Which AI coding agents have free models built in?

Kilo Code, Cline and OpenCode all ship a list of free models you can use after signing in, without your own API key. The list rotates as labs run promos, so a model that is free this week may be paid next week.

What is the catch with built-in free models?

They are time-limited promotions with per-account quotas, and prompts may be used to improve the model. In Cline, free models work only in the IDE extension and CLI, not through the Cline API.

How do I keep a coding agent free after promos end?

Bring your own free key: Groq (GPT-OSS 120B or Qwen3.8 27B), OpenRouter :free routes, or Gemini 3.8 Flash. Or point the agent at a local Ollama model, which has no rate limits at all.

Free models in AI coding agents: Cline, Kilo Code, OpenCode

Last verified: 2026-10-10

The three open-source coding agents below each offer free models after you sign in. Those free slots are promotions that rotate every week or two. For something that keeps working, plug in a free API key or a local model — see step 4.

Free this week

StepFun Step 5 Preview — opencode · kilo · cline, until 2026-10-15. Details
Ling 3.1 Flash — cline · vercel ai gateway, until 2026-10-13. Details

1. Kilo Code (VS Code, JetBrains, CLI)

Install Kilo Code and sign in.
Open the model picker under the chat box and type free — free models are billed at $0 through the Kilo Gateway.
In the CLI, run kilo, then /models and search for free.

2. Cline (VS Code, CLI)

Sign in with a Cline account and set the API provider to Cline.
Pick a model tagged FREE (ids start with cline-free/). Each account gets a limited free quota.
Free models work in the IDE extension and CLI only, not through the Cline API.

Cline also works with Vercel AI Gateway, where models with a -free suffix stop serving when their promo ends instead of starting to bill you.

3. OpenCode (terminal)

Sign in to OpenCode Zen and run /models — free models have -free in the id.
To pin one, set "model": "opencode/<id>" in opencode.json.

4. Stay free after promos end: bring a free key

All three agents accept an OpenAI-compatible provider. These keep working without promos: Groq (30 RPM, 1,000 requests/day), OpenRouter :free (20 RPM, 50 requests/day), or a local Ollama model.

# Works in Cline, Kilo Code and OpenCode ("OpenAI Compatible" provider)
Groq:        base URL https://api.groq.com/openai/v1
             model    openai/gpt-oss-120b   (or qwen/qwen3.8-27b)
OpenRouter:  base URL https://openrouter.ai/api/v1
             model    openrouter/free
Ollama:      base URL http://localhost:11434/v1
             model    qwen3.8:27b           (any pulled tag)

Agents send many requests per task (read files, edit, run tests), so a 30 RPM cap fills quickly. Pair a hosted key with a fallback, or run Qwen3.8 27B on Ollama if you have a 24 GB GPU.

FAQ

Which AI coding agents have free models built in?: Kilo Code, Cline and OpenCode all ship a list of free models you can use after signing in, without your own API key. The list rotates as labs run promos, so a model that is free this week may be paid next week.
What is the catch with built-in free models?: They are time-limited promotions with per-account quotas, and prompts may be used to improve the model. In Cline, free models work only in the IDE extension and CLI, not through the Cline API.
How do I keep a coding agent free after promos end?: Bring your own free key: Groq (GPT-OSS 120B or Qwen3.8 27B), OpenRouter :free routes, or Gemini 3.8 Flash. Or point the agent at a local Ollama model, which has no rate limits at all.

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