented","confidence_note":"the gating rule and the response fields are documented. The caps are not readable, so no number is carried. A key would move this to measured in one call. verified_at is the instant its evidence URLs were fetched on 2026-10-22, read from the fetch log, not typed.","evidence":[{"url":"https://openrouter.ai/docs/api-reference/limits","date":"2026-10-22","proved":"free-model limits apply only to IDs ending in :free; the tier is selected by all-time credits purchased; GET /api/v1/key reports free_model_daily_requests with a limit field; the per-minute cap is not reported there"},{"url":"probe:https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/chat/completions","date":"2026-10-22","proved":"inclusionai/ling-3.1-flash without a key returned 401 'No cookie auth credentials found' in both runs, which proves the endpoint exists and gates on a key"}],"verdict":"qualifies-with-caveat","verified_at":"2026-10-22T04:32:22.000Z","notes":"That distinction is the most misread thing about this provider.","binding":"request-rate"},"claims":[{"path":"$.free_tier.stated","kind":"free-quota","num":null,"unit":null,"per":null,"currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"unparsed"},{"path":"$.limits[0].value","kind":"limit:request-rate","num":null,"unit":null,"per":null,"currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"unparsed"}],"unknown":[["$.notes","partly-held"],["$.retention.stated","not-applicable"]],"history":[],"drift":[]}