NVIDIA API Catalog free endpoints (build.nvidia.com)
NVIDIA (build.nvidia.com, NIM) Free API tier
The catch: Testing and evaluation only (no production use), and the trial terms let NVIDIA use your prompts and outputs to improve its products, including AI models.
| Access | Free API tier |
|---|---|
| Free limits | Free for NVIDIA Developer Program members (free to join): up to 40 requests per minute and 10,000 requests per day; NVIDIA says limits may vary by model and traffic from other users may cause throttling. Models marked "Free Endpoint" in the catalog. The API Trial Terms also allow NVIDIA to issue trial Credits, but no current credit amount is published on an official page. |
| Modality | text, image, embeddings |
| Credit card | – |
| Commercial use | Not allowed |
| Trains on your data | Yes, on the free tier |
| Licence or terms | NVIDIA API Trial Terms of Service (model: NVIDIA Open Model License Agreement and Apache 2.0 for Gemma 4, per its catalog page) |
| Context window | 262,144 tokens |
| Model id | google/gemma-4-31b-it |
| Base URL | https://integrate.api.nvidia.com/v1 |
| Last checked | 2 Oct 2026 |
How to use API Catalog free endpoints
It speaks the OpenAI API at https://integrate.api.nvidia.com/v1, so the OpenAI SDK you already use works once you change the base URL and key.
Quickstart
curl https://integrate.api.nvidia.com/v1/chat/completions -H "Authorization: Bearer $KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"model":"google/gemma-4-31b-it","messages":[{"role":"user","content":"Hello"}]}'Paste into Claude Code
I want to use the free AI model "API Catalog free endpoints" from NVIDIA (model id: google/gemma-4-31b-it) 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: 40 RPM and 10,000 requests a day. 4. If the same provider has a more generous free option, mention it.
Before you ship on it
- Testing and evaluation only (no production use), and the trial terms let NVIDIA use your prompts and outputs to improve its products, including AI models.
- Prompts on the free tier may be used to train models. Keep customer data off it.
- Prototyping only. NVIDIA API Trial Terms of Service (v. 19 Sep 2025) s.1.2 gives access for limited trial purposes and not in production; s.1.4 says that without a paid Subscription you may use it only for internal…
- Free tiers are shared capacity: treat the limits as a ceiling, not a promise, and keep a paid fallback.
Questions
Is NVIDIA API Catalog free endpoints (build.nvidia.com) free?
Yes. NVIDIA offers it as free api tier, with these limits: 40 RPM and 10,000 requests a day.
Can I use NVIDIA API Catalog free endpoints (build.nvidia.com) commercially?
No: the free access is for testing or non-commercial use. A paid plan is needed for production.
How do I start with NVIDIA API Catalog free endpoints (build.nvidia.com)?
It speaks the OpenAI API at https://integrate.api.nvidia.com/v1, so the OpenAI SDK you already use works once you change the base URL and key.
Source: build.nvidia.com/, checked 2 Oct 2026.