Free models

OpenRouter free models, with fallback to another free model

Call a :free model by id. If its routes are rate limited or down, AnyRouter answers through anyrouter/free instead, with a different free model, and tells you which one.

Free tier docs BYOK anyrouter/free

What this is for

A free model on one route runs out at busy hours, and a script that retries the same route keeps failing. You want a different free model to answer without writing the retry yourself.

How the request flows

Steps, then copy

1.Call a :free model id with your AnyRouter key, as in the curl below. No provider key is needed and no credits are used.
2.Check the model field in the response, and the X-AnyRouter-Fallback header. When the header reads anyrouter/free, a different free model answered.
3.Optional: save your own OpenRouter key under Dashboard → BYOK → OpenRouter if you want :free requests to run on your OpenRouter account.

curl · which model answered

bash

curl -si https://anyrouter.dev/api/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ANYROUTER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "google/gemma-4-26b-a4b-it:free",
    "messages": [{ "role": "user", "content": "Say hello in one sentence." }]
  }' | grep -i -e x-anyrouter-fallback -e '"model"'

Good to know

The fallback is a different model. Pin another model, or check the header, if you need that exact one.

Limits

The fallback answers with a different free model. It does not raise OpenRouter's or any provider's limit.
Free requests allow 2400 a minute per API key and have no daily cap.
When every free route is busy, the request fails and you retry later.
Paid models on your own OpenRouter key bill your OpenRouter account at OpenRouter's price.

Ready to try it

The guide has the full walkthrough. Sign up if you still need a key.

Free tier docs Start free