Credits - verified
Is the Claude API free?
Not as a standing free tier. The Claude API gives a small amount of free credits for new users. Whether a card is required is not stated. Trains on your data: No (Commercial Terms).
Read from platform.claude.com, anthropic.com. Compare every free LLM API
- Offer
- Credits
- Card required
- Not stated
- Trains on data
- No
- Verified
- 2026-10-18
The offer
- Offer class
Credits, not a standing free tier
Recorded as: credits
“New users receive a small amount of free credits to test the API. Contact sales for information about extended trials for enterprise evaluation.”
platform.claude.com - Credits
Amount: Not stated.
Amount not stated. Presented in the pricing FAQ under 'Are there free tiers or trials?' as a standing new-user offer.
- How to get it
New users receive a small amount of free credits to test the API (pricing FAQ). Mechanism not further documented.
- Card required
Not stated
Free-tier limits
Values are copied exactly as the provider publishes them, units included. Not stated means the public docs give no value.
Per-model free limits: Not stated
No per-model free limits. New orgs may start in the Evaluation tier, whose exact limits are not published.
Does it train on your data?
No
Commercial Terms
No. API (Commercial Terms) customer content is not used for training.
“Anthropic may not train models on Customer Content from Services.”
“They govern Customer's use of Anthropic API keys and any other Anthropic offerings that references these Terms, as well as all related Anthropic tools, documentation and services (the "Services").”
Restrictions
Evaluation tier starting limits
“New organizations and organizations with limited usage history may start in the Evaluation tier, with limits below the standard limits shown on this page while account history is established.”
platform.claude.com No fast mode in Evaluation tier
“Organizations in the Evaluation tier can use fast mode with Claude Opus 5.5 once they move to the Start, Build, or Scale tier.”
platform.claude.com
Upgrade path
Buy credits on the Console Billing page; Start tier carries a "$500 USD" monthly spend cap, and tiers advance "automatically based on usage history and account standing".
FAQ
Is the Claude API free?
Not as a standing free tier. The Claude API gives a small amount of free credits for new users. Whether a card is required is not stated. Trains on your data: No (Commercial Terms).
What are the Anthropic Claude API free limits?
Credit amount not stated; new orgs may start in the Evaluation tier. No per-model free limits. New orgs may start in the Evaluation tier, whose exact limits are not published.
Does Anthropic Claude API train on your data?
No (Commercial Terms). The terms say: "Anthropic may not train models on Customer Content from Services."
Sources
Last verified from Anthropic Claude API's own pages below. Quotes are verbatim.
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