# Free Chinese AI API (markdown mirror)

Source: https://aiapi-pro.com/free/index.html

Five Chinese models are free to call through one OpenAI-compatible endpoint: 10 free-model calls per day, 5 requests per minute, no credit card, no deposit, no phone number.

## The free models

| Model | Type | Context | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| `glm-4.7-flash` | Text | 202K | Zhipu's production flash tier |
| `glm-4.1v-thinking-flash` | Text (reasoning) | 128K | Visible reasoning steps |
| `glm-4.6v-flash` | Text + vision | — | Image URL or base64 in messages |
| `cogview-3-flash` | Image generation | — | Text-to-image, returns image URLs |
| `cogvideox-flash` | Video generation | — | Text-to-video, 5 free generations/day |

Limits: 10 free-model calls/day, 5 requests/min, reset 00:00 UTC+8, 5 free video generations/day.
Machine-readable verification: https://aiapi-pro.com/transparency.json and /transparency.html.

## One request

```bash
curl https://aiapi-pro.com/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $NOVAI_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"model":"glm-4.7-flash","messages":[{"role":"user","content":"Hello"}]}'
```

Any OpenAI SDK works: `base_url = https://aiapi-pro.com/v1`, model id from the table. Keys start with `nvai-`.

## What free means here

These are the providers' own Flash tiers served through official endpoints, not demos and not a time-limited promotion. The free tier has a daily call cap; the models are production Flash models. Paid usage is provider list price with a 1.0 multiplier (0% platform markup).

## When the cap is not enough

A one-time top-up removes the free-tier cap and raises the limit to 60 requests/min; the first top-up carries a 25% bonus. Live rate card: https://aiapi-pro.com/china-ai-leaderboard.json

## FAQ

**Is the free tier really free — no card, no deposit?**
Yes. Five models are free to call: glm-4.7-flash, glm-4.6v-flash, glm-4.1v-thinking-flash, cogview-3-flash (image) and cogvideox-flash (video). You need an email account and an API key, but no credit card, deposit or phone number.

**What are the limits?**
10 free-model calls per day and 5 requests per minute on the free tier, resetting at 00:00 UTC+8. Free video generations are capped at 5 per day. Paid models are separate and optional.

**What happens when I hit the daily limit?**
Requests to free models return a 429 until the next reset. A one-time top-up removes the free-tier cap and unlocks 60 requests per minute; the first top-up also carries a 25% bonus.

**Are the free models full-size models?**
They are the providers' own Flash tiers, not demos: GLM-4.7-Flash and GLM-4.1V-Thinking-Flash are Zhipu's production flash models, CogView3-Flash is an image model and CogVideoX-Flash is a video model. Larger flagship models are available on the paid catalog.