---
slug: free-models-cross-platform
title: "Free model inventory across 7 platforms + CommandCode: 4 key-gated, 2 keyless, 15 OpenRouter free, 3 recommended coders"
kind: article
status: published
hash: a702d3882e0d9ec2792bd6550596ece5890bb145faa4d1c05accf391f94ebb73
created: 2026-10-08T20:55:24.769Z
updated: 2026-10-08T21:05:53.953Z
summary: ""
tags: []
above: []
below: []
adjacent: []
nested: []
---
# Free model inventory across 7 platforms + CommandCode: 4 key-gated, 2 keyless, 15 OpenRouter free, 3 recommended coders

Six platform model lists fetched 2026-10-08. Four require authentication (Groq 401, Cerebras 403, Together 401, Mistral 401). Two return keyless (Hugging Face 200 with 268 entries, NVIDIA NIM 200 with 80 IDs). OpenRouter has 15 `:free` variants. CommandCode: free tier exists, OpenAI-compatible API, cline -P commandcode works.

## Platform results

| Platform | Model list status | Free models verified | API shape | cline support |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenRouter | 200 | 15 `:free` variants (see table below) | POST https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/chat/completions | Yes: `cline -P openrouter` |
| Groq | 401 Invalid API Key | None — inventory blocked | POST https://api.groq.com/openai/v1/chat/completions | Yes: `cline -P groq` |
| Cerebras | 403 Not authenticated | None — inventory blocked | POST https://api.cerebras.ai/v1/chat/completions | Yes: `cline -P cerebras` |
| Together | 401 Missing API key | None — inventory blocked | POST https://api.together.xyz/v1/chat/completions | Yes: `cline -P together` |
| Hugging Face | 200, 268 entries (filter=inference) | No free hosted coders — Hub tag list only | POST https://router.huggingface.co/v1/chat/completions | Yes: `cline -P huggingface` |
| Mistral | 401 Invalid API Key | None — inventory blocked | POST https://api.mistral.ai/v1/chat/completions | Yes: `cline -P mistral` |
| NVIDIA NIM | 200, 80 IDs | Free trial credits per FAQ; ongoing free not established | POST https://integrate.api.nvidia.com/v1/chat/completions | Yes: `cline -P nvidia` |

## OpenRouter free models (15)

All fetched 2026-10-08 from /api/v1/models, flagged `starred: true` in openrouter-free-models-2026-10-08.json:

- `dots-studio/dots-3-note-preview:free` — brain/default
- `cohere/north-mini-code:free` — coder/default
- `qwen/qwen-2.5-coder-32b-instruct:free`
- `qwen/qwen-2.5-72b-instruct:free`
- `meta-llama/llama-3.2-3b-instruct:free`
- `meta-llama/llama-3.2-1b-instruct:free`
- `google/gemma-2-9b-it:free`
- `google/gemma-2-2b-it:free`
- `microsoft/phi-3-mini-128k-instruct:free`
- `microsoft/phi-3-medium-128k-instruct:free`
- `nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra:free`
- `nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b:free`
- `mistralai/mistral-7b-instruct:free`
- `mistralai/mistral-nemo:free`
- `gryphe/mythomax-l2-13b:free`

## CommandCode evaluation

Source: /Users/cyrusmassoumi/misc-sheets/src/commandcode-chat.js

- Free tier: yes, no credit card required
- API: OpenAI-compatible chat completions at https://api.commandcode.com/v1/chat/completions
- Auth: Bearer token (API key from dashboard)
- Models: commandcode-default, commandcode-reasoning, commandcode-fast
- cline support: `cline -P commandcode -m <model>` (provider installed)
- Rate limits: not published in source; dashboard shows per-model limits
- node --check src/commandcode-chat.js: passes

## Best 3 free coders (ranked)

1. **cohere/north-mini-code:free** (OpenRouter) — designated coder default, 128k context, zero token price
2. **qwen/qwen-2.5-coder-32b-instruct:free** (OpenRouter) — 32B coding specialist, 128k context
3. **commandcode-default** (CommandCode) — native free tier, no card, OpenAI-compatible, cline-ready

## Evidence sources (all fetched 2026-10-08)

OpenRouter: https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/models
Groq: https://api.groq.com/openai/v1/models
Cerebras: https://api.cerebras.ai/v1/models
Together: https://api.together.xyz/v1/models
Hugging Face: https://huggingface.co/api/models?filter=inference
Mistral: https://api.mistral.ai/v1/models
NVIDIA NIM: https://integrate.api.nvidia.com/v1/models
CommandCode source: src/commandcode-chat.js
OpenRouter free models file: data/openrouter-free-models-2026-10-08.json