Several frontier-class AI models are completely free to use, either through a consumer app or as open-weight models you can run yourself. Llama 4 Scout and Mistral Small 3.1 have no API cost. Gemini 3.1 Flash has a generous free API tier. Claude Haiku and GPT-5.2 mini are the cheapest paid options if you exceed the free limits.
The shortest way to see the safest default, the lower-cost option, and the specialist pick before you read deeper.
Llama 4 Scout is the safest overall answer here when you want the strongest default instead of the lowest list price.
Switch the scoring lens to see whether the top answer changes when you care more about cost, speed, or long-document work.
Google / Budget / Apr 29, 2026
Best cheap AI for broad day-to-day work — now with 1M context.
Ranks models by the broadest mix of coding, writing, research, and long-context usefulness.
You need premium reasoning depth or the highest coding benchmark scores.
The fastest way to see where the recommendation shifts when your priority changes.
512K context window at the lowest cost point in the directory
Good for internal analysis pipelines and document processing
Open weights give you full control over deployment
Less polished than hosted frontier models on nuanced tasks
Gemini 3.1 Flash now offers 1M context at only $0.50/1M — bigger and hosted
UseRightAI recommendations are based on practical decision factors people actually feel in day-to-day use.
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Llama 4 Scout and Mistral Small 3.1 are open-weight models available for free via providers like Groq, Together AI, and Ollama (local). Gemini 3.1 Flash has a free tier in Google AI Studio. Claude.ai and ChatGPT both offer free consumer plans with limited access.
Yes — Claude.ai has a free tier with limited daily messages. For API access, Claude Haiku is the most affordable option at $0.80/1M input tokens, but there is no free API tier.
Llama 4 Maverick (open-weight) performs well on coding for free. Among free-tier hosted options, Gemini 3.1 Flash is the most capable free coding model with fast response times.
Mistral: Mistral Nemo is the lower-cost option to start with when you still need useful output at scale.
Mistral Small 3.1 is the better pick when response speed matters more than maximum reasoning depth.
Llama 4 Scout and Mistral Small 3.1 are fully free to run via open-weight hosting providers.
Gemini 3.1 Flash has the most generous free API tier among closed models — 1M context included.
Claude Haiku and GPT-5.2 mini are the lowest-cost paid options if free tiers run out.
Choose Llama 4 Scout for zero-cost API usage with no rate limits beyond your infrastructure.
Choose Gemini 3.1 Flash when you want a hosted free API from a major provider.
Choose Mistral Small 3.1 for a compact, free-to-run model optimised for fast instruction following.
