01 — THE DAILY COUNTERThe free-model counter, and what is (and isn't) known about its reset
Three different things on OpenRouter get called a “reset.” Only two of them have documented timing — and neither of those is the free-model counter most people are asking about.
| Counter | What it counts | Reset behaviour | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free-model daily requests daily · account-wide |
Requests to free model variants (IDs ending in :free), tracked as the free_model_daily_requests field on your API key. Cap: 50/day, or 1,000/day after $10 lifetime credit purchases. A separate 20 requests/minute cap applies either way. | The counter is daily, but OpenRouter's official limits documentation gives no reset time — no hour, no time zone. A community error guide claims it resets at midnight UTC (phrased as “7:00 PM / 12:00 AM UTC”), but that is user-reported, not documented. | Reset time: not officially published. The midnight-UTC claim is unofficial. |
| Per-key credit limits optional · per API key |
A spending cap you can optionally set on an individual API key. When limit_remaining is exhausted, that key stops working. | Reset windows are configurable, and the key's API response exposes a limit_reset field showing when the current window ends. Raise the key's limit or wait for the reset. | Documented — check your own key's limit_reset value. |
| Guardrail / workspace budgets org spend caps |
Organization-level spend budgets — a separate feature from rate limits, enforced with a 403 when exceeded. | These windows do have published anchors: 00:00 UTC daily, Monday 00:00 UTC weekly, and the 1st of the month monthly. | Documented — but do not confuse these with the free-model counter above. |
Why there is no countdown timer on this page: every other Reset Bible guide counts down to a documented reset moment. OpenRouter doesn't publish one for the free-model counter, so a countdown would be theatre, not information. If OpenRouter documents the reset time, this page will get a timer the same day. Until then, the honest answer is: the counter is daily, the moment is unpublished, and the midnight-UTC figure circulating in community guides is unverified.
- Limits are account-wide, not per-model or per-key: the 20/minute rate and the daily counter are shared across all free models, and creating extra API keys does not multiply them.
- Old guides quoting “200 free requests/day” are outdated: the current documented tiers are 50/day and 1,000/day, split by lifetime spend.
- The free-model catalogue moves: providers add and withdraw free models at any time, so no fixed model count is meaningful. Browse the current list on OpenRouter's models page, or use the openrouter/free router, which auto-selects a free model.
02 — THE TIERS50 vs 1,000 requests a day: the $10 line
Your free-model allowance is set by how much credit you have ever purchased — not by your current balance, and not by a subscription. Cross the $10 line once and the higher tier is permanent.
| Tier | Requirement | Per minute | Per day (:free models) | Paid models |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free — under $10 | $0 · no card required · lifetime credit purchases below $10 | 20 requests | 50 requests | Pay per token from your balance at provider list prices; no platform-level request caps |
| Free — $10 and up | One-time $10 lifetime credit purchase (stays elevated even if your balance later drops to $0) | 20 requests | 1,000 requests | Same as above |
| Paid usage | Any positive credit balance | No platform request caps — only your balance and upstream provider capacity | Per-token at provider list prices, no markup; a top-up fee applies when buying credits | |
| BYOK | Bring your own provider API keys | — | First $25,000/month of list-price inference carries no BYOK fee; 5% above that | |
- The $9 tolerance: OpenRouter's docs note the higher daily ceiling is granted starting one credit below the table threshold (currently $9 of lifetime purchases) “to absorb rounding and top-up fees.”
- New accounts: the official FAQ says new accounts receive “a small free allowance to test out OpenRouter” — the current dollar amount is not stated in the docs, and this page won't guess it.
- Watch your balance sign: a negative balance blocks even free models (requests fail with a 402). Prepaid accounts below a balance threshold also get an in-flight spending hold cap on paid requests; free models and BYOK are exempt from that mechanism.
03 — PAID CREDITSPrepaid credits: no reset, one expiry caveat
Because there is no subscription, there is nothing to “reset” on the paid side. Your balance is a wallet: it goes down when you call paid models and stays put when you don't. Two things are worth knowing precisely — the expiry clause in the terms, and the fee taken when you top up.
Expiry: reserved in the terms, not enforced in practice
OpenRouter's FAQ states it plainly: “Per our terms, we reserve the right to expire unused credits after one year of purchase.” That is a reserved right, not a schedule. OpenRouter's COO said publicly (June 2025) that in practice they don't expire credits but must reserve the right. The accurate summary: credits are subject to a 1-year expiry per the terms; expiration has not been enforced in practice. Spend old credits first if the distinction matters to you.
