AI Perks curates and provides access to exclusive discounts, credits, and deals on AI tools, cloud services, and APIs to help startups and developers save money.
Which free AI API keys can students use in 2026?
Gemini, Mistral, Groq and Cohere all have free tiers or keys with real limits. For a bigger budget, the catalogue lists $350,000 in Google Cloud credits, with smaller student amounts alongside.
Free tiers are enough for a class project or a prototype. They are not enough for a demo that real users hit all day, and that is where credits matter. Each card in the AI Perks catalogue shows who qualifies and how to claim, so open one and start your trial instead of guessing.
AI Perks tracks more student and educator offers than this article can list. This guide covers the free keys first, then the limits that trip people up, then the credits that lift them.
Top AI Credits for Startups
Apply directly through these verified programs.
Anthropic $20,000
Eligible for early-stage startups
ChatGPT $80
Eligible for early-stage startups
Google Gemini $240
Eligible for early-stage startups
GitHub Up to $120
Eligible for early-stage startups
Notion $120
Eligible for early-stage startups
Figma $1,080
Eligible for early-stage startups
What does each free tier give you?
Here is what the provider docs say, side by side. "Not published" means the provider's docs do not state it.
| Provider | Free access | Payment method | Key limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini API | Free tier with limited access to certain models | Billing must be set up to move to a paid tier | Exact limits shown in AI Studio, not guaranteed |
| Mistral API | Free mode, default for new accounts | No credit card required | Lowest limits, meant for evaluation and prototyping |
| Groq | Free tier | Valid payment method needed to upgrade to Developer | Organization-level limits, 429 error when exceeded |
| Cohere | Free trial key for all models and APIs | Not published | 1,000 API calls a month |
| GitHub Models | Retired | n/a | No longer available |
If you only need a free LLM API for a weekend build, any of the first four will do. The differences show up when you hit a wall, so read the next sections before you pick one.
How does the free Gemini API key work?
Google says you can start building free of charge with generous limits, then scale up. The free tier lists free input and output tokens, but with limited access to certain models. The flagship Gemini 4 Argon is not available on it.
A few specifics help you plan:
- Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite has free-of-charge input on the free tier. Its paid input price is $0.30 per 1M tokens.
- Gemini 3.5 Live Translate is a real-time speech-to-speech translation model with 70+ languages, and its free-tier price is listed as free of charge.
- The paid tier adds a Batch API with a 50% cost reduction.
There is one privacy tradeoff. On the free tier, your content is used to improve Google's products. Do not send anything sensitive, such as other students' data or a client's code, through a free key.
Gemini rate limits you should know before you build
Exact free-tier limits are not listed on the docs page. You view your active rate limits in AI Studio, and Google says specified limits are not guaranteed and actual capacity may vary. Limits are tighter for experimental and preview models.
Three rules save you debugging time. Limits apply per project, not per API key, so a second key in the same project does not give you more room. Daily request quotas reset at midnight Pacific time. And the Contributor Tier is invite-only private preview, so you cannot sign up for it directly.
Moving up means setting up billing first. Tier 1 requires an active linked billing account. Tier 2 requires $100 paid plus a 3-day wait after your first successful payment, and Google offers no guarantee that a limit increase request is approved.
Want to skip the billing step? The Google Cloud card lists $350,000 for Vertex AI and Gemini. Open it to see who qualifies and how to claim.
Top AI Credits for Startups
Apply directly through these verified programs.
Anthropic $20,000
Eligible for early-stage startups
ChatGPT $80
Eligible for early-stage startups
Google Gemini $240
Eligible for early-stage startups
GitHub Up to $120
Eligible for early-stage startups
Notion $120
Eligible for early-stage startups
Figma $1,080
Eligible for early-stage startups
What about the Mistral, Groq and Cohere free tiers?
Mistral is the simplest to start. API access is enabled by default with no credit card required, and free mode lets you create keys and use included monthly usage within the limits on the Limits page. Free mode has the lowest limits, so treat it as a prototyping tier.
One gotcha: adding prepaid credits does not raise Mistral rate limits. Tiers rise only with cumulative billed usage. For a student budget, the catalogue lists up to $108 in Mistral AI credits, and the card explains who can claim it.
Groq has a Free tier, and upgrading to Developer needs a valid payment method: a credit card, US bank account or SEPA debit account. Groq says it occasionally gives promotional credits, for example at hackathons and special events. If you exceed a rate limit, the API returns a 429 Too Many Requests error, and limits apply to the whole organization, not to individual users. That matters if your team shares one org.
Developer plan billing for new users is progressive. An invoice triggers when cumulative usage reaches $1, $10, $100, $500 and $1,000.
Cohere offers free but limited evaluation keys and paid production keys. Trial keys cover all of Cohere's models and APIs after you sign up, and are capped at 1,000 API calls a month. That is plenty for a notebook and thin for a demo with users.
What happened to GitHub Models?
