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The Perkstack blog

Guides on getting free AI credits, using AI for free, and cutting your AI bill, plus a per-model API price tracker re-pulled weekly.

Guides

32 articles

Credits · 10

Startup Bank Perks: Free Software Deals from Mercury, Brex, Rho and Novo

Opening a free startup bank account can unlock a marketplace of partner deals worth thousands, from AWS and OpenAI credits to discounted Notion and Slack. Here is how they compare.

6 min read

Business Credit Cards That Give You Free Software Credits (2026)

Some business credit cards hand you hundreds of dollars in annual software and AI credits. Here are the card-linked perks worth knowing, from ChatGPT to Adobe and Dell.

6 min read

Free AI Tools and Credits for Students in 2026

Students can get an enormous bundle of AI and developer tools for free, from GitHub and Cursor to cloud credits and Perplexity. Here is the full student stack and how to claim it.

6 min read

How to Get AWS Activate Credits in 2026: Founders vs Portfolio (Up to $100k)

A builder's guide to AWS Activate in 2026 - the Founders self-serve path, the Portfolio partner path up to $100k, eligibility rules, and how to apply.

6 min read

DeepSeek API in 2026: Pricing, Free Access & How to Use It Cheap

Is the DeepSeek API free? Here is the real 2026 picture: DeepSeek's low pricing, off-peak discounts, the free ways to try it, and how to plug it into your existing OpenAI code.

6 min read

Free AI API Credits in 2026: Every Provider That Gives You Credits on Signup

The current, hand-verified list of AI and cloud providers that hand you free API credits on signup — no application, no funding. Free LLM, image, voice and GPU credits, plus how to stretch them.

13 min read

How to Get Free OpenAI API Credits in 2026 (and the Best Alternatives)

OpenAI no longer hands out standing free API credits — here's what's actually available, plus the free alternatives that let you test GPT-class models for $0.

6 min read

Free Anthropic Claude API Credits in 2026: What's Actually Available

Whether you can get free Claude API credits, how Anthropic's startup and research programs work, and the free ways to build with Claude-class models today.

5 min read

How to Get $100k+ in Startup Cloud Credits (AWS, Google Cloud, Azure)

A founder's guide to the big cloud startup programs — AWS Activate, Google for Startups, Microsoft for Startups — plus the self-serve credits anyone can get.

8 min read

AI Startup Grants & Accelerators: Non-Dilutive Credits and Funding in 2026

Where AI founders find non-dilutive support in 2026 — cloud and model credits, accelerator perks, and research grants — and how to stack them.

7 min read

Free AI · 8

The Best Free AI Coding Assistants in 2026

You can get strong AI coding help without paying. Here are the best free AI coding assistants in 2026, their free-tier limits, and how to run one on open models for next to nothing.

6 min read

Mistral API Free Tier and Pricing in 2026: What You Get for Free and What It Costs

A builder's guide to the Mistral API in 2026: the free tier on La Plateforme, how pricing works, and how to find the cheapest host for each Mistral model.

6 min read

Groq API in 2026: Free Tier Limits, Pricing, Speed & How to Use It

How the Groq API works in 2026: the no-card free tier and its limits, how pricing compares, why it is so fast, and how to wire it into your existing OpenAI code.

6 min read

Qwen API in 2026: Free Access, Pricing and the Cheapest Hosts

How to use Alibaba's Qwen models in 2026: the free ways to access Qwen3 and Qwen Coder, how pricing works, and how to find the cheapest host for each model.

6 min read

Free AI Image Generation: The Best Free APIs & Tiers (2026)

How to generate AI images for free in 2026: the no-card free tiers, signup credits and open models that let you build text-to-image features at zero cost.

5 min read

How to Use AI for Free: The Best Free Tiers, Trials and Signup Credits

A practical guide to using LLMs, image, voice and agent tools for free in 2026 — the best no-card free tiers and signup credits, and how to combine them.

6 min read

Google Gemini API Free Tier (2026): Limits, Pricing & How to Use It Free

How to use the Google Gemini API for free — the free-tier limits, what you get with just a Google account, and when you'll need to upgrade.