OpenRouter FAQ — “Do credits expire?” ↗Top-up fees
Model usage is billed at provider list prices with no markup, but buying credits carries a fee: 5.5% (minimum $0.80) by card on the standard plan, 5% by crypto, and 8% on the Business plan. OpenRouter's pricing has changed more than once in the past fourteen months, so check the current figures on the pricing page before a large top-up.
OpenRouter Credits page ↗04 — YOUR NUMBERSWhere to check your own usage, balance & counters
Your own counters — including today's free-model request count — are visible in three official places:
Activity page
openrouter.ai/activityYour historic usage across OpenRouter, filterable by model, provider and API key — the fastest way to see what today's requests actually went to.
Open the Activity page ↗Credits page
openrouter.ai/settings/creditsYour current balance and top-up options — and where the refund button lives if you need it.
Open the Credits page ↗Key API — live counters
GET openrouter.ai/api/v1/keyCall it with your API key for live data: key usage and limits, the free_model_daily_requests counter, per-key limit state including limit_reset, and budget information. This is the authoritative machine-readable view of where your daily counter stands.
OpenRouter limits documentation ↗05 — FAQOpenRouter reset questions, answered straight
When does the OpenRouter free daily limit reset?
OpenRouter does not officially publish the reset time of the free-model daily request counter. The official limits documentation defines a requests-per-day counter but states no reset time and no time zone. A community error guide claims the counter resets at midnight UTC — that is user-reported and unconfirmed, so treat it as unofficial. If you need certainty, watch the free_model_daily_requests value returned by GET /api/v1/key around the time you expect the reset.
Do OpenRouter credits reset every month?
No. OpenRouter is prepaid and pay-as-you-go — there is no subscription and no monthly quota. Your balance draws down as you use paid models and otherwise stays exactly where it is. The only allowance that resets is the free-model daily request counter.
Do OpenRouter credits expire?
Per the terms and FAQ, OpenRouter reserves the right to expire unused credits one year after purchase. In practice, expiration has not been enforced — the company's COO stated publicly in June 2025 that credits are not expired in practice but the right has to be reserved. Both halves matter: don't treat the balance as guaranteed-forever, and don't panic about a cliff edge either.
How do I get 1,000 free requests per day instead of 50?
Purchase at least $10 of credits over your account's lifetime. The free-model daily limit rises from 50 to 1,000 requests/day; the per-minute limit stays at 20. It's a one-time threshold — the higher tier stays even if your balance later drops to $0 — and the docs note it's granted starting one credit below the threshold (currently $9) to absorb rounding and top-up fees.
Are free-model limits per model or per account?
Per account. The 20 requests/minute and the daily counter apply across all free (:free) models combined — not per model, and multiple API keys don't multiply them.
What happens if my balance goes negative?
Requests fail with a 402 error — and a negative balance blocks even free models, not just paid ones. Top up to restore access. Separately, prepaid accounts below a balance threshold are subject to an in-flight spending hold cap on paid requests; free models and BYOK are exempt from that mechanism.
Do per-key credit limits reset?
Yes, if you set them. Optional per-key credit limits have configurable reset windows, and the key's API response shows a limit_reset field with the end of the current window. If limit_remaining on a key is exhausted, raise the key's credit limit or wait for it to reset.
Where can I check my usage and remaining credits?
The Activity page (openrouter.ai/activity) for historic usage filterable by model, provider and API key; the Credits page (openrouter.ai/settings/credits) for balance and top-ups; or programmatically via GET https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/key, which returns live key usage, limits and the free_model_daily_requests counter.
Does OpenRouter charge a fee when buying credits?
Yes: 5.5% with a $0.80 minimum by card on the standard plan, 5% by crypto, and 8% on the Business plan. Usage itself is billed at provider list prices with no markup. The fee structure has changed more than once — verify on OpenRouter's pricing page before a large top-up.
Are OpenRouter's budget resets the same as the free-model reset?
No. Guardrail and workspace budgets are a separate organization spend-cap feature. Those windows do have published anchors — 00:00 UTC daily, Monday 00:00 UTC weekly, and the 1st of the month monthly — but they govern spend budgets, not the free-model daily request counter, whose reset time remains unpublished.