--- title: Free AI APIs for Developers: EP03 Modal... description: Modal offers $30 of free compute credits every month as part of its free tier, renewable unlike typical one-time signup credits. Users can set a hard spending... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/free-ai-apis-for-developers-ep03-modal-softwareengineering-programming-ai-aiagents-freeai-yiwziifhn twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Free AI APIs for Developers: EP03 Modal #softwareengineering #programming #ai #aiagents #freeai | daily.dev og:description: Modal offers $30 of free compute credits every month as part of its free tier, renewable unlike typical one-time signup credits. Users can set a hard spending... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/free-ai-apis-for-developers-ep03-modal-softwareengineering-programming-ai-aiagents-freeai-yiwziifhn og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/YiwZiifhN.png og:image:alt: Free AI APIs for Developers: EP03 Modal #softwareengineering #programming #ai #aiagents #freeai og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Free AI APIs for Developers: EP03 Modal #softwareengineering #programming #ai #aiagents #freeai **[We Are .NET](https://daily.dev/sources/wearedotnet)** · 1 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Modal offers $30 of free compute credits every month as part of its free tier, renewable unlike typical one-time signup credits. Users can set a hard spending cap to avoid charges, and the credits can be used with OpenAI-compatible open-weight models like Kimi K2 via a base URL and API key that plugs into coding agents or apps. Usage is metered per token, suitable for prototypes and side projects rather than production scale. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### Does Modal give free AI compute credits every month or just once at signup? Modal provides $30 of compute credits every month as part of its free tier, unlike most providers that only give a one-time signup bonus. A hard spending cap can be set so the account is never charged beyond the free allowance. These credits work with open-weight models like Kimi K2 through an OpenAI-compatible API, ideal for prototypes and side projects. _daily.dev surfaces practical tips like this for developers hunting down free AI compute options._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [OpenAI Pricing in 2026 for Individuals, Orgs & Developers](https://daily.dev/posts/openai-pricing-in-2026-for-individuals-orgs-developers-aeizgj8sw) · finout · 1 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#llm](https://daily.dev/tags/llm) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/free-ai-apis-for-developers-ep03-modal-softwareengineering-programming-ai-aiagents-freeai-yiwziifhn) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Free AI APIs for Developers: EP03 Modal #softwareengineering #programming #ai #aiagents #freeai","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/free-ai-apis-for-developers-ep03-modal-softwareengineering-programming-ai-aiagents-freeai-yiwziifhn","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/free-ai-apis-for-developers-ep03-modal-softwareengineering-programming-ai-aiagents-freeai-yiwziifhn"},"datePublished":"2026-08-20T09:17:36.161Z","dateModified":"2026-08-20T09:17:54.923Z","description":"Modal offers $30 of free compute credits every month as part of its free tier, renewable unlike typical one-time signup credits. Users can set a hard spending...","image":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/HimNJg0bcOk/sddefault.jpg","thumbnailUrl":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/HimNJg0bcOk/sddefault.jpg","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"We Are .NET","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"We Are .NET","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--BsnVOa3i--/f_auto/v1718347410/logos/wearedotnet","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/wearedotnet"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/free-ai-apis-for-developers-ep03-modal-softwareengineering-programming-ai-aiagents-freeai-yiwziifhn","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"llm","timeRequired":"PT1M","video":{"@type":"VideoObject","name":"Free AI APIs for Developers: EP03 Modal #softwareengineering #programming #ai #aiagents #freeai","description":"Modal offers $30 of free compute credits every month as part of its free tier, renewable unlike typical one-time signup credits. Users can set a hard spending...","thumbnailUrl":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/HimNJg0bcOk/sddefault.jpg","uploadDate":"2026-08-20T09:17:36.161Z","duration":"PT1M","url":"https://api.daily.dev/r/YiwZiifhN","embedUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/embed/HimNJg0bcOk"}} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"We Are .NET","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/wearedotnet"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Free AI APIs for Developers: EP03 Modal #softwareengineering #programming #ai #aiagents #freeai"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/free-ai-apis-for-developers-ep03-modal-softwareengineering-programming-ai-aiagents-freeai-yiwziifhn#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Does Modal give free AI compute credits every month or just once at signup?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Modal provides $30 of compute credits every month as part of its free tier, unlike most providers that only give a one-time signup bonus. A hard spending cap can be set so the account is never charged beyond the free allowance. These credits work with open-weight models like Kimi K2 through an OpenAI-compatible API, ideal for prototypes and side projects. daily.dev surfaces practical tips like this for developers hunting down free AI compute options."}}]} ```