Free-tier rate limits tracker
Provider free tiers are metered on several axes at once and the numbers change with each model release. This page keeps the current values where a provider publishes them, links the source, and explains how each provider tells you which limit you hit. Last verified 2026-09-16.
Groq — Free plan
Per model. Groq returns 429 (rate over time) or 413 (single request over the per-minute budget); headers x-ratelimit-remaining-requests (daily) and x-ratelimit-remaining-tokens (per minute) are on every response. Developer-tier upgrades were paused ("temporarily unavailable due to high demand") at verification time.
| Model | RPM | RPD | TPM | TPD | Audio / hr | Audio / day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
openai/gpt-oss-120b | 30 | 1,000 | 8,000 | 200,000 | — | — |
openai/gpt-oss-20b | 30 | 1,000 | 8,000 | 200,000 | — | — |
qwen/qwen3.8-27b | 30 | 1,000 | 8,000 | 200,000 | — | — |
groq/compound | 30 | 250 | 70,000 | — | — | — |
groq/compound-mini | 30 | 250 | 70,000 | — | — | — |
whisper-large-v3-turbo | 20 | 2,000 | — | — | 7,200 s | 28,800 s |
whisper-large-v3 | 20 | 2,000 | — | — | 7,200 s | 28,800 s |
canopylabs/orpheus-v1-english | 10 | 100 | 1,200 | 3,600 | — | — |
Source: Groq rate limits. Entries: 429, 413, upgrade unavailable.
Google Gemini API — Free tier
Per model and per project: RPM, TPM and RPD. Google changes the numbers with each model release and publishes them in one table, so we link rather than copy them. The error is 429 with status: RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED; details[].quotaId names the window and retryDelay is set for per-minute quotas. Daily quotas reset at midnight Pacific. Attaching billing moves the project to Tier 1 immediately.
Source: Gemini rate limits. Entry: 429 RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED.
OpenAI — Usage tiers
OpenAI has no free API tier; limits scale with cumulative spend through Tiers 1–5, per model, on RPM, TPM and (for some models) requests per day. Two different 429s exist: rate_limit_exceeded (back off; headers x-ratelimit-remaining-* and retry-after) and insufficient_quota (the account is out of credit; retrying is pointless).
Source: OpenAI rate limits.
OpenRouter — Free models
Models with a :free suffix are limited per account by requests per minute and per day, with a higher daily allowance once the account has purchased credits. Paid models are limited by credit balance rather than by request counts. The error is 429; 402 means insufficient credits.
Source: OpenRouter limits.
Inference APIs
No free-tier caps and no tiers to unlock. Usage is limited by prepaid balance; requests return 402 insufficient_balance when it reaches zero. A per-key burst limit exists to protect the service and is well above interactive use; see pricing.
Reading which limit you hit
| Provider | Where the answer is | Per-minute → wait | Per-day → do not wait |
|---|---|---|---|
| Groq | error message ("tokens per minute" / "requests per day"); headers | retry-after | x-ratelimit-reset-requests |
| Gemini | details[].violations[].quotaId | retryDelay | quotaId contains PerDay |
| OpenAI | error.code | rate_limit_exceeded + retry-after | insufficient_quota (add credit) |
| OpenRouter | HTTP status | 429 | 402 (add credits) |
Values are copied from provider documentation on the verification date and re-checked when providers announce changes. If you see a different number in your console, tell us.