You can get $10 in free Novita AI credits just by creating a new account. Those credits let you test 200+ model APIs (LLMs, image, video, audio, embeddings) and they’re unusually easy to claim for “Novita AI free credits” searches because there’s no credit card gate.
Solo devs shipping a quick prