Breaking

Six free AI API tiers still shared by developers — GitHub Models already retired, Groq Llama 3.3 70B exits Aug. 16

August 12, 2026 at 06:50 EDT

Foundation Models
Software Dev & Coding
Open Source

A widely circulated shortlist of six no-cost AI APIs is back in developer feeds, but official documentation shows a more complicated picture: one entry is already shut down, another flagship free model is days from removal, and the remaining free tiers remain tightly rate-limited for real workloads.

Aug 2026 · Free AI APIs

Six free AI API tiers, two hard stop signs

Developer shortlists still name Groq, Gemini, Mistral, Pollinations, GitHub Models, and Hugging Face. Official docs show GitHub Models is already offline and Groq’s Llama 3.3 70B free ID is days from shutdown.

Groq free daily requests — small model vs Llama 3.3 70B

14.4K

Llama 3.1 8B Instant
RPD

Llama 3.3 70B Versatile
RPD

Same 30 RPM floor — but the 70B free daily request budget is about 14× smaller. Both IDs shut down Aug 16, 2026 on free/developer tiers.

Names in circulating free-tier roundups

Jul 30

GitHub Models fully retired (2026)

Aug 16

Groq Llama 3.3 70B free shutdown

$0.10

Hugging Face free monthly credits

Still useful free paths

Gemini free-of-charge tokens on eligible models
Mistral Free plan with $10/mo API credits
Pollinations free Pollen via Quests
HF Inference Providers $0.10 credits

Hard limits & landmines

GitHub Models API already gone
Groq 70B free ID ends Aug 16
TPM often throttles before RPD
Free catalogs and caps change without long notice

Before you hard-code a free endpoint

1. Check live docs → 2. Read TPM & RPD → 3. Dual-home models → 4. Plan paid fallback

Treat free capacity as evaluation infrastructure, not a permanent production SLA.

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