# Free Claude API key: is there one?

> Anthropic has no permanent free Claude API tier. Here are the honest ways to use Claude through an API without paying, checked October 2026.

Anthropic bills the Claude API per token and we found no permanent free tier on its pricing pages. The Claude app has a free plan, but that is not an API key.

## Free routes

- Vercel AI Gateway: $5 of free credit every 30 days, usable on the whole catalog, as long as you never buy gateway credit. It includes Claude models.
- OpenRouter: Models ending in :free get 20 requests a minute and 50 a day. Buy $10 of credit once and it rises to 1,000 a day for good. Claude itself is paid there.

Paid key: https://console.anthropic.com/settings/keys

## Use it with every other AI at once

Paste the key into MultiScreenAI (https://www.multiscreenai.com) and ask every model at once, side by side, with a blind test mode. Agents can do the same over MCP: https://www.multiscreenai.com/mcp