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Free API access

Source: vignettes/free-api-access.Rmd
free-api-access.Rmd

You can use codriver without paying for an API subscription!

Codriver requires API access to an LLM provider, but isn’t tied to a particular provider or subscription. There are several free options available: free API access with a cloud provider, or setting up your own local server. This article covers some available options that are free to start with, and some considerations of each.

Google Gemini

Google offers free API access to Gemini models through Google AI Studio. Sign in with a Google account, create an API key, and store it in your .Renviron:

file.edit("~/.Renviron")

Add:

GOOGLE_API_KEY=*your_key_here*

Save the file, restart RStudio and then configure codriver:

codriver::codriver_configure("google_gemini", model = "gemini-3.5-flash-lite")

At the time of writing Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite or Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite are the recommended model for codriver on the free tier. These models offers 500 requests per day each (max. 15 per minute) and respond reasonably quick. Other Gemini models on the free tier are either heavily rate-limited or slow enough to make interactive use impractical.

To check current free tier limits, go to Google AI Studio > Usage & billing > Rate limits. Sort by Category to find text-out models.

On the free tier, Google may use your prompts to improve their models. Review Google’s API terms before use.

Mistral

Mistral AI, a French company, offers a free tier through console.mistral.ai. Sign up, create an API key, and store it in your .Renviron:

file.edit("~/.Renviron")

Add:

MISTRAL_API_KEY=*your_key_here*

Save the file, restart RStudio and then configure codriver:

codriver::codriver_configure("mistral", model = "mistral-medium-latest")

At the time of writing, Mistral Medium Latest is the recommended model for codriver on the free tier, but you may run into rate limits. Start with mistral-medium-latest, and if you run into rate limits, switch to the highest-numbered mistral-medium-* version available in the model list:

# Get available models and filter on `mistral-medium-*`
ellmer::models_mistral() |>
  dplyr::filter(startsWith(name, "mistral-medium-"))

# Look up highest-numbered `name` and replace `2508` below
codriver::codriver_configure("mistral", model = "mistral-medium-2508")

The free tier of Mistral comes with the same caveat as Google Gemini: your prompts may be used for model training. That said, Mistral is a European company subject to EU law, which may be relevant for data governance considerations. Check Mistral’s terms of service for the current policy.

Local model server

For maximum privacy, run a model locally. Ollama and LM Studio both provide local model servers that codriver can connect to. No API key required, and nothing leaves your machine.

The trade-off is speed and model capability. Local models are generally slower and less capable than cloud models, especially on machines without a dedicated GPU. For lightweight tasks like completing a short line of code they can work well; for more complex generation or editing, results may be less reliable.

Ollama

After installing and pulling a model, e.g. ollama pull codellama, configure codriver:

codriver::codriver_configure("ollama", model = "codellama")
LM Studio

Start your local server in the LM Studio app, then configure codriver:

codriver::codriver_configure("lmstudio", model = "your-loaded-model")

Other options

The free tier landscape changes quickly. A few other providers worth knowing about:

  • OpenRouter

    A gateway to many models from different providers, some of which are free. One API key gives access to a wide range of models. Use "openrouter" as the provider name in codriver.

  • Groq

    Fast inference on open models like Llama and Mixtral. Free tier available. Use "groq" as the provider name in codriver.