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OpenAI

AI & Machine Learning · Large Language Models

Access GPT-4o-mini and other models through OpenAI's API with a free tier for new users.

Best for StudentsHigh Quality
Duration

3 months

Credit Card

Not Required

Rating

4.5/5 (342)

Geo Restrictions

4 regions

Rate Limits

Requests per Minute3 RPM
Requests per Day200 RPD
Tokens per Minute40,000 TPM

Free Tier Details

$5 in free credits

✅ Included

  • GPT-4o-mini access
  • GPT-3.5-turbo access
  • Whisper API
  • TTS API
  • Embeddings API

❌ Not Included

  • —GPT-4o full
  • —DALL·E 3 HD
  • —Fine-tuning

How to Get Your Free API Key

Go to platform.openai.com and sign up with email or Google/Microsoft account.

https://platform.openai.com/signup

OpenAI requires phone verification. Use a real phone number (VoIP numbers are blocked).

Some countries' phone numbers may not be accepted.

Go to Settings → API Keys and click 'Create new secret key'.

https://platform.openai.com/api-keys

Copy the key immediately — it won't be shown again. Store it in an environment variable.

Never commit API keys to version control.

How to Test Your Key

Send a simple chat completion request.

curl https://api.openai.com/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"model":"gpt-4o-mini","messages":[{"role":"user","content":"Hello!"}]}'

Expected: JSON response with a message completion from the model.

Visit the usage dashboard to confirm the request was counted.

Hidden Limitations

  • Free credits expire after 3 months
  • Rate limits are very low on free tier (3 RPM)
  • Phone verification blocks many VoIP numbers
  • Some models require payment method to access

Geographic Restrictions

ChinaRussiaIranNorth Korea

Official Links

DocumentationPricingDashboardWebsite

Last verified: 2026-02-15 · Last updated: 2026-02-15