Blog · 2026-07-09

Free LLM API for Coding: DeepSeek, Qwen and Codestral

If you want a free LLM API for coding that works with the tools you already use, DreamPrompting gives you an OpenAI compatible gateway and a free API key that takes seconds to create at /account, with no credit card. You point your code at one base URL, ask for the strongest code models available through the gateway, and get back completions for generation, review and autocomplete. This post covers the best free coding LLM options, how to route to them, and how to wire them into editors and agents.

The best free coding models on the gateway

A free LLM API for coding is only useful if the models behind it can actually write and reason about code. The gateway routes to several strong open options, with automatic failover so a busy provider does not stop your workflow:

The simplest approach is to pass "auto" as the model and let the gateway pick and fail over for you. When you want a specific engine, pin a provider or model id. Model ids change over time, so always check the live list rather than hard coding a guess. Browse them on the models page or fetch them directly:

curl https://dreamprompting.com/api/v1/models \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Call the free LLM API for coding with curl

The endpoint is OpenAI compatible, so a standard chat completion request works. There is no billing and no card. Pass your free API key where an API key would go. The base URL is https://dreamprompting.com/api/v1 and requests go to POST /api/v1/chat/completions.

curl https://dreamprompting.com/api/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "auto",
    "messages": [
      {"role": "system", "content": "You are a senior Python engineer."},
      {"role": "user", "content": "Write a function that parses an ISO 8601 date string and returns the weekday name. Include a docstring and edge case handling."}
    ]
  }'

Python OpenAI SDK example

Because this is a free LLM API for coding built to the OpenAI shape, the official OpenAI SDK works with two changes: set base_url to the gateway and set api_key to your free key. Everything else, including a coding prompt, stays the same.

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    base_url="https://dreamprompting.com/api/v1",
    api_key="YOUR_API_KEY",
)

resp = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="auto",
    messages=[
        {"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert code reviewer."},
        {"role": "user", "content": "Review this function for bugs and suggest a fix:\n\ndef avg(nums):\n    return sum(nums) / len(nums)"},
    ],
)

print(resp.choices[0].message.content)

To stream tokens as they generate, which feels far better for long code output, add "stream": true to the request and iterate over the chunks. The gateway allows up to 100 requests per minute, plus a rolling 24 hour account quota of 5,000 requests and 500,000 tokens, which is plenty for interactive editing and batch review jobs.

A few habits make this free LLM API for coding more reliable in real projects. Give the model a clear system role so it answers as an engineer rather than a generalist. Paste the exact code you want reviewed instead of describing it, since concrete input yields concrete fixes. Keep your prompts scoped to one function or file at a time so completions stay fast and easy to verify. When a task needs heavier reasoning, pin DeepSeek; when you just want quick generation, Qwen Coder is a good default. Because failover is automatic, a single provider outage does not break your loop, so you can leave requests set to auto and forget about it.

Wire it into your coding tools

Any editor extension or coding tool that accepts an OpenAI compatible base_url can use this free LLM API for coding as its backend. In tools such as Continue and similar assistants, set the base URL to https://dreamprompting.com/api/v1, use your free API key as the key, and pick a model id from the live list or use auto. That gives you inline completion, chat and refactoring inside your editor without a paid plan. For full request and response details, see the API docs. If you are building autonomous coding agents on top of it, the for agents guide covers tool calling and long running loops.

Frequently asked questions

Is this really free? Yes, and there is no card at any point. You do need a key, and getting one is free and takes seconds: sign in with Google at /account, then send requests to the base URL with that key and start coding immediately.

Which model should I pick for coding? Start with auto so the gateway routes and fails over for you. If you want to pin one, DeepSeek suits reasoning heavy refactors, Qwen Coder suits fast generation, and Codestral suits completion and review. Confirm ids on the models page since they update.

Can I use my existing OpenAI code? Yes. Keep your OpenAI SDK code and change only the base_url and api_key. Requests to /api/v1/chat/completions behave the same way, including streaming.

Start coding for free

A free LLM API for coding removes the biggest blocker to trying AI in your workflow, which is setup and cost. Check the live model list on the models page, then copy a request from the API docs and drop it into your editor or script. You can be generating, reviewing and completing code in a couple of minutes.

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