How to Use Kilo Code Free Models (No API Key)

In short: Kilo Code's AI Gateway has free models that work with no account and no API key. Send requests to https://ai-gateway.kilo.ai/api/v1 with a model name ending in :free, or with kilo-auto/free, which picks a free model for you. Without signing in, the limit is 200 requests an hour per IP address. The free models change often; the live catalog lists them.

What you need

• Nothing to sign up for. Free models work for anonymous and signed-in users.
• A computer. Windows, Mac or Linux all work.
• Nothing to pay. Kilo's docs say the free models are "available at no cost, subject to rate limits" (box 1).

Step 1: See which models are free today

The live catalog is at https://api.kilo.ai/api/gateway/models. Free models end in :free (or -free). On 27 October 2026 it listed these free chat models:

kilo-auto/free, Beam, Laguna S 2.1, North Mini Code, Nemotron 3 Ultra and openrouter/free all answered without a key on 27 October 2026.

Step 2: Send your first request (no key, no sign-up)

Open a command window. On Windows, press the Start key, type PowerShell and open it. On a Mac, open Terminal.

Windows (PowerShell):

$body = '{"model":"kilo-auto/free","messages":[{"role":"user","content":"Explain how AI works in a few words"}]}'
$r = Invoke-RestMethod -Method Post -Uri "https://ai-gateway.kilo.ai/api/v1/chat/completions" -ContentType "application/json" -Body $body
"$($r.model): $($r.choices[0].message.content)"

Mac or Linux (Terminal):

curl https://ai-gateway.kilo.ai/api/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "kilo-auto/free",
    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Explain how AI works in a few words"}]
  }'

The answer includes model, which says which free model kilo-auto/free picked; on 27 October 2026 it was stealth/glyph-cluster.

Step 3: Use it from Python

Kilo's gateway follows OpenAI's chat format, so OpenAI's Python library works. The library needs some value for api_key; with no Kilo account, any placeholder text is enough for free models.

pip install openai

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(base_url="https://ai-gateway.kilo.ai/api/v1", api_key="anonymous")
reply = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="reflection/beam-free",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Explain how AI works in a few words"}],
)
print(reply.choices[0].message.content)

Step 4: Use it in an app made for OpenAI

Know the limits

When something goes wrong

Words to know

• Kilo Code: an AI coding tool; its AI Gateway gives one address for hundreds of models.
• Anonymous use: calling the API with no account and no key.
• :free: the ending that marks a free model's name.
• Base URL: the address an app sends its requests to.
• Token: a piece of a word; the unit models read and write. See tokens and context windows.

More free AI API keys

Kilo's free models need no key at all. For free keys with a daily allowance, see how to get AI API keys for free, which lists each one with its limit and source.