How to Get a Mistral API Key for Free
Updated 27 October 2026.
In short: Mistral's own API keys are not usable for free. A new Free-plan account's console says "Upgrade to activate your API keys", and its New key button stays disabled. Mistral's models are free elsewhere: Codestral and Mistral Nemo are on LLM7.io's free tier, several Mistral models are in NVIDIA's free catalog, and Mistral Small 3.1 is on Cloudflare Workers AI's free daily allowance. Mistral's chat app, Le Chat, has a free plan, but it is not an API.
Mistral's own API: an upgrade first
On a new account at console.mistral.ai, checked on 25 October 2026, the API Keys page shows "Upgrade to activate your API keys" and the New key button is disabled. Mistral's pricing page lists the plans:
| Plan | Price | API credits |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | None listed: Le Chat and Vibe with limited messages and coding sessions |
| Pro | $14.99 a month | Monthly API credits included |
Mistral's quickstart still says Free mode includes API access with no credit card; the console on a new account did not allow a key.
Where Mistral models are free
| Where | Mistral model | Free allowance | What it needs |
|---|---|---|---|
| LLM7.io | codestral-latest, mistral-Nemo-Instruct-2407 | 100,000 tokens a day, shared with its other free models | A free account; keys expire on a date you set |
| NVIDIA (build.nvidia.com) | mistralai/mistral-large-2-instruct, mistralai/codestral-22b-instruct-v0.1, mistralai/mixtral-8x22b-v0.1, nv-mistralai/mistral-nemo-12b-instruct and more | Up to 40 requests a minute, no daily limit stated | Phone verification, not offered in every country |
| OVHcloud AI Endpoints | Mistral-Small-3.2-24B-Instruct-2506, Mistral-Nemo-Instruct-2407 | 2 requests a minute per model, per IP address | Nothing: no account and no API key |
| Cloudflare Workers AI | @cf/mistralai/mistral-small-3.1-24b-instruct | Inside the 10,000 free Neurons a day | A free Cloudflare account |
Both LLM7 models answered on a free key on 26 October 2026, and both OVHcloud models with no key on 27 October. The full list of free AI APIs, with each limit and source, is on how to get AI API keys for free.
Use a free Mistral model in an app made for OpenAI
In the app, enter the service's key, its base URL and its Mistral model name:
| Service | Base URL | Model name |
|---|---|---|
| LLM7.io | https://api.llm7.io/v1 | codestral-latest |
| OVHcloud AI Endpoints | https://oai.endpoints.kepler.ai.cloud.ovh.net/v1 | Mistral-Small-3.2-24B-Instruct-2506 |
| NVIDIA | https://integrate.api.nvidia.com/v1 | mistralai/mistral-large-2-instruct |
| Cloudflare Workers AI | https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID/ai/v1 | @cf/mistralai/mistral-small-3.1-24b-instruct |
To put several free keys behind one address on your own computer, the open-source OmniRoute gateway switches to the next key when one runs out.
Words to know
- API key: the password an app uses to call a model. See what is an API key.
- Codestral: Mistral's coding model.
- Mistral Nemo: a 12B Mistral model made with NVIDIA.
- Le Chat: Mistral's chat app, with a free plan and no API key.
- Token: a piece of a word; the unit models read and write. See tokens and context windows.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Mistral API free?+
Not on a new account: the console says "Upgrade to activate your API keys" and the New key button is disabled. Mistral's Pro plan, $14.99 a month, includes monthly API credits.
Where can I use Codestral for free?+
On LLM7.io's free tier as codestral-latest (100,000 tokens a day shared with its other free models), and on NVIDIA build.nvidia.com as mistralai/codestral-22b-instruct-v0.1 after phone verification.
Is Le Chat free?+
Yes, Mistral's Free plan covers Le Chat on web and mobile with limited messages and web searches. It has no API key.
What base URL do I use for a free Mistral model?+
The free service's own: https://api.llm7.io/v1 for LLM7, https://integrate.api.nvidia.com/v1 for NVIDIA, or Cloudflare's URL with your account ID.
More free API key tutorials
- How to get a Gemini API key for free
- How to get a Groq API key for free
- How to get a Cloudflare Workers AI API key for free
- How to get a Cohere API key for free
- How to get an OpenRouter API key for free
- How to get an Experimental Labs API key for free (with the $1 verification)
- How to get a Requesty API key for free
- How to use Kilo Code free models (no API key)
- How to get an LLM7 API key for free
- How to use a free AI API without an API key
- How to get an Ollama API key for free
- How to get a Gonka AI API key for free
- How to get a Perplexity API key for free
- Where Qwen is free
- The Grok API, checked on a new account
- Where DeepSeek models are free
- Where GLM models are free
- Where OpenAI models are free
- Every free AI API and its daily limit
By model: DeepSeek · OpenAI (GPT) · Claude · Grok · Perplexity · Kimi · Qwen · GLM · MiniMax · Llama · Nemotron · Gemma · gpt-oss
Want to use these APIs in a desktop app? OpenCode is a free, open-source AI coding app for Windows, Mac and Linux. How to add free API keys to OpenCode and pick a model.