Embed v5.0 Fast on Cohere

Cohere Free API tier

The catch: Only 1,000 calls a month across all endpoints, trial keys may not be used for production or commercial work, and trial data falls under the general Terms of Use, which let Cohere use it to improve its services.

Access	Free API tier
Free limits	Trial key: Embed 2,000 inputs/min (images 5 inputs/min), within the 1,000 API calls a month trial cap. Text, image and mixed (PDF) inputs.
Modality	embeddings
Credit card	Not required
Commercial use	Not allowed
Trains on your data	Yes, on the free tier
Licence or terms	Cohere Terms of Use (last updated 7 Sep 2022) and Usage Policy
Context window	128,000 tokens
Model id	`embed-v5.0-fast`
Base URL	`https://api.cohere.ai/compatibility/v1`
Last checked	8 Oct 2026

How to use Embed v5.0 Fast

It speaks the OpenAI API at https://api.cohere.ai/compatibility/v1, so the OpenAI SDK you already use works once you change the base URL and key.

Quickstart

curl https://api.cohere.ai/compatibility/v1/embeddings -H "Authorization: Bearer $CO_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"model":"embed-v5.0-fast","input":["Hello"],"encoding_format":"float"}'

Paste into Claude Code

I want to use the free AI model "Embed v5.0 Fast" from Cohere (model id: embed-v5.0-fast) in my project.
Please:
1. Check the provider docs and give me the exact steps to get a free API key.
2. Give me a minimal working example that reads the key from an environment variable.
3. Tell me the real free limits and any catch (commercial use, card, data use). Listed limits: 2,000 inputs/min · 1,000 calls a month.
4. If the same provider has a more generous free option, mention it.

Provider docs Get a free key Compare all 507 free options

Before you ship on it

Only 1,000 calls a month across all endpoints, trial keys may not be used for production or commercial work, and trial data falls under the general Terms of Use, which let Cohere use it to improve its services.
Prompts on the free tier may be used to train models. Keep customer data off it.
cohere.com/pricing FAQ: 'API calls made from a Trial API key are free. However, trial keys are rate limited and are not permitted to be used for production or commercial purposes.' Production use needs a paid production…
Free tiers are shared capacity: treat the limits as a ceiling, not a promise, and keep a paid fallback.

Questions

Is Embed v5.0 Fast on Cohere free?

Yes. Cohere offers it as free api tier, with these limits: 2,000 inputs/min · 1,000 calls a month. No credit card is needed.

Can I use Embed v5.0 Fast on Cohere commercially?

No: the free access is for testing or non-commercial use. A paid plan is needed for production.

How do I start with Embed v5.0 Fast on Cohere?

It speaks the OpenAI API at https://api.cohere.ai/compatibility/v1, so the OpenAI SDK you already use works once you change the base URL and key.

Source: docs.cohere.com/docs/rate-limits, checked 8 Oct 2026.