Reunimos fuentes primarias útiles para solicitud, configuración, seguridad y cambios de acceso gratuito. Indicamos el idioma original de cada artículo.
No presentamos un original sin traducir como si fuera un artículo en español.
Una lista para desarrolladores: verificar el acceso gratuito, la evidencia de pruebas y los límites operativos antes de depender de un proveedor.
Una prueba práctica de compatibilidad: forma de la petición, semántica de respuesta, errores, límites y las funciones que tu aplicación usa de verdad.
Compara APIs gratuitas por acceso verificado, límites utilizables, compatibilidad, comportamiento ante fallos y riesgo de cambio; no por el tamaño del catálogo.
Distingue lanzamientos, vistas previas, cambios de alias y avisos de cierre, y migra con una prueba de contrato reproducible.
Registro de los lanzamientos de agosto de 2026, actualizado con la documentación oficial actual: verifica IDs, interfaces, límites de cuenta y pruebas representativas antes de migrar.
OpenRouter identifica ahora Ox Alpha como Z.AI GLM-5.3-Flash. Antes de usarlo, vuelve a comprobar la ruta del modelo, el precio y las condiciones de retención de datos.
Separa el estado del agente, el enrutamiento de modelos, los permisos de herramientas y las claves API para que un fallo o cambio de cuota no detenga todo el flujo.
Selecciona API multimodales por entradas, salidas, transporte y requisitos de fallback, no por una clasificación de modelos de texto.
XingChen: Xing4.0 29B A4B (free) (xingchen-agi/xing4.0-29b-a4b:free) was detected with zero prompt, completion and request pricing in the official OpenRouter catalog. Review the access paths before building on it.
NVIDIA: Nemotron 3.5 Super VL (free) (nvidia/nemotron-3.5-super-vl:free) was detected with zero prompt, completion and request pricing in the official OpenRouter catalog. Review the access paths before building on it.
inclusionAI: Ling 3.1 Flash (inclusionai/ling-3.1-flash) was detected with zero prompt, completion and request pricing in the official OpenRouter catalog. Review the access paths before building on it.
Apodex: Apodex 1.1 Mini (free) (apodex/apodex-1.1-mini:free) was detected with zero prompt, completion and request pricing in the official OpenRouter catalog. Review the access paths before building on it.
Space Bunny Alpha (stealth/space-bunny-alpha) was detected with zero prompt, completion and request pricing in the official OpenRouter catalog. Review the access paths before building on it.
DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 (free) (deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash-0731:free) was detected with zero prompt, completion and request pricing in the official OpenRouter catalog. Review the access paths before building on it.
Qwen: Qwen3.8 27B (free) (qwen/qwen3.8-27b:free) was detected with zero prompt, completion and request pricing in the official OpenRouter catalog. Review the access paths before building on it.
Union Alpha (stealth/union-alpha) was detected with zero prompt, completion and request pricing in the official OpenRouter catalog. Review the access paths before building on it.
Z.ai: GLM 5.2 (free) (z-ai/glm-5.2:free) was detected with zero prompt, completion and request pricing in the official OpenRouter catalog. Review the access paths before building on it.
inclusionAI: Ling 3.0 Flash VL (free) (inclusionai/ling-3.0-flash-vl:free) was detected with zero prompt, completion and request pricing in the official OpenRouter catalog. Review the access paths before building on it.
OpenRouter has added two new models from Nex AGI, Nex-N2.5-Mini and Nex-N2.5-Pro, to its free API tier.
Nex AGI: Nex-N2.5-Pro (free) (nex-agi/nex-n2.5-pro:free) was detected with zero prompt, completion and request pricing in the official OpenRouter catalog. Review the access paths before building on it.
Nex AGI: Nex-N2.5-Mini (free) (nex-agi/nex-n2.5-mini:free) was detected with zero prompt, completion and request pricing in the official OpenRouter catalog. Review the access paths before building on it.
OpenRouter has added the inclusionAI Ling 3.0 Flash Sante model to its API catalog. The model is available with a free tier and supports a context length of 262,144 tokens.
inclusionAI: Ling 3.0 Flash Sante (free) (inclusionai/ling-3.0-flash-sante:free) was detected with zero prompt, completion and request pricing in the official OpenRouter catalog. Review the access paths before building on it.
Groq has added the Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B model to its list of supported preview models, with a token speed of 450 tps, a context window of 131,042 tokens, and a maximum completion length of 16,384 tokens.
The Ox Alpha preview has changed: OpenRouter now identifies it as Z.AI GLM-5.3-Flash. Recheck the model route, price and data-retention terms before using it.
A record of the August 2026 releases, refreshed with current official model guidance: verify model IDs, interfaces, account limits and workload tests before migrating.
Select multimodal APIs by input, output, transport and fallback requirements—not by a text-model leaderboard.
Separate agent state, model routing, tool permissions and API keys so a provider outage or quota change does not stop the whole workflow.
Separate launches, previews, alias changes and shutdown notices, then migrate an AI application with a reproducible contract test.
OpenRouter has added the LiquidAI LFM2.5-2.6B model to its free API access list, providing developers with a new zero-cost option for inference tasks.
OpenRouter has added Z.ai GLM 5.2 as a free model option, providing developers with access to this model without cost via the OpenRouter API.
OpenRouter has added the Dots Studio Dots3-Note Preview model to its free API access list. The model supports a context length of 512,000 tokens.
Compare free AI APIs by verified access, usable limits, compatibility, failure behavior, and change risk—not the size of a model directory.
A practical compatibility test for request shape, response semantics, errors, limits, and the features your application actually depends on.
A developer checklist for verifying free LLM API access, testing evidence, and checking operational limits before relying on a provider.
A compact sequence for separating interface compatibility from authentication, generation, and production-readiness claims.
A bounded record of one authenticated local completion—and the reliability and production questions it cannot answer.
The current official signup path, account requirements and the safe next step after the key is created.
What the current starter-credit rule changes for users expecting a no-card free API route.
Where compatibility ends, how to keep the key local and when an adapter is required.