Which AI providers have the best free tiers in 2026?

LockLLM offers one of the most generous free tiers, providing active users up to $1,000 in credits every month. Some other platforms offer free trial credits (for example, OpenAI gives new users a small one-time credit, and Google Cloud Vertex AI provides $300 in trial credits), but these are limited. LockLLM's ongoing monthly credits far surpass these one-off trials.

Is OpenAI the cheapest AI provider?

No. OpenAI's API pricing is relatively high compared to newer alternatives. While its models are powerful, the cost (often tens of dollars per million tokens) is higher than many competitors. Some providers like SiliconFlow or Mistral AI charge far less per token, and platforms like LockLLM even offer free credits that OpenAI doesn't.

How does LockLLM keep AI usage costs low?

LockLLM uses a reward system to grant free credits to active users, effectively subsidizing usage up to $1k each month. It also offers a bring-your-own-key (BYOK) option, meaning you pay model providers directly at base cost and LockLLM's layer is free unless it actively intervenes for security or optimization. Additionally, LockLLM can automatically route requests to cheaper models when appropriate, helping you save money while maintaining performance.

Can open-source models help me save money on AI?

Yes, using open-source AI models can dramatically reduce costs. For instance, you can deploy open models via platforms like Hugging Face or on your own hardware without paying per-call fees to a provider. The trade-off is that you need technical resources to host and maintain these models.

Top 6 Cheapest AI Providers in 2026: Cut Your AI Costs

Rising demand for AI is pushing developers and businesses to seek more cost-effective solutions. In 2026, AI service costs vary widely, with big-name providers often charging premium rates while new startups offer cut-rate alternatives. For those building an AI-powered application on a budget, finding the cheapest provider can mean the difference between turning a profit or running at a loss. The good news? There are now several affordable AI platforms that significantly undercut the prices of traditional options. Some even offer generous free usage tiers. (For example, one platform gives out up to $1,000 in credits every month to active users.)

In this post, we'll compare six of the cheapest AI providers in 2026 and what they offer. From free credit programs to ultra-low per-token pricing, these platforms are making advanced AI accessible without breaking the bank.

Link to section: 6 Cheapest AI Providers in 2026 (Comparison)6 Cheapest AI Providers in 2026 (Comparison)

Below we highlight six affordable AI service providers that stand out for their low pricing and value. Each of these options offers a unique way to save on AI integration, whether through free credits, low pay-as-you-go rates, or open-source advantages.

Link to section: 1. LockLLM: $1,000 Free Credits and Multi-Model Support1. LockLLM: $1,000 Free Credits and Multi-Model Support

LockLLM tops the list by essentially letting you use AI for free at reasonable volumes. It’s a unified LLM gateway service that supports 17+ model providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, Cohere, and more) via one API. What sets LockLLM apart is its pricing: a free tier that can scale up to $1,000 in credits per month for active users. This unique reward program means the more you use LockLLM (responsibly), the more free capacity you earn, drastically reducing your AI bill. New users also benefit from a free sign-up bonus and a first top-up match (for instance, adding $5 of credit gives you an extra $5 on the house).

LockLLM's cost-saving isn't just about credits. The platform offers a bring-your-own-key mode where you can use your own API keys for providers. In that case, LockLLM doesn't charge for forwarding requests unless it actually performs a value-added service (like blocking an attack or routing to a cheaper model). If your requests are safe, LockLLM essentially acts as a free passthrough, so you only pay the underlying provider's rate. This is a huge win for budget-conscious teams. On top of that, LockLLM includes built-in security scanning for prompt injection and other attacks at no extra cost, which can save you from potential fines or downtime. (We covered its security benefits in our OpenRouter alternatives post as well.) For developers and startups looking to cut costs while still accessing multiple AI models, LockLLM's combination of free usage and smart routing makes it an unbeatable choice.

