# Penny-Pincher Provider

A curated list of affordable (or almost free) LLM providers for people who are unwilling to pay premium prices for AI.

> **Note:** [Claude](https://claude.ai) is arguably the best AI coding assistant out there — but it's expensive. If you want to try it before committing, you can use my guest pass for **1 week of free Claude Pro** (includes Claude Code): <https://claude.ai/referral/ZkoAngod1A>
>
> Guest passes are limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. New users only — you'll need to enter payment info to activate, but you can cancel before the trial ends to avoid charges. [Learn more](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/13456702-claude-code-guest-passes).

If you know of other providers, feel free to create a pull request or [open an issue here](https://github.com/tiennm99/penny-pincher-provider/issues/new). I will review and add them when possible. Thank you!

*If you find this helpful, you can support me by donating or registering with my referral links. Thank you!*

## Providers with Coding Plans

These providers offer coding plan subscriptions. You can prepay a monthly fee and use their LLM APIs with usage limits.

### [Z.ai](https://z.ai/subscribe)

Offers 3 plans:
1. Lite: 3x usage of the Claude Pro plan
2. Pro: 5x Lite plan usage
3. Max: 4x Pro plan usage

*Prices vary based on plan duration (monthly, quarterly, or yearly) and occasional promotional offers, so check the website for current pricing.*

Source: <https://z.ai/subscribe> [^zai]

Homepage: <https://docs.z.ai/devpack/overview>

My referral:

>🚀 You've been invited to join the GLM Coding Plan! Enjoy full support for Claude Code, Cline, and 20+ top coding tools — starting at just $10/month. Subscribe now and grab the limited-time deal! Link： https://z.ai/subscribe?ic=PLKIAYEIPW

[^zai]: Checked on Mar 25, 2026

### [MiniMax](https://platform.minimax.io)

Offers a Token Plan — a unified subscription for multimodal AI (text, speech, video, image, music). Pricing is based on **API calls, not tokens** — very generous!

Plans (monthly):
- Starter: $10/month — 1,500 M2.7 requests per 5-hour rolling window
- Plus: $20/month — more requests + speech, image, music generation
- Max: $50/month — even higher quotas across all models
- Highspeed tiers ($40–$150/month) — dedicated M2.7-highspeed access, up to 30,000 requests per 5-hour window

Includes access to M2.7 language model, Speech 2.8, Image-01, Hailuo video, and Music-2.5. Yearly plans available with ~17% discount.

Source: <https://platform.minimax.io/docs/token-plan/intro>, <https://platform.minimax.io/docs/guides/pricing-token-plan> [^minimax]

Homepage: <https://platform.minimax.io>

[^minimax]: Checked on Apr 02, 2026

## Free Providers

### [OpenRouter](https://openrouter.ai)

> Free usage limits: If you’re using a free model variant (with an ID ending in :free), you can make up to 20 requests per minute. The following per-day limits apply:
> - If you have purchased less than 10 credits, you’re limited to 50 :free model requests per day.
> - If you purchase at least 10 credits, your daily limit is increased to 1000 :free model requests per day.

Source: <https://openrouter.ai/docs/api/reference/limits> [^openrouter]

Homepage: <https://openrouter.ai>

[^openrouter]: Checked on Mar 25, 2026