Short answer
As of November 12, 2026, official documentation describes free access to selected models through the Gemini Developer API, Groq API, and Cloudflare Workers AI. These are limited free tiers—not unlimited use of every model. The available Google pricing information confirms free tokens for certain models, but does not establish that gemini-3.8-flash is one of them. Groq documents free-plan quotas for two GPT-OSS models. Cloudflare provides a shared daily free allocation measured in Neurons. (developers.cloudflare.com)
| API | What the free offer covers | Important limits or conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Gemini Developer API | Google’s pricing information describes free input and output tokens for certain models. The evidence available here does not establish that gemini-3.8-flash qualifies, so check the pricing and project limits for the particular model before choosing it. |
Google does not give one universal quota in the pricing summary; limits are project- and model-specific. Google’s free-tier information says content may be used to improve its products. |
| Groq API | The Free Plan table lists openai/gpt-oss-120b and openai/gpt-oss-20b for text generation. |
For both listed models, the table shows 30 requests/minute, 1,000 requests/day, 8,000 tokens/minute, and 200,000 tokens/day. Limits apply at the organization level; check your account for exact limits and possible exceptions. (developers.cloudflare.com) |
| Cloudflare Workers AI | Workers AI has a shared allowance of 10,000 Neurons/day. The catalog lists @cf/meta/llama-3.2-1b-instruct with per-token pricing. Cloudflare’s pricing page names specific models that require paid billing; this model is not on that list, so it appears eligible for the shared free allocation. |
Neuron use depends on the model. Limits reset at 00:00 UTC; exceeding a limit on Workers Free causes further operations to fail. Usage above the allocation requires Workers Paid and is priced at $0.011 per 1,000 Neurons. (developers.cloudflare.com) |
Which one should you try?
- Try Groq if
openai/gpt-oss-120boropenai/gpt-oss-20bsuits your text workload and the published sample limits are enough. Your organization’s exact limits may differ. (developers.cloudflare.com) - Consider Cloudflare Workers AI if a daily compute allowance suits your workload.
@cf/meta/llama-3.2-1b-instructis listed with per-token pricing and is not among the models Cloudflare names as requiring paid billing. Check the model’s Neuron usage against your expected requests. (developers.cloudflare.com) - Consider Gemini only after confirming that the particular model you want is included in the free tier and checking its project-specific quota in AI Studio. The available pricing information does not establish free access for
gemini-3.8-flash.
What “free AI API” means
A free hosted API tier lets you send requests to a provider without an API usage charge, within its stated allowance. It does not necessarily include every model, unlimited requests, or terms suited to a production application.
That differs from free model weights or software. An open model or toolkit may be available without a license fee, but that alone does not provide a hosted API or remove the cost of hardware, hosting, and operations. A gateway’s free plan is another distinct offer: it covers access through that gateway, not necessarily free direct access from the model’s original provider.
Limits and costs to check
Gemini: Google describes free input and output tokens for certain models, with limited model access. Rate limits depend on the project; check the applicable model’s limits in Google AI Studio. Google’s free-tier information also says content may be used to improve its products. The available pricing information does not establish every account or regional eligibility condition, or whether gemini-3.8-flash is free; confirm the model and terms for your project before relying on it.
Groq: Don’t assume one model’s quota applies to every model. The official Free Plan table gives the same listed figures for openai/gpt-oss-120b and openai/gpt-oss-20b: 30 requests per minute, 1,000 per day, 8,000 tokens per minute, and 200,000 tokens per day. Groq says limits apply at the organization level and may have exceptions; consult your account’s limits page for the exact figures. (developers.cloudflare.com)
Cloudflare Workers AI: The documented free allocation is 10,000 Neurons per day. Limits reset daily at 00:00 UTC. On the Workers Free plan, if you exceed a limit, further operations fail with an error; they do not automatically continue as paid usage. To use more than the free allocation, Cloudflare says you need Workers Paid, where usage above the allowance is $0.011 per 1,000 Neurons. The pricing page lists models that require paid billing; @cf/meta/llama-3.2-1b-instruct is not among those named exceptions, though its consumption still counts against the shared allowance. (developers.cloudflare.com)
Is a free AI API suitable for production?
Possibly, if the specific model, quota, and service terms fit your application—but a $0 price is not evidence of production readiness. Before depending on a free tier, test your own requests and check the current model list, rate and daily limits, what happens at a cap, data-use terms, and any published availability or support commitments. Pricing and rate-limit pages establish specific allowances and restrictions; they do not, by themselves, establish that an option meets a particular production workload’s needs.
OpenAI’s API pricing documentation does not establish a generally free API tier. OpenAI separately documents API credits for eligible paid ChatGPT Pro and Business subscribers. That is a subscription-linked credit benefit, not a free API tier available to everyone. (developers.cloudflare.com)
Bottom line: Groq documents specific free model quotas; Cloudflare offers a shared daily Neuron allocation, with model-specific billing exceptions; and Google describes free access for certain models, but the available evidence does not confirm that gemini-3.8-flash is one of them. Choose based on the model and limits you can actually use—not the word “free” alone—and recheck the provider’s official pricing and limits before relying on the offer.
Sources
Gemini Developer API pricing — Google AI Studio
Pricing — Cloudflare Workers AI