Most people using OpenRouter's free tier don't know dis n dey're leaving free capacity on the table. Default free tier is 20 requests a minute but only 50 requests a day if u never bought credits. Add just $10 in credits once n dat daily cap jumps to 1,000 requests a day, permanently, even after ur balance hits zero.
I tested dis myself before believing it n it's real. One small top-up, not a subscription, unlocks 20x the daily requests forever.
Wat to know before u do it:
- Failed requests still count against ur daily limit, so don't spam retry on errors.
- Adding more API keys doesn't raise the limit, it's tied to the account, not the key count.
- Dis is for the free models specifically, paid model usage still costs wat it costs.
- One $10 top-up is enough, u don't need to keep adding credits for dis unlock.
- Free tiers change without warning across every provider, so don't build ur whole workflow around one.
For anyone testing multiple AI models or running lightweight automations wit free models, dis is the cheapest unlock available right now.
Check current limits here: https://openrouter.ai
Anyone already using dis trick, wat free models u running through it?
