Discovery
Is the exact route present in the official catalog, and do all relevant pricing dimensions qualify?
Verification methodology
A status is a claim with boundaries.
We separate catalog facts, runtime behavior, free eligibility, freshness, and checker health before publishing a status.
Methodology updated July 15, 2026
What we verify
V1 covers free access offers published through OpenRouter. It does not measure model quality, host model weights, or proxy user traffic.
Runtime
Can a controlled account complete a minimal request through the exact interface and modality?
Freshness
Is the evidence recent enough to support the visible wording, or should the claim expire?
Minimum evidence scope
Access offer × API interface × tested modality or capability × region × account cohort. For example, “Text verified for an ordinary free account in Asia” does not imply that vision, tool calling, a purchased-credit account, or another region was tested.
How a route enters the directory
- 1
Fetch and preserve
We fetch OpenRouter’s official model catalog and retain a content hash and source snapshot for auditability.
- 2
Classify identity
A concrete :free route, the openrouter/free pool router, and an alias are different record types.
- 3
Check every relevant price
Prompt and completion prices are not enough. Request-, image-, audio-, song-, and other applicable charges must also be zero or absent by contract.
- 4
Stage the difference
New, changed, removed, and suspicious records enter an import review before publication. Manual corrections are preserved as explicit locks.
A zero token price alone is not sufficient. This rule prevents a route charged by another unit, such as a generated media item, from being labeled free.
A controlled real request
Verification uses a dedicated OpenRouter credential and a small, non-sensitive, non-streaming prompt. We target one exact route and disable cache reuse.
Before the request
Record the intended route, interface, modality, cohort, region, scheduled window, and account usage baseline.
During the request
Send a nonce-bearing prompt with a minimal output cap. Validate HTTP and body-level errors; never accept a cached answer as new evidence.
Route validation
Confirm that request metadata refers to the exact route. For openrouter/free, separately record the concrete model selected by the router.
Cost validation
Check response usage and generation details, plus the account usage delta when available. Runtime success without free-term proof remains Listed free.
We store structured facts needed to audit the result. We do not publish the credential, authorization headers, full generated output, nonce, or private provider error payload.
What each label means
Verified available
A recent, scoped inference succeeded and the recorded evidence confirms eligible routing and zero cost.
Limited
A recent request succeeded, but a meaningful quota, region, queue, or account constraint affects access.
Listed free
The official catalog currently qualifies the route as free, but full runtime and cost evidence is not yet complete.
Needs review
Evidence conflicts, a first scoped failure occurred, or a source field needs editorial review.
Unavailable now
The route was removed or repeated independent checks failed after account and checker faults were excluded.
Stale / unknown
The supporting evidence has passed its freshness window. We show the old observation without extending its claim.
Color is never the only signal. Public status includes text, evidence type, scope, and a timestamp. The default freshness window in V1 is 24 hours and can be tightened operationally.
One failure is not a verdict
Failures are classified before they affect a public claim. A bad key, exhausted verification budget, network outage, and unavailable model do not mean the same thing.
Authentication or account
Platform rate limit
Upstream capacity
Model or route missing
Network or timeout
Invalid or ambiguous evidence
- A first scoped failure normally moves the offer to Needs review, not Unavailable now.
- Repeated failures must occur in independent scheduled windows before they support Unavailable now.
- Checker faults are shown separately as verification delay. They never extend an expiring success claim.
Corrections and independence
Free Model is an independent directory. OpenRouter does not approve our labels, and a listing is not an endorsement of a model.
Source and license trail
We link primary provider facts and identify imported seed sources when they materially contribute. Model and provider trademarks remain with their owners. Open-source material keeps its original license.
Evidence-based corrections
Corrections retain the source value, editor reason, actor, and time. Historical events are append-only; changing the current projection does not erase what was previously observed.
Current commercial disclosure: public directory access is free, and listings are not paid placements. Free Model does not receive a fee when you open the cited OpenRouter links.
Our primary source for V1 is OpenRouter's official catalog and documentation. The ClawLabsAI free-ai-models repository informed the initial research and is credited where its material is used; it does not determine a public status.
Correction reports should identify the route, source URL, account cohort, region, and observation time. Never include an API key, private prompt, or full provider response.