What's free
Several models permanently free (e.g. Qwen2.5-7B-Instruct and others) at $0 cost, plus a $1 welcome credit for paid models
Rate limits
Fixed per-model limits for free models; generic docs cite ranges of 1,000-10,000 RPM and 50,000-5,000,000 TPM depending on model tier — exact limits shown in-account
The catch
Signup requires SMS phone verification. Full "real-name authentication" (needed for recharging/billing) requires a mainland China, Hong Kong/Macao, or Taiwan ID document — this may limit full access for users without one, though basic use of free models appears reachable with standard account verification
Quickstart — chat completions
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI(base_url="https://api.siliconflow.com/v1", api_key="<YOUR_FREE_API_KEY>")
resp = client.chat.completions.create(
model="<a-free-model>",
messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}],
)
print(resp.choices[0].message.content)…or with curl:
curl https://api.siliconflow.com/v1/chat/completions \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"model":"<a-free-model>","messages":[{"role":"user","content":"Hello!"}]}'