Link to section: 2. SiliconFlow: Low-Cost AI Cloud with High Performance2. SiliconFlow: Low-Cost AI Cloud with High Performance

SiliconFlow is an all-in-one AI cloud platform that prides itself on industry-leading price-performance. If raw cost per token is your main concern, SiliconFlow is worth a look. It offers transparent pay-per-use pricing that can dip well below the typical rates of big providers. In fact, many models on SiliconFlow cost only a couple of dollars (or less) per million tokens, among the lowest pricing in the industry. They achieve this through highly optimized infrastructure and economies of scale. Benchmark tests have shown SiliconFlow delivering faster inference and lower latency than some major cloud AI services, which means you get more done with less compute time (further saving money).

This platform supports a wide range of models (500+ including both open-source and popular proprietary ones) behind a unified API that's compatible with OpenAI's format. Developers can switch to SiliconFlow without changing much code and immediately start saving on each request. SiliconFlow also provides flexible options like serverless GPU inference (pay only for what you use) or reserved instances at a discount for steady workloads. It doesn't have a large free tier, but its ultra-low pricing often ends up cheaper than "free" trials elsewhere once you scale beyond the tiny trial limits. For anyone needing scalable AI with minimal costs and without the hassle of managing their own servers, SiliconFlow is a top contender.

Link to section: 3. Mistral AI: Open-Source Models at Budget Prices3. Mistral AI: Open-Source Models at Budget Prices

Mistral AI takes a different approach: offering high-performance open-source language models through an API at extremely low cost. By focusing on open-weight models (which anyone can self-host if they choose), Mistral keeps licensing costs down and passes those savings to users. One of its flagship models, for example, is priced around $0.40 per million input tokens and $2.00 per million output tokens – a tiny fraction of what similar-capability models from the tech giants would cost. These low rates make Mistral AI’s offering very attractive for developers who need to process large volumes of text on a tight budget.

Because the models are open-source (and released under a permissive Apache 2.0 license), advanced users have the option to download and run them on their own infrastructure to avoid API costs entirely. But even if you use Mistral's hosted API, you're still looking at an order-of-magnitude cheaper bill compared to, say, using OpenAI's latest large model. The trade-off is that Mistral's model selection is smaller than what a general platform offers. They focus on their own models, which are tuned for cost-efficiency. However, for many applications (especially where you need a solid general-purpose model without the premium price tag), Mistral AI hits a sweet spot. It's essentially premium performance at budget pricing.

Link to section: 4. DeepSeek AI: Ultra-Low-Cost API for Code & Reasoning4. DeepSeek AI: Ultra-Low-Cost API for Code & Reasoning

DeepSeek AI has made a name by pushing the envelope on how cheaply AI models can be trained and served. Based in China, DeepSeek engineered its flagship LLM (called R1) at a reported 94% lower training cost than something like GPT-4, and this translates into dramatically cheaper usage fees for their API. DeepSeek’s models are optimized for coding assistance and complex reasoning tasks, and they’re offered at rates well below the usual market prices for those capabilities. This means if your project involves a lot of code generation or logical reasoning queries, DeepSeek could yield huge savings.

By innovating on training efficiency and infrastructure, DeepSeek passes those savings directly to customers. It's not uncommon for their pricing to come in at only a few dollars per million tokens, where equivalent usage on a major platform might be ten times more. They also support open-weight model options (some can be self-hosted later if needed), giving developers flexibility to reduce costs further. Being a newer entrant, you might find slightly less polish in their developer tools or documentation, but the cost benefits are hard to ignore. DeepSeek AI is ideal for teams who need serious AI muscle (especially for coding-related AI) without the serious costs.

Link to section: 5. Fireworks AI: Fast and Affordable Multimodal AI5. Fireworks AI: Fast and Affordable Multimodal AI

Fireworks AI stands out by combining speed with affordability, especially for multimodal tasks. This US-based platform optimized its hardware and inference engines to deliver ultra-low latency for AI models handling text, images, and audio. Why does speed matter for cost? Because if your model responds quicker, it uses less compute time per request, which often translates to a lower cost per query. Fireworks leverages custom optimizations so that you get real-time performance without paying a premium for it. Their pricing is highly competitive for tasks like image recognition, text generation, or even audio analysis, all under one roof.

