Docs · Guide

Free models in Claude Code, Codex and other agents

Some providers serve models free, some with no key at all. magpie lists them in the same picker as every other model, an agent asks for provider/model, and free ones are marked.

Free models with no key

1. OpenCode Zen.Its free models (ids ending in -free, and big-pickle) need no key. Zen serves its free tier to OpenCode alone, and magpie asks for them as OpenCode does.
2. Kilo Gateway.Its free models (marked free, ids ending in :free) need no key. With none, a caller counts as anonymous, by IP, at 200 requests an hour.

magpie provider add opencode-zen
magpie provider add kilo
magpie models

Once added, the free models are in every agent's picker:

magpie claude opencode-zen/big-pickle
magpie codex kilo/:free

For their paid models, add a key; the free ones keep working:

magpie provider key opencode-zen 
magpie provider key kilo 

The free mark in pickers

A model a provider prices at 0 on all four counts (input, output, cache read, cache write) is marked free beside it in the pickers: OpenRouter's :free models, OpenCode Zen's -free ones, NVIDIA NIM's free models.

• It is that provider's price alone: the same model on another provider costs what it costs there.
• A model its maker gives away (Zhipu's glm-4.7-flash) isn't marked, since a provider reselling it may not.
• A plan's price list says what members pay per token, not what the model costs, so it doesn't count either.
• A price you set yourself wins: 0 is marked free, anything else isn't.

magpie model price relay-a/some-model 0,0,0,0

Free models first, paid as fallback

Free models are often rate-limited. Put a free model and a paid one in a routing group, the free one first: when it is limited or fails, the group's next member answers. See Round robin and failover across accounts, keys and providers.

Notes

• When a provider answers that a model is deprecated or retired (Zen's 410 "Model exo-free has been deprecated."), the model leaves magpie models, /v1/models and every agent's list. It comes back once a request for it is answered, or after a week.
• Which models are free, and how far, is as each provider's own pages say, and changes.

FAQ

Are there free models I can use in Claude Code with no key?

Yes. OpenCode Zen's free models (ending in -free, and big-pickle) and Kilo Gateway's free models (ending in :free) need no key: add them with magpie provider add opencode-zen or magpie provider add kilo.

What is the limit on Kilo Gateway with no key?

With no key, a caller counts as anonymous, by IP, at 200 requests an hour. A Kilo key reaches its paid models too.

Where does the free mark in the pickers come from?

A provider pricing a model at 0 on all four counts. It is that provider's price alone; a model its maker gives away, or a plan's $0 price list, doesn't count.

What if a free model is rate-limited?

Put it in a routing group with a paid model, the free one first. When it is limited or fails, the group's next member answers.

Related: NVIDIA NIM in Claude Code, Codex and other agents, OpenRouter in Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI and OpenCode. If something fails, see Fixing common errors: 401, 429, 502, 504 and more or ask on Discord.