Build Your SaaS for Free: Harnessing OpenRouter's Free Models
Dev.to AI
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Generative AI
Open Source AI
Why OpenRouter? OpenRouter isn't just a gateway to paid AI juggernauts. It also serves a treasure trove of free models - from Mistral 7B to Llama 2, even GPT‑3.5 Turbo at times. For bootstrapping a SaaS, that’s a game changer. The Playbook Pick your free model. Visit openrouter.ai/models and filter by cost: $0. Look for models with decent rate limits (e.g., Mistral 7B gives 10 req/minute). Integrate with the same API key. OpenRouter’s API is OpenAI‑compatible. Drop a free model endpoint into your existing OpenAI SDK, and you’re live. No extra boilerplate. Ship fast, upgrade later.