For developers, Fireworks AI provides a unified API for different modalities, meaning you can build applications that combine vision, speech, and text AI easily. While their library of models might be smaller than giants like Hugging Face, it covers the most common needs with specialized models that are tuned for speed and efficiency. They also emphasize privacy and security, offering on-premises deployment options. So if you're an enterprise looking to keep data in-house, Fireworks supports that without extreme costs. In summary, Fireworks AI is a great choice if your application demands quick responses (like interactive chatbots or streaming media analysis) and you want to keep per-call costs low.

Link to section: 6. Hugging Face: Open-Source Model Hub (Maximizing Free Use)6. Hugging Face: Open-Source Model Hub (Maximizing Free Use)

Hugging Face isn’t just one provider. It’s an entire ecosystem known for hosting over 500,000 open-source AI models. While Hugging Face does offer paid enterprise solutions and hosted inference APIs, you can take advantage of their platform for little to no cost if you’re savvy. Many models on Hugging Face’s hub can be used for free: you can download them and run locally, or even use community-provided free inference endpoints for certain models. This means that if you have the technical skill (and hardware resources), you could integrate an AI model into your app without paying any API provider at all. The cost savings of open-source can be enormous. One analysis found using open models reduced inference costs by about 86% on average compared to proprietary options.

Even if you don't have your own servers, Hugging Face's paid options are flexible. You might choose a smaller, efficient model from the hub that suits your task, and run it on Hugging Face's infrastructure at a much lower rate than a large proprietary model elsewhere. They charge either per second of usage or via subscriptions for certain services, and you have full control over which model (and thus which cost level) you use. The trade-off is that navigating such a vast open-source collection requires some expertise. Performance can vary significantly across the massive model library, and you'll need to handle model selection and possibly fine-tuning to get the best results. But for those looking to maximize free and low-cost AI usage, Hugging Face is an indispensable resource that embodies the democratization of AI.

Link to section: Which Affordable AI Provider Is Best for You?Which Affordable AI Provider Is Best for You?

With so many low-cost AI options now available, how do you choose the right one for your needs? It really depends on your project’s priorities:

If you want a generous free tier and a simple way to access many models, LockLLM is the clear winner. It’s ideal for startups and developers who want to experiment widely without racking up a bill, and its security features are a bonus if you’re concerned about safe usage.

If your goal is absolutely minimal cost per token at scale, consider SiliconFlow or DeepSeek AI. SiliconFlow offers a broad platform and is easy to switch to for ongoing usage, whereas DeepSeek might suit you if your app is heavy on coding tasks and you want the lowest pricing there.

For those who have specific model needs or want more control, open-source solutions could be best. Mistral AI gives you proprietary models at open-source prices, and Hugging Face lets you tap into a huge range of models (potentially for free if you self-host). These are great if you have ML expertise on hand.

If you need a mix of modalities or ultra-fast responses (e.g. for a chatbot that also analyzes images), Fireworks AI is tailored to that scenario, saving costs through speed and covering multiple AI domains.

In short, the "best" cheap AI provider will vary. A small hobby project might thrive on Hugging Face's free offerings, while a SaaS startup might lean on LockLLM's credits or SiliconFlow's low rates to handle growing user demand. The key is to match the provider's strengths (free credits, lowest price, specific model access, etc.) to your application's needs.

Link to section: Key TakeawaysKey Takeaways

AI doesn’t have to be expensive in 2026. A range of new providers offer extremely affordable (even free) options for AI model access.

LockLLM leads in free usage, giving active users up to $1k in monthly credits and multi-provider access through one secure API.

Open-source and specialized platforms are driving costs down. Services like Mistral AI, DeepSeek, and SiliconFlow have per-token prices far below those of big-name APIs, some charging just cents per million tokens.

Choose based on your needs. The cheapest option for one project might be different for another. Be sure to consider free tier limits, pricing at your scale, model availability, and any extra features when selecting an AI provider.

Link to section: Next StepsNext Steps

Ready to supercharge your AI project without breaking the bank? You can get started with LockLLM in minutes. Simply sign up for free to claim your welcome credits and see how much you save. Check out our pricing details for the full breakdown of the free tier and rewards. If you’re integrating an AI API for the first time, visit our integration guide for a step-by-step tutorial. With the right platform, you’ll be able to build, experiment, and scale your AI application affordably. Happy building!