Free Models Router
Start quickly with zero-cost models
TheRouter.ai offers free-tier models for prototyping and demos. The `therouter/free` router picks a compatible free model for each request.
Overview
This page mirrors the OpenRouter workflow and adapts it for TheRouter.ai. Use TheRouter.ai as your OpenAI-compatible endpoint and keep model IDs in `provider/model` format.
Installation
Install the required SDKs and keep your TheRouter.ai key in environment variables.
install.sh
curl https://api.therouter.ai/v1/chat/completions -H "Authorization: Bearer $THEROUTER_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"model":"therouter/free","messages":[{"role":"user","content":"hello"}]}'Configuration
Set TheRouter.ai base URL overrides and pass your API key. Add attribution headers when your app should appear in rankings.
TypeScript
const body = {
model: "therouter/free",
messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Draft release notes" }],
};Caveats
Integration note
Free-tier models have tighter rate limits and may rotate often; keep paid fallback models for production paths.
For production rollouts, pin SDK versions and validate model compatibility in staging before broad rollout.