Updated March 2026
Claude API Free Tier
New accounts get $5 in free API credits to evaluate Claude. Access all models, prompt caching, and the Batch API. Here is exactly what you get and how to make the most of it.
Free Credits
$5.00
All Models
Included
Rate Limit
5 req/min
What the Free Tier Includes
When you create a new Anthropic account, you receive $5 in API credits at no cost. These credits let you make real API calls to evaluate Claude before committing to paid usage. There is no credit card required to sign up and start using the free credits.
The free tier gives you access to every feature of the Claude API: all three model tiers (Opus 4, Sonnet 4, Haiku 3.5), prompt caching for reducing input costs, the Batch API for async processing at 50% off, streaming responses, and the full 200K context window. The only restrictions are rate limits and your credit balance.
The $5 credit does not expire, so you can spread your evaluation over days or weeks. Once depleted, you will need to add a payment method to continue. There is no automatic charge -- your API calls will simply return errors when the balance reaches zero.
How far does $5 go?
| Model | Input/MTok | Output/MTok | Approx. Requests |
|---|---|---|---|
| Haiku 3.5 | $0.80 | $4.00 | ~2,500 simple requests |
| Sonnet 4 | $3.00 | $15.00 | ~475 requests |
| Opus 4 | $15.00 | $75.00 | ~95 requests |
Estimates based on average request size of 1,000 input tokens and 500 output tokens. Your actual usage will vary depending on prompt length and response size.
Free Tier Rate Limits
Requests per minute
5
Tokens per minute
20,000
Tokens per day
300,000
These limits are sufficient for prototyping, testing integrations, and evaluating model quality. At 5 requests per minute, you can comfortably run interactive tests and small evaluation batches. The 300,000 tokens per day limit allows for roughly 150-200 typical requests (1K input + 500 output each). For higher throughput, add a payment method to upgrade to Build Tier 1 with 50 requests per minute and 1,000,000 tokens per day.
Step-by-Step: Your First API Call
Create an Anthropic account
Go to console.anthropic.com and sign up with your email or Google account. No credit card required. Your $5 free credit is applied immediately.
Generate an API key
Navigate to Settings then API Keys. Click "Create Key", give it a name, and copy the key. Store it securely -- you will not be able to see it again. Never commit API keys to source control or share them publicly.
Install the SDK
Choose your language and install the official Anthropic SDK:
# Python
pip install anthropic
# Node.js / TypeScript
npm install @anthropic-ai/sdk
Make your first API call
Set your API key as an environment variable and send a request:
import anthropic
client = anthropic.Anthropic() # Reads ANTHROPIC_API_KEY env var
message = client.messages.create(
model="claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
max_tokens=1024,
messages=[
{"role": "user", "content": "What is an API token?"}
]
)
print(message.content[0].text)
print(f"Input tokens: {message.usage.input_tokens}")
print(f"Output tokens: {message.usage.output_tokens}")The response includes a usage object with exact token counts so you can track your spending from the very first call.
Monitor your credit balance
Check your remaining balance anytime at console.anthropic.com under the Usage section. The dashboard shows daily spend, token usage by model, and remaining credits.
Free Tier vs Paid Comparison
What changes when you upgrade from free to paid.
| Feature | Free Tier | Paid (Build+) |
|---|---|---|
| Initial credits | $5 credit | Pay-as-you-go (no limit) |
| Requests per minute | 5 | 50 - 4,000+ (tier-dependent) |
| Tokens per minute | 20,000 | 40,000 - 400,000+ (tier-dependent) |
| Tokens per day | 300,000 | 1,000,000 - Custom |
| Models available | All (Opus, Sonnet, Haiku) | All (Opus, Sonnet, Haiku) |
| Prompt caching | Yes | Yes |
| Batch API | Yes | Yes |
| Streaming | Yes | Yes |
| Context window | 200K tokens | 200K tokens |
| Support | Community / documentation | Priority support (Scale+) |
When You Need to Upgrade
Signs you have outgrown free
- !You are hitting the 5 requests/minute limit during development
- !Your $5 credit is running low and you need more testing
- !You are building a feature that requires sustained API access
- !You need to run evaluation benchmarks across hundreds of test cases
Upgrading is easy
- +Add a credit card in Settings > Billing
- +Make a deposit of $5 or more to unlock Build Tier 1
- +Immediately get 10x the rate limits (50 req/min)
- +No subscription -- pay only for tokens you use
- +Higher tiers unlock automatically as your spend grows
Tips for Maximising Your Free Credits
Start with Haiku
At $0.80/$4 per MTok, Haiku gives you roughly 5x more requests than Sonnet for the same cost. Use it for initial prototyping and switch to Sonnet only when you need the quality difference.
Keep prompts short
Every token costs money. Strip unnecessary instructions during testing. A 500-token prompt costs half as much as a 1,000-token one.
Set low max_tokens
During evaluation, set max_tokens to the minimum needed. If you are testing classification, set it to 10-20 tokens instead of the default 4,096.
Use the Workbench
The Anthropic Workbench at console.anthropic.com lets you test prompts in the browser without writing code. It uses your API credits but shows token counts in real time.
Enable prompt caching
Even on the free tier, caching reduces input costs by 90%. If you are iterating on the same system prompt, caching means your subsequent tests cost a fraction of the first.
Track usage after each call
Print the usage object from every API response to see exactly how many tokens you used. This prevents surprises and helps you optimise before you run out of credits.