GitHub Models was fully retired on July 30, 2026. The playground, model catalog, inference API and bring your own key are no longer available to any customer. If an older tutorial tells you to use it, skip that tutorial.
If you relied on it for free model access, switch to one of the free keys above. For a larger budget, the catalogue lists up to $50,000 in Together AI credits. The card shows who qualifies and how to claim.
Top AI Credits for Startups
Apply directly through these verified programs.
Anthropic $20,000
Eligible for early-stage startups
ChatGPT $80
Eligible for early-stage startups
Google Gemini $240
Eligible for early-stage startups
GitHub Up to $120
Eligible for early-stage startups
Notion $120
Eligible for early-stage startups
Figma $1,080
Eligible for early-stage startups
Where do bigger free API credits come from?
Free tiers cap you at a handful of calls. Credits let you run real evaluations, fine-tune and ship a demo. These are the amounts the catalogue lists, each linked to the card where you can start.
The catalogue includes $20,000 in Anthropic API credits, up to $3,000 in OpenRouter credits, $100 for OpenAI Codex (students) and $100 in Microsoft Azure credits for students, alongside the Google Cloud, Together AI and Mistral amounts above.
| Company | Free credits | How to get |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropic API | $20,000 | Get this perk |
| OpenRouter | Up to $3,000 | Get this perk |
| OpenAI Codex (students) | $100 | Get this perk |
| Microsoft Azure (students) | $100 | Get this perk |
| Together AI | Up to $50,000 | Get this perk |
| Mistral AI | Up to $108 | Get this perk |
| Google Cloud | $350,000 | Get this perk |
Total: up to $423,308 in free credits across these seven perks ($20,000 + $3,000 + $100 + $100 + $50,000 + $108 + $350,000).
Most students will not need anywhere near that. A $100 credit already covers far more calls than a free key allows, and the larger amounts matter once a project has users or needs fine-tuning.
How do you get started step by step?
Follow these steps in order. They take a free key from a first test call to a project with a real budget.
- Get credits through AI Perks. Open getaiperks.com, browse the catalogue of 193 companies and 230+ perks, and open the card for the API you want. The card shows who qualifies and how to claim, and it is where you start your trial.
- Create a free key as a baseline. Mistral needs no credit card, and Cohere gives a trial key for all its models. Use one of these to confirm your code works before you spend anything.
- Check your limits. On Gemini, open AI Studio to see your active rate limits. On Groq, remember that limits apply to the whole organization, so a shared team org shares one allowance.
- Handle errors in your code. A
429 Too Many Requestsresponse means you hit a rate limit. Slow your requests down instead of creating more keys, since Gemini limits apply per project, not per key. - Move up when the free tier stops fitting. If you need more than 1,000 Cohere calls a month, or a demo that runs all day, switch to a credit-funded account rather than a paid one.
Top AI Credits for Startups
Apply directly through these verified programs.
Anthropic $20,000
Eligible for early-stage startups
ChatGPT $80
Eligible for early-stage startups
Google Gemini $240
Eligible for early-stage startups
GitHub Up to $120
Eligible for early-stage startups
Notion $120
Eligible for early-stage startups
Figma $1,080
Eligible for early-stage startups
FAQ
Is the Gemini API free for students?
Gemini has a free tier with limited access to certain models, and Google says its limits are not guaranteed. It is not a student-specific offer. For a larger budget, the catalogue lists $350,000 in Google Cloud credits, and the card shows who qualifies and how to claim.
Do I need a credit card for a free Mistral API key?
No. Mistral enables API access by default with no credit card required, and free mode lets you create keys and use included monthly usage. It has the lowest limits, so it suits prototyping. Adding prepaid credits does not raise rate limits; only cumulative billed usage moves you up a tier.
How much can I do with a free Cohere key?
Trial keys cover all of Cohere's models and APIs but are capped at 1,000 API calls a month. That works for a notebook or a class assignment. For a demo with real users, browse the credit perks at getaiperks.com and compare amounts before you pay for a production key.
Can I still use GitHub Models for free?
No. GitHub Models was fully retired on July 30, 2026, including the playground, model catalog, inference API and bring your own key. It is no longer available to any customer. Switch to a free key above, or look at up to $50,000 in Together AI credits.
Why does Groq return a 429 error?
The 429 Too Many Requests error means you exceeded a rate limit. Groq applies limits to the whole organization, not to individual users, so teammates sharing one org share the same allowance. Slow your requests down, or upgrade to Developer with a valid payment method.
Where do I find the largest free AI credits?
Open the full catalogue at getaiperks.com. It tracks 193 companies and 230+ perks, with amounts from $100 up to $350,000 on the cards in this guide. Each card shows who qualifies and how to claim, so you can compare before you start a trial.
Ready to move past the free tier?
Free keys get you started, but credits are what let a student project grow into something people can actually use. Pick the API you need, open its card and see what is available.
Get free AI credits at getaiperks.com →
Browse every free AI credit and API key perk in one place at getaiperks.com.
