Cohere · Provider free tier
OpenCohere trial (evaluation) API keys
Free Cohere evaluation API keys, issued on sign-up — up to 1,000 API calls per month for prototyping.
Last verified Official source (opens in a new tab) docs.cohere.com
Key facts
- Free value
- Up to 1,000 requests / month
- Details
- Up to 1,000 API calls per month on free trial keys
- Credit card required
- Card: not stated
- Availability
- Open
Available subject to the provider eligibility and usage conditions.
- Application deadline
- No deadline stated
- Credit validity
- Not stated by the provider
- Allowance resets
- Every month · reset time not stated · timezone not stated — 1,000 API calls/month for evaluation keys; reset day and timezone are not stated.
- Eligibility
- Anyone who creates a free Cohere dashboard account.
Current conditions
- Evaluation use only; per-endpoint limits also apply.
- Card requirements are not stated in the rate-limit documentation.
What you get
Free 'evaluation' API keys across Cohere's Command, Embed and Rerank models. Trial rate limits include 20 requests/min on Chat and 10 requests/min on Rerank, with a cap of 1,000 API calls a month. Endpoint-specific limits also apply; check the current table for Embed. Intended for prototyping and evaluation, not production.
How to claim it
- Create a free account at dashboard.cohere.com
- Open the API Keys page
- Copy your trial (evaluation) key and start calling the API
Verification history and earlier terms
This dated editorial record includes superseded conditions. Use the current facts above for eligibility and access.
Trial keys are free but limited; production keys are paid and far less limited. Some newer Command model variants keep the 1,000-call/month cap even on production keys until approved. Re-verified 2026-07-03: evaluation keys ('free but limited in usage'), the 1,000 calls/month cap and per-endpoint limits confirmed verbatim on docs.cohere.com. The docs don't state the card requirement either way — 'no card' reflects the evaluation-key signup flow (tracked as V27). Re-verified 2026-08-15: unchanged — 'Trial keys (and prod keys on newer Chat model variants) are limited to 1,000 API calls a month', Chat 20 req/min, Embed 2,000 inputs/min, Rerank 10 req/min, Tokenize 100 req/min. Re-verified 2026-09-13: unchanged — "Trial keys (and prod keys on newer Chat model variants) are limited to 1,000 API calls a month", Chat at 20 req/min, with the per-endpoint spread (Rerank 10/min, EmbedJob and Audio Transcriptions 5/min, Tokenize 100/min, Embed 2,000 inputs/min). The docs still do not discuss a card requirement either way (V27). Re-verified 2026-10-10: docs.cohere.com/docs/rate-limits still reads "Trial keys (and prod keys on newer Chat model variants) are limited to 1,000 API calls a month", with Chat at "20 req / min" (now also Command A+ and North Mini Code), Rerank "10 req / min", Embed "2,000 inputs / min", Embed (Images) "5 inputs / min", EmbedJob and Audio Transcriptions "5 req / min", Tokenize "100 req / min", and a new Parse row at "500 req / min". CONFLICT: Cohere's FAQ (docs.cohere.com/docs/cohere-faqs) says "the Embed endpoint is limited to 5 calls per minute, while the Chat endpoint is limited to 20 calls per minute. All other endpoints on trail keys are 1,000 calls per month." Per ADR-0023 we stopped quoting an Embed figure; Chat 20/min and 1,000 calls/month are on both pages. Card (V27): still not stated anywhere. The only card sentence is on cohere.com/enterprise-data-commitments, which defines paying SaaS customers as those "who have a credit card on file in their account". 'No card' is therefore an inference, so we removed it from user-facing copy and tags. ADVERSARIALLY RE-VERIFIED 2026-10-10: an independent pass upheld both points — the Embed conflict is server-rendered on both pages (and repeated in the v1 docs), and no Cohere page states that trial keys need no card (the key is auto-created 'When an account is created', which is suggestive, not a statement). cardRequired → null (ADR-0037). Re-verified 2026-10-21 in the audit-remediation source sweep: current primary offer page and the material eligibility, validity, unit and payment evidence recorded in SOURCE-VERIFICATION.csv. Historical notes above are retained as history, not current terms. No account was created and no claim was submitted.