--- title: "OrcaRouter free inference" description: "4 model routes currently listed at zero price. See verified limits, model IDs, privacy terms, and primary sources for OrcaRouter." canonical_url: "https://freeinferencing.com/provider/orcarouter/" md_url: "https://freeinferencing.com/provider/orcarouter.md" last_updated: "2026-09-19" --- # OrcaRouter > 4 model routes currently listed at zero price. ## Classification - **Directory:** Current - **Free access:** Free model routes - **Status:** Available now - **Confidence:** High - **Payment card:** No - **Account:** Required - **Equivalent paid value:** Not quantifiable - **API endpoint:** `https://api.orcarouter.ai/v1` ## Models mentioned - `deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash-free` - `tencent/hy3-free` - `z-ai/glm-5.3-flash-free` - `orca/orcaverify-text1.0-free` ## Limits and terms ```yaml published_general_numeric_limits: false exhausted_behavior: HTTP 429 or free-quota-exhausted; the wallet is not charged by the free router. recent_announcement_snapshot: requests_per_minute: 10 requests_per_day: 50 after_20_usd_cumulative_workspace_payments: requests_per_minute: 20 requests_per_day: 1000 caveat: The launch announcement, localized offer page, and live catalog differed during the 2026-08-21 audit; prefer the signed-in offer/account state. ``` ## What happens to your prompts? **Partially private.** OrcaRouter says it does not retain or train on content, but independently governed upstream providers receive the requests. Privacy is audited separately from price. Review the current governing terms before sending sensitive or regulated data. ## Data governance and agreements ```yaml data_governance: review_status: reviewed plan_scope: OrcaRouter gateway; upstream provider policies separately govern routed processing. prompt_retention: OrcaRouter states prompt and output content is processed in transit and not logged, stored, or retained by OrcaRouter. response_retention: Not retained by OrcaRouter. ordinary_logging: Request metadata needed for operation, security, and billing is retained without prompt or output content. model_training: OrcaRouter states it does not train models on user content. product_improvement: Performance and reliability improvement uses metadata rather than prompt or output content. human_or_operator_access: OrcaRouter states it keeps no content copy; the selected upstream provider necessarily processes the request under its own controls. subprocessors_and_routing: Prompts and responses are disclosed to upstream LLM providers such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Together AI, and Groq; their terms and privacy policies apply. deletion_controls: Users may delete accounts and exercise privacy rights; metadata follows the published retention schedule and legal exceptions. caveat: OrcaRouter's no-retention promise covers its gateway, not the independently governed upstream provider. agreements: terms_of_service: https://www.orcarouter.ai/terms.html privacy_policy: https://www.orcarouter.ai/privacy.html ``` ## Eligibility ```yaml account_required: true payment_method_required: false free_models_may_require_claim: true ``` ## API compatibility and modalities - **Compatibility:** OpenAI Chat Completions, OpenAI Responses, Anthropic Style, Gemini Style - **Modalities:** Text generation ## Before you build with OrcaRouter ### Read the classification narrowly This record describes the bounded offer supported by evidence on 2026-09-19; it does not guarantee permanence, production suitability, uptime, latency, model quality, or access from every account and region. “Free model routes” should be interpreted together with the Current directory placement, High confidence, No payment-card status, and the plan-specific sources below. ### Resolve the live model route The snapshot records 4 model IDs. Match the exact ID against the provider's current catalog before using it in code because zero-price routes, aliases, context limits, and feature support can rotate while an older documentation page remains online. ### Match the quota to the workload shape Translate the allowance into peak requests per minute, input and output tokens, concurrency, retries, and every daily or monthly ceiling that applies to the intended account. The first limit reached by the workload is the practical ceiling. A large token pool can still fail interactive bursts, and a high request limit can still fail long-context work. Include tool calls and retry traffic, test the largest realistic payload, and treat research, experimental, and community access as conditional on their eligibility and fair-use terms. ### Preserve billing and privacy boundaries The recorded payment-card requirement is No, and account access is required. Confirm both in the live signup flow, set provider-side budgets when charges are possible, and observe the balance or usage fields after a complete request. The prompt-handling classification is **Partially private** because OrcaRouter says it does not retain or train on content, but independently governed upstream providers receive the requests. Re-read the terms for the exact route and plan before sending sensitive, regulated, or proprietary content. ### Follow the evidence, then re-check it This record links 9 first-party sources covering the offer, catalog, limits, pricing, terms, privacy, or adoption evidence available to the audit. Prefer the newest and most specific governing document or live catalog when sources disagree. A dated finding can become stale even when the page remains online, so retain the source and snapshot that supported the decision and submit a correction when a provider changes a material term. ### Plan fallback without policy drift A fallback should preserve modality, context length, streaming, structured output, tools, safety controls, and data terms, not only API syntax. Decide which errors may retry, cap retry storms, and prevent an exhausted free route from silently switching to a billable model. Rotating aliases and free pools can change behavior without changing the endpoint, so retain the response model field and test at least one substitute route before the primary offer becomes unavailable. ### Monitor the offer as a dependency Capture the model ID, response model, rate-limit headers, usage fields, latency, HTTP status, and provider request identifier. Watch authorization failure, quota exhaustion, catalog removal, policy revision, and balance movement as separate failure modes. Re-check the live catalog and governing sources on a schedule proportionate to the workload's importance, and keep an owner and exit path for any production dependency on volatile free capacity. ### Test one complete request before scaling Start with the smallest permitted request using the exact credential, model ID, endpoint, region, and account type intended for deployment. Record the status, headers, usage fields, response model, latency, and dashboard balance movement. Then exercise an invalid model, quota exhaustion, or rate limit so failure is explicit and cannot silently switch to a paid route. Validate streaming, structured output, and tool calls separately because a free model can expose fewer features than its paid counterpart. Keep a budget ceiling outside the application whenever billing is possible, and do not send sensitive data until the observed route matches the reviewed agreement. ## Primary sources - [OrcaRouter offers](https://www.orcarouter.ai/offers): Official Product - [Free router](https://www.orcarouter.ai/models/orcarouter/free): Official Product - [Models endpoint](https://api.orcarouter.ai/v1/models): Live Catalog - [Pricing](https://www.orcarouter.ai/pricing): Official Pricing - [Hosted OrcaRouter launch](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/orcarouter-launches-the-open-llm-api-router--zero-markup-mit-licensed-100-models-302766356.html): Company Press Release - [Terms of Service](https://www.orcarouter.ai/terms.html): Official Terms - [Privacy Policy](https://www.orcarouter.ai/privacy.html): Official Privacy - [OrcaRouter Lite open-source router by Continuum AI Corp.](https://github.com/Continuum-AI-Corp/OrcaRouter-Lite): Official Repository - [Continuum AI GitHub organization](https://github.com/Continuum-AI-Corp): Code Hosting Stats ## Sitemap See the full [semantic sitemap](/sitemap.md) for every page and markdown mirror.