# Free models

> Use :free models through OpenRouter, and their limits.

Model ids ending in `:free` run on OpenRouter’s free endpoints. They cost nothing, but they have daily limits, the providers behind them may log or train on your prompts, and Clonvo stores their prompts and responses for up to 12 months to train and evaluate AI models.

Free models work on every [plan](https://clonvo.com/docs/plans.md). On Free, the plan every organization starts on, they’re the only models available.

## Before you start

Free models are off until an owner or admin of your organization turns on **Use free models** in **Settings → Privacy** and accepts these terms:

-   Free models are run by third-party providers through OpenRouter. Those providers may log your prompts and responses and use them to train their models.
-   Clonvo stores the prompts and responses of your free-model requests for up to 12 months.
-   Clonvo may use them to train and evaluate AI models, and may license them to AI developers for the same purposes, with personal data removed first.
-   Some paid models have a cheaper data-sharing version, today Meta’s Muse Spark 1.3 and 1.2. Clonvo uses it for your requests to those models at its lower price, and Meta may use those prompts and responses to train its models. Clonvo doesn’t store them. To opt out for a single request, send provider.data_collection: "deny".
-   Clonvo stores only free-model requests for its own use. Requests to paid models, including their data-sharing versions, and requests on your own provider keys aren’t stored for these purposes.
-   Turning free models off stops new storage and the use of data-sharing versions. To delete what’s already stored, email [support@clonvo.com](mailto:support@clonvo.com).

Until then, requests to `:free` models are rejected with `403` and the code `training_providers_not_allowed`.

If your organization turned free models on before these terms existed, or the terms have changed since they were accepted, free models are paused: requests are rejected with `403` and the code `free_model_terms_required` until an owner or admin accepts the current version. [Data and privacy](https://clonvo.com/docs/privacy.md#free-models-and-your-data) explains what’s stored and how to have it deleted.

> **Warning: Don’t send sensitive data**
> 
> Free-model prompts and responses are stored by Clonvo and may be stored by the providers, and both may use them to train AI models. Only send content you have the rights and permissions to share this way, and use paid models for anything confidential, personal or regulated.

## Making a request

Use the id exactly as listed, including the `:free` suffix:

```python
completion = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="<author>/<model>:free",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}],
)
```

The [model catalogue](https://clonvo.com/models.md) lists the free models currently available, and `GET /v1/models` includes them with zero prices.

Free model ids aren’t resolved like catalogue ids: aliases, bare slugs and dot/dash variants don’t apply, so copy the id as listed. Clonvo checks the id against OpenRouter’s current list of free models, ignoring case, and returns `400` with the code `model_not_found` for ids that aren’t on it. If that list can’t be loaded, the id is passed to OpenRouter as you sent it.

## Limits

| Limit | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Requests per minute | 20 |
| Requests per day | 50 |
| Requests per day after buying $10 of credits in total | 1,000 |

Limits apply per organization, across all of its API keys and the dashboard playground. Days reset at 00:00 UTC.

| Over the limit | Response |
| --- | --- |
| Per minute | `429` with the code `free_model_rate_limited` and `Retry-After: 60`. |
| Per day | `429` with the code `free_model_daily_limit` and a `Retry-After` header with the seconds until 00:00 UTC. |

Free endpoints are also shared with everyone else using them, so they can be slower or temporarily unavailable. From Pay as you go up, add a paid model in [`models`](https://clonvo.com/docs/fallbacks.md) to fall back when a free one is busy or you’ve reached a limit.

## Data collection per request

Even with free models on for your organization, you can exclude them for a single request with `provider.data_collection: "deny"`. Free models are then rejected for that request with `404` and the code `no_endpoints_for_data_policy`, unless a paid fallback model in `models` can serve it. The same setting keeps paid models on their standard version instead of a [data-sharing version](https://clonvo.com/docs/meta.md#data-sharing-prices).

`models` and `provider` need Pay as you go or above. On Free, a request that includes either fails with `402` and the code `plan_feature_unavailable`.

## Billing

Free model requests cost $0 and appear in your activity like any other request, with `usage.cost` of `0`.