Ollama Cloud Free plan
Ollama Free API tier
The catch: The free allowance is an unpublished 'starter' amount that only covers unnamed starter models, with one request at a time (ollama.com/pricing).
| Access | Free API tier |
|---|---|
| Free limits | Free plan ($0): 'Starter usage credits included' for 'a smaller set of starter models'; buying credits unlocks all models. Amount of starter credit not published. Usage resets monthly from signup date; no rollover. 1 concurrent request (extra requests are queued, rejected when the queue is full). The old session and weekly limits no longer apply. Running models locally stays unlimited. |
| Modality | text, code |
| Credit card | – |
| Commercial use | Allowed |
| Trains on your data | No |
| Licence or terms | Ollama Terms of Service |
| Context window | 262,144 tokens |
| Model id | gemma4:31b |
| Base URL | https://ollama.com/v1 |
| Last checked | 2 Oct 2026 |
How to use Starter cloud models
It speaks the OpenAI API at https://ollama.com/v1, so the OpenAI SDK you already use works once you change the base URL and key.
Quickstart
curl https://ollama.com/v1/chat/completions -H "Authorization: Bearer $KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"model":"gemma4:31b","messages":[{"role":"user","content":"Hello"}]}'Paste into Claude Code
I want to use the free AI model "Starter cloud models" from Ollama Cloud (model id: gemma4:31b) 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 Listed limits: Unpublished starter credit, resets monthly; 1 request at a time. 4. If the same provider has a more generous free option, mention it.
Before you ship on it
- The free allowance is an unpublished 'starter' amount that only covers unnamed starter models, with one request at a time (ollama.com/pricing).
- Ollama Terms (last updated May 2026): 'You retain ownership of content you create using our services... We claim no ownership over your inputs or outputs.' No non-commercial clause found.
- Free tiers are shared capacity: treat the limits as a ceiling, not a promise, and keep a paid fallback.
Questions
Is Ollama Cloud Free plan free?
Yes. Ollama Cloud offers it as free api tier, with these limits: Unpublished starter credit, resets monthly; 1 request at a time.
Can I use Ollama Cloud Free plan commercially?
Yes, under Ollama Terms of Service. Check the current terms before you ship.
How do I start with Ollama Cloud Free plan?
It speaks the OpenAI API at https://ollama.com/v1, so the OpenAI SDK you already use works once you change the base URL and key.
Source: ollama.com/pricing, checked 2 Oct 2026.