5 min read

Free Vector Databases & Embeddings for RAG in 2026

The best free vector databases and embedding options for building RAG and AI search — free tiers, what they include, and how to keep retrieval cheap.

6 min read

Cost · 11

The Cheapest Text-to-Speech (TTS) API in 2026

Compare the cheapest text-to-speech APIs in 2026, how per-character and per-second billing differ, and the free TTS tiers and credits to start with.

6 min read

xAI Grok API Pricing and Free Credits in 2026 (Grok 4 and Grok 4 Fast)

How xAI Grok API pricing works in 2026, the Grok 4 vs Grok 4 Fast tiers, and the data-sharing free credits, with tips to keep token costs low.

6 min read

Nano Banana (Gemini Image) API: Pricing and the Cheapest Providers

Google's Nano Banana image model is everywhere in 2026. Here is how its API pricing works, what the Pro tier adds, and how to find the cheapest provider per image.

5 min read

Whisper API: The Cheapest and Free Ways to Run It in 2026

OpenAI's Whisper is open, so you rarely need to pay OpenAI's rate. Here are the cheapest Whisper API hosts in 2026, the free ways to run it, and when another STT model wins.

5 min read

The Cheapest Image Generation API in 2026 (FLUX, SDXL & More)

Compare the cheapest AI image generation APIs in 2026. The same model costs very different amounts per image across fal, Replicate and Together, so here is how to pay the least.

6 min read

OpenRouter vs Going Direct: Is an LLM Router Cheaper?

LLM routers like OpenRouter promise one API for every model. Here is when a router actually saves money in 2026, when going direct is cheaper, and how to decide.

6 min read

The Cheapest AI Video Generation API in 2026 (Veo, Kling, Runway)

AI video is the most expensive media to generate. Here is how to find the cheapest video generation API in 2026 across Veo, Kling, Runway, Luma and more without burning credits.

6 min read

Prompt Caching and Batch APIs: Cut Your LLM Bill in Half

Two underused features, prompt caching and batch APIs, can cut LLM costs dramatically without changing your model. Here is how each works and when to use them in 2026.

6 min read

The Cheapest Embeddings API for RAG in 2026

Embeddings are cheap per call but add up fast in RAG. Here is how to pick the cheapest embeddings API in 2026, when an open model wins, and how to cut re-embedding costs.

6 min read

The Cheapest Way to Run LLMs in 2026 (Without Burning Your Runway)

How to run large language models for the lowest cost in 2026: pick the cheapest provider per model, use open weights, and start on free credits.

7 min read

The Cheapest (and Free) Speech-to-Text and TTS APIs in 2026

Compare the cheapest speech-to-text and text-to-speech APIs in 2026, plus the providers that give you free voice-AI credits on signup.

5 min read

Compute · 3

Self-Host an LLM or Use an API? The 2026 Cost Breakdown

Self-hosting an open LLM looks cheaper than per-token APIs until you count GPUs, utilization and ops. Here is an honest 2026 cost comparison and how to decide.

6 min read

Where to Get Free GPU Compute for AI and ML in 2026

The real options for free or near-free GPU compute in 2026 — monthly credits, signup grants, free notebooks, and how to use them without surprises.

6 min read

Best Free-Tier Cloud Hosting for Startups & Side Projects (2026)

The best free-tier hosting, databases, and edge platforms in 2026 — what each free plan includes, the no-card options, and how to assemble a $0 stack.

6 min read

AI API price trackers

87 models

For each model, the provider that serves it cheapest. Re-pulled weekly. Last updated 2026-06-14.

LLMs · 31

Cheapest Llama 3.3 70B APIsave 75%Cheapest DeepSeek-V3 APIsave 41%Cheapest DeepSeek-R1 APIsave 69%Cheapest Llama 4 Maverick APIsave 29%Cheapest Llama 4 Scout APIsave 49%Cheapest Llama 3.1 405B APIsave 13%Cheapest Llama 3.1 8B APIsave 72%Cheapest Qwen2.5 72B APIsave 67%Cheapest Qwen3 235B A22B APIsave 67%Cheapest Mistral Nemo APIsave 76%Cheapest Mistral Small 3 APIsave 33%Cheapest Kimi K2 APIsave 56%Cheapest GLM-4.6 APIsave 21%Cheapest gpt-oss-120b APIsave 75%Cheapest GPT-5.5 APIsave 50%Cheapest GPT-5.4 APIsave 50%Cheapest GPT-5.4 mini APIsave 50%Cheapest GPT-4.1 APIsave 50%Cheapest GPT-4o APIsave 50%Cheapest o3 APIsave 50%Cheapest o4-mini APIsave 50%Cheapest Claude Opus 4.7 APIsave 50%Cheapest Claude Sonnet 4.6 APIsave 50%Cheapest Claude Haiku 4.5 APIsave 50%Cheapest Gemini 2.5 Pro APIsave 50%Cheapest Gemini 2.5 Flash APIsave 50%Cheapest Grok 4 Fast APICheapest Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B APIsave 44%Cheapest MiniMax M2 APIsave 17%Cheapest gpt-oss-20b APIsave 53%Cheapest Command A API

Image · 15

Cheapest Nano Banana Pro APIsave 55%Cheapest FLUX1.1 [pro] APIsave 20%Cheapest FLUX.1 [dev] APIsave 17%Cheapest FLUX.1 [schnell] APICheapest Stable Diffusion 3.5 Large APICheapest gpt-image-1 APIsave 5%Cheapest Ideogram 3.0 APICheapest Recraft V3 APICheapest Imagen 4 APICheapest Seedream 4.0 APIsave 42%Cheapest Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) APICheapest FLUX.2 [pro] APIsave 33%Cheapest FLUX.2 [dev] APICheapest Reve Image 1.0 APICheapest Qwen-Image APIsave 5%

Video · 17

Cheapest Seedance 2.0 APIsave 84%Cheapest Veo 3 APIsave 33%Cheapest Veo 3 Fast APIsave 80%Cheapest Sora 2 APIsave 60%Cheapest Kling 2.5 Turbo Pro APIsave 40%Cheapest Luma Ray 2 APIsave 20%Cheapest Wan 2.5 APIsave 33%Cheapest MiniMax Hailuo 02 APIsave 17%Cheapest Veo 3.1 APICheapest Veo 3.1 Fast APICheapest Seedance 1.0 Pro APIsave 16%Cheapest MiniMax Hailuo 2.3 Pro APICheapest Vidu Q1 APICheapest PixVerse V5 APICheapest LTX 2.3 Pro APIsave 33%Cheapest Pika 2.2 APIsave 56%Cheapest Runway Gen-4 Turbo API

Transcription · 8

Cheapest Whisper Large v3 APIsave 73%Cheapest Deepgram Nova-3 APIsave 58%Cheapest AssemblyAI Universal APIsave 58%Cheapest OpenAI gpt-4o-transcribe APIsave 58%Cheapest ElevenLabs Scribe APIsave 65%Cheapest Speechmatics APIsave 65%Cheapest Gladia APIsave 61%Cheapest Fireworks Whisper-v3 APIsave 75%

Text to Speech · 7

Cheapest ElevenLabs TTS APIsave 85%Cheapest OpenAI TTS APIsave 50%Cheapest Deepgram Aura TTS APIsave 70%Cheapest Hume Octave TTS APIsave 92%Cheapest Inworld TTS APIsave 70%Cheapest Google Chirp 3 HD APIsave 92%Cheapest Azure AI Speech TTS APIsave 70%

Embeddings · 9

Cheapest OpenAI text-embedding-3-small APIsave 80%Cheapest OpenAI text-embedding-3-large APIsave 85%Cheapest Cohere Embed v4 APIsave 83%Cheapest Voyage-3 APIsave 83%Cheapest Google gemini-embedding-001 APIsave 93%Cheapest voyage-3.5 APIsave 87%Cheapest voyage-3.5-lite APIsave 83%Cheapest Qwen3-Embedding APIsave 83%Cheapest Mistral codestral-embed APIsave 89%