LinkModel's signup offer is intended for API evaluation: create an account, confirm the credit shown in the dashboard, generate a key, and test an eligible text, image, or video model. Always treat the live dashboard and model catalog as the source of truth for the current credit, eligible models, expiration, and per-request price.
What “Free AI API” Means Here
This is trial credit, not a permanently free production tier. It lets you make real API calls without first funding a large balance. Once the displayed credit is spent, further calls require paid balance.
Before relying on the offer, verify:
- the credit applied to your account;
- whether it expires;
- which model and quality settings are eligible;
- the price displayed for your intended request;
- account and model rate limits;
- the terms that apply to generated output.
Promotions change. A previous top-up bonus shown on this page ended on June 30, 2026 and is intentionally excluded from the current recommendation.
What Can You Test With $1?
The useful answer depends on the live model price. Text models are normally billed by tokens; image and video models may be billed by request, output, duration, resolution, or quality.
Use these formulas rather than a frozen “number of free generations” claim:
estimated text calls = credit ÷ average cost per call
estimated media outputs = credit ÷ displayed price per request
If the dashboard shows $0.08 for a video configuration, $1 funds at most 12 complete requests before retries (floor($1 ÷ $0.08)). If the same workflow needs 1.25 attempts per accepted clip, expect closer to nine approved clips. Recalculate with the price shown for your selected model and settings.
How to Start
1. Create an account
Open LinkModel registration. After signup, check the balance in the dashboard instead of assuming the promotional amount from an older article is still active.
2. Create an API key
Create a project key and copy it once. Store it in a server-side environment variable. Never place the key in browser JavaScript, a mobile binary, a public repository, or a screenshot.
export LINKMODEL_API_KEY="replace-with-your-key"3. Choose a model that is currently listed
Use the model catalog and API documentation to confirm the exact model ID, endpoint, request fields, and current availability. Catalogs change, so copy the active ID at implementation time.
4. Make one low-cost test call
The example below shows the OpenAI-compatible chat shape used by LinkModel. Replace the model with an ID currently documented for your account.
curl -X POST https://api.linkmodel.ai/v1/chat/completions \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $LINKMODEL_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"model": "CURRENT_MODEL_ID",
"messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Return the word ready."}],
"max_tokens": 20
}'For image or video, follow the current asynchronous flow in the documentation: submit the job, save the task ID, then poll or receive a webhook. A polling timeout is not permission to submit the same billable job again.
Use the Credit as an Evaluation Budget
A good trial answers concrete production questions:
- Does the documented model ID work in your account and region?
- Does the response schema fit the application?
- How often does the task pass your acceptance test?
- What latency and error rate do you observe?
- What would the same workload cost after trial credit?
Run a small set of representative requests—not one showcase prompt. Log the model ID, request settings, returned usage or price, latency, retry reason, and final acceptance result.
Compare AI API Trials Fairly
“Free API” may describe a one-time credit, recurring quota, restricted sandbox, consumer chat plan, or open-source software that still needs paid compute. Record the differences before comparing providers.
| Question | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Is a payment card required? | affects signup friction, not long-term cost |
| Is credit one-time or recurring? | separates evaluation from an ongoing free tier |
| Which models/settings are eligible? | headline credit may not cover the desired workload |
| When does credit expire? | determines whether a slow evaluation is possible |
| What is the paid rate afterward? | exposes the real production decision |
| Are API and consumer plans separate? | prevents treating free chat as automatable API access |
Before Moving to Production
- Proxy calls through your backend.
- Set project budgets and alerts.
- Add per-user limits and abuse protection.
- Cap retries and media-generation attempts.
- Forecast cost per accepted task or output.
- Confirm data-handling and output-use terms for the selected model.
- Keep a paid fallback before launching a trial-dependent workflow.
Bottom Line
Use trial credit to validate one real workflow, not merely to maximize request count. Confirm the offer in your dashboard, run representative prompts, and compare cost per accepted result before moving to paid production.
Use the published signup credit to validate an integration, not to design a permanently free product. Confirm the live balance and eligible catalog, run representative requests, calculate post-trial cost, and protect the key from the first call.
