#Charges on "Free" Models & 402 Errors - Need Clarification

17 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

noble raft
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Hello everyone,

Quick question about the "free" models on this platform. I've been using gpt-oss-120b and GLM 4.5 Air (both labeled as free) in my app, but I'm getting charged around $0.02 per request and my account's sitting at -$0.06 credits now.

I've also been hitting 402 payment errors even though I'm only using free models, and I had to switch to a different API key to keep things running.

So basically:

  1. Why am I being charged for free models? Is it moderation/infrastructure costs?
  2. Will negative credits block me from using any models, even the free ones?
  3. Are there actually any $0.00 models on OpenRouter or does everything have a minimum fee?

Just trying to understand the actual costs so I can budget properly for my app. Thanks!

dreamy nexus
noble raft
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pdf-text

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i just disabled web search, thanks to one user that pointed out

dreamy nexus
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im not sure

noble raft
dreamy nexus
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if you try without files is it free?

noble raft
dreamy nexus
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are you still getting charged 0.02$ for requests without files on the free model

noble raft
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yea

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doesnt cost

dreamy nexus
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i guess its cause of the pdf then

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but im not sure why its still charging you if you're using the free one

noble raft