pi-free-providers

Free AI model providers for Pi. Access free models from multiple providers in one install.

What does pi-free do

pi-free is a Pi extension that unlocks free AI models from 8 different providers.

When you install pi-free, it:

1. Registers 7 AI providers with Pi's model picker — OpenCode Zen, Kilo, OpenRouter, NVIDIA NIM, Cline, Mistral, and Ollama Cloud

2. Filters to show only free models by default — You see only the models that cost $0 to use, no API key required for some providers

3. Provides a toggle command — Run /{provider}-toggle (e.g., /zen-toggle, /kilo-toggle) to switch between free-only mode and showing all models including paid ones

4. Handles authentication for you — OAuth flows (Kilo, Cline) open your browser automatically; API keys are read from ~/.pi/free.json or environment variables

5. Adds Coding Index scores — Model names include a coding benchmark score (CI: 45.2) to help you pick capable coding models at a glance

6. Persists your preferences — Your toggle choices (free vs all models) are saved to ~/.pi/free.json and remembered across Pi restarts

How to use

1. Install the extension

pi install git:github.com/apmantza/pi-free

2. Open the model picker

Start Pi and press Ctrl+L to open the model picker.

Free models are shown by default — look for the provider prefixes:

• zen/ — OpenCode Zen models (no setup required)
• kilo/ — Kilo models (free models available immediately, more after /login kilo)
• openrouter/ — OpenRouter models (free account required)
• nvidia/ — NVIDIA NIM models (free API key required)
• cline/ — Cline models (run /login cline to use)
• mistral/ — Mistral models (API key required)
• ollama/ — Ollama Cloud models (API key required)

3. Toggle between free and paid models

Want to see paid models too? Run the toggle command for your provider:

/zen-toggle      # Toggle Zen free/paid models
/kilo-toggle     # Toggle Kilo free/paid models
/openrouter-toggle  # Toggle OpenRouter free/paid models
/nvidia-toggle   # Toggle NVIDIA zero-cost/credit-costing models
/cline-toggle    # Toggle Cline free/paid models
/mistral-toggle  # Toggle Mistral free/paid models
/ollama-toggle   # Toggle Ollama models (requires SHOW_PAID=true)

You'll see a notification like: zen: showing free models or zen: showing all models (including paid)

4. Add API keys for more providers (optional)

Some providers require a free account or API key.

The first time you run Pi after installing this extension, a config file is automatically created:

• Linux/Mac: ~/.pi/free.json
• Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.pi\free.json

Add your API keys to this file:

{
  "openrouter_api_key": "sk-or-v1-...",
  "nvidia_api_key": "nvapi-...",
  "ollama_api_key": "...",
  "fireworks_api_key": "...",
  "mistral_api_key": "..."
}

Or set environment variables instead (same names, uppercase: OPENROUTER_API_KEY, NVIDIA_API_KEY, etc.)

See the Providers That Need Authentication section below for detailed setup instructions per provider.

5. Quick commands reference

| Command | What it does | |---------|-------------| | /{provider}-toggle | Switch between free-only and all models for that provider | | /login kilo | Start OAuth flow for Kilo | | /login cline | Start OAuth flow for Cline | | /logout kilo | Clear Kilo OAuth credentials | | /logout cline | Clear Cline OAuth credentials |

Using Free Models (No Setup Required)

OpenCode Zen — Easiest Start

Works immediately with zero setup:

1. Press Ctrl+L
2. Search for zen/
3. Pick any model (e.g., zen/mimo-v2-omni-free)
4. Start chatting

No account, no API key, no OAuth.

Ollama Cloud

Get an API key from ollama.com/settings/keys, then:

Option A: Environment variable

export OLLAMA_API_KEY="..."
export OLLAMA_SHOW_PAID=true

Option B: Config file (~/.pi/free.json)

{
  "ollama_api_key": "YOUR_KEY",
  "ollama_show_paid": true
}

Note: Ollama requires OLLAMA_SHOW_PAID=true because they have usage limits on their cloud API.

Free tier resets every 5 hours + 7 days.

Providers That Need Authentication

Some providers require free accounts or OAuth to access their free tiers:

Kilo (free models, more after login)

Kilo shows free models immediately. To unlock all models, authenticate with Kilo's free OAuth:

/login kilo

This command will:

1. Open your browser to Kilo's authorization page
2. Show a device code in Pi's UI
3. Wait for you to authorize in the browser
4. Automatically complete login once approved

• No credit card required
• Free tier: 200 requests/hour
• After login, run /kilo-toggle to switch between free-only and all models

OpenRouter (free models available)

Get a free API key at openrouter.ai/keys, then either:

Option A: Environment variable

export OPENROUTER_API_KEY="sk-or-v1-..."

Option B: Config file (~/.pi/free.json)

{
  "openrouter_api_key": "sk-or-v1-..."
}

Then in Pi:

/openrouter-all   # Show all models (free + paid)

NVIDIA NIM (Free Credits System)

NVIDIA provides free monthly credits (1000 requests/month) at build.nvidia.com.

Important: Models have different "costs" per token:

• Zero-cost models: Don't consume your credit balance (shown by default)
• Credit-costing models: Consume credits faster (hidden by default)

Get your API key and optionally enable all models:

Option A: Show only free models (default)

export NVIDIA_API_KEY="nvapi-..."

Uses only zero-cost models → your 1000 credits last the full month

Option B: Show all models (uses credits faster)

export NVIDIA_API_KEY="nvapi-..."
export NVIDIA_SHOW_PAID=true

Or in ~/.pi/free.json:

{
  "nvidia_api_key": "nvapi-...",
  "nvidia_show_paid": true
}

Toggle anytime with /nvidia-toggle

Cline

Cline models appear immediately in the model picker. To use them, authenticate with Cline's free account:

/login cline

This command will:

1. Open your browser to Cline's sign-in page
2. Wait for you to complete sign-in
3. Automatically complete login once approved

• Free account required (no credit card)
• Uses local ports 48801-48811 for OAuth callback

Mistral

Add API key to ~/.pi/free.json or environment variables:

export MISTRAL_API_KEY="..."

Slash Commands

Each provider has toggle commands to switch between free and all models:

| Command | Action | |---------|--------| | /zen-toggle | Toggle between free/all Zen models | | /kilo-toggle | Toggle between free/all Kilo models | | /openrouter-toggle | Toggle between free/all OpenRouter models | | /nvidia-toggle | Toggle between free/all NVIDIA models | | /cline-toggle | Toggle between free/all Cline models | | /mistral-toggle | Toggle between free/all Mistral models | | /ollama-toggle | Toggle between free/all Ollama models |

The toggle command:

• Switches between showing only free models vs. all available models
• Persists your preference to ~/.pi/free.json for next startup
• Shows a notification: "zen: showing free models" or "zen: showing all models (including paid)"

Configuration

Create ~/.pi/free.json in your home directory:

{
  "openrouter_api_key": "YOUR_OPENROUTER_KEY",
  "nvidia_api_key": "YOUR_NVIDIA_KEY",
  "fireworks_api_key": "YOUR_FIREWORKS_KEY",
  "mistral_api_key": "YOUR_MISTRAL_KEY",
  "opencode_api_key": "YOUR_ZEN_KEY",
  "ollama_api_key": "YOUR_OLLAMA_KEY",
  "ollama_show_paid": true,
  "hidden_models": ["model-id-to-hide"]
}

Or use environment variables (same names, uppercase):

export OPENROUTER_API_KEY="..."
export NVIDIA_API_KEY="..."

License

MIT — See LICENSE

Questions? Open an issue