How to Get an Experimental Labs (Experiential Labs) API Key for Free

In short: Experiential Labs (often searched as "Experimental Labs") is an AI gateway with a $0 Free plan: one API key reaches its whole model catalog, and a set of models has no per-token charge. To use the free models, the account first needs a one-time $1 card verification. The $1 is not a fee: it comes back as credits in your balance. After that, the Free plan allows up to 1M tokens a day on its free models. The API follows OpenAI's format, so the key works in most apps made for OpenAI.

What you need

• A GitHub or Google account to sign in at platform.experientiallabs.ai.
• A debit or credit card for the $1 verification. Adding the card alone does not charge it; the verification is one settled $1 charge, credited back to your balance as 100 credits.
• A computer. Windows, Mac or Linux all work.

Step 1: Sign up for the Free plan

Open the pricing page. The Free plan costs $0 a month and lists DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, GPT-6 Luna and Jev with no per-token charge (box 1). Click Start free (box 2) and sign in with GitHub or Google.

Step 2: Complete the $1 card verification

Free models stay locked until the verification is done. In the platform, open Credits, add a card and complete the $1 verification. The $1 appears in your balance as credits, so you can spend it on any model.

Two things to know:

• If the bank declines the verification, the account goes under review and cannot use models, even after a later payment. Use the Appeal button on the banner at the top of the platform and add a short note about who you are.
• A request to a free model before verification fails with 402 free_tier_requires_payment.

Step 3: Create your API key

Open API Keys in the left menu and create a key. Copy it and keep it private:

• Anyone who has your key can use your allowance and your credits.
• Never paste it into a website, a public code repository or a screenshot.
• Each key can have its own daily spend cap, requests-per-minute and tokens-per-minute limits, set in the dashboard. A low daily spend cap stops the key from spending your credits by accident.

Step 4: Pick a free model

In October 2026 the model catalog marks these models as free:

A model ID ending in :free is free only: past the free allowance it stops with free_limit_reached and is never charged. Other models switch to your credits at list price.

Step 5: Know your free limits

Cached input tokens do not count against the free allowances.

Step 6: 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:EXPLABS_API_KEY = "YOUR_API_KEY"
$body = '{"model":"gpt-6-luna","messages":[{"role":"user","content":"Explain how AI works in a few words"}]}'
$r = Invoke-RestMethod -Method Post -Uri "https://api.experientiallabs.ai/v1/chat/completions" -Headers @{ Authorization = "Bearer $env:EXPLABS_API_KEY" } -ContentType "application/json" -Body $body
$r.choices[0].message.content

Mac or Linux (Terminal):

export EXPLABS_API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"
curl https://api.experientiallabs.ai/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $EXPLABS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "gpt-6-luna",
    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Explain how AI works in a few words"}]
  }'

You get a short answer back, counted against your free daily tokens.

Step 7: Use it in an app made for OpenAI

Your data on the Free plan

Zero data retention is a Pro feature. On the Free plan, requests pass through the gateway to the model's provider, and how that provider handles them depends on the model. Experiential Labs' terms do not allow using your prompts to train shared models. Do not send private information.

When something goes wrong

Words to know

• API key: the password that identifies your program to the API. See what is an API key.
• Gateway: one API that passes your request to many model providers.
• Card verification: a one-time $1 charge that unlocks the free models; it is credited back.
• Credits: prepaid balance; one credit is $0.01 of usage.
• :free model ID: a model's free-only version, which stops instead of charging.
• Token: a piece of a word; the unit models read and write. See tokens and context windows.

More free AI API keys

Free APIs with no card at all: how to get AI API keys for free lists Gemini, Groq, OpenRouter, Cloudflare and Cohere with their daily limits.