How to Get a Cohere API Key for Free

In short: Cohere gives every new account a free trial API key. It is ready as soon as you sign up: open API Keys in the Cohere dashboard and copy the key named default. A trial key allows 1,000 API calls a month and 20 chat requests a minute, on every Command model. Cohere also has an OpenAI-compatible endpoint, so the key works in most apps made for OpenAI.

What you need

• A Cohere account at dashboard.cohere.com. New accounts start as a Cohere Free Account.
• A computer. Windows, Mac or Linux all work.
• Nothing to pay: calls made with trial keys are free of charge.

One rule to know before you start: trial keys cannot be used for commercial purposes. They are for learning, testing and personal projects. A paid production key needs an application form on the same page.

Step 1: Open the API Keys page

Sign in and click API Keys in the left menu. The top of the page shows that you are on a Cohere Free Account. Scroll down to Trial keys (box 1). New Trial key (box 2) makes another one.

Step 2: Copy your trial key

Cohere creates a trial key called default for every new account (box 1). Click the eye icon to show it and the copy icon to copy it. To make a separate key for each app, click Create Trial key (box 2) and give it a name.

Keep the key private:

• Anyone who has your key can use your monthly calls.
• Never paste it into a website, a public code repository or a screenshot.
• If it leaks, click Delete next to it and create a new one.

Step 3: Try the models without any code

Click Playground at the top. Pick a model in the Model list on the right (box 1), type a question in the message box (box 2) and click Send. View Code shows the same request as code.

Step 4: Know your free limits

The monthly 1,000 counts every kind of call together. The full table is on Cohere's rate-limits page.

Step 5: Send your first request (no programming)

Open a command window. On Windows, press the Start key, type PowerShell and open it. On a Mac, open Terminal. Put your key in place of YOUR_API_KEY.

Windows (PowerShell):

$env:COHERE_API_KEY = "YOUR_API_KEY"
$body = '{"model":"command-a-plus-05-2026","messages":[{"role":"user","content":"Explain how AI works in a few words"}]}'
$r = Invoke-RestMethod -Method Post -Uri "https://api.cohere.ai/compatibility/v1/chat/completions" -Headers @{ Authorization = "Bearer $env:COHERE_API_KEY" } -ContentType "application/json" -Body $body
$r.choices[0].message.content

Mac or Linux (Terminal):

export COHERE_API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"
curl https://api.cohere.ai/compatibility/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $COHERE_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "command-a-plus-05-2026",
    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Explain how AI works in a few words"}]
  }'

You get a short answer back. That is one call from your 1,000 for the month.

Step 6: Use it from Python

Cohere's compatibility API works with OpenAI's Python library:

pip install openai

import os
from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(base_url="https://api.cohere.ai/compatibility/v1", api_key=os.environ["COHERE_API_KEY"])
reply = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="command-a-plus-05-2026",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Explain how AI works in a few words"}],
)
print(reply.choices[0].message.content)

Step 7: Use it in an app made for OpenAI

In any app that asks for an OpenAI key, change three settings:

When something goes wrong

Words to know

• Trial key: Cohere's free API key, limited to 1,000 calls a month and not for commercial use. See what is an API key.
• Production key: Cohere's paid key, after an application form.
• Command: the name of Cohere's chat models, such as Command A+.
• Embed / Rerank: Cohere's models for search: turning text into numbers, and sorting results.
• Token: a piece of a word; the unit models read and write. See tokens and context windows.

More free AI API keys

Cohere is one of the providers with a free tier. How to get AI API keys for free lists each one with its daily limit and source. For more requests a day, see how to get a Groq API key for free (1,000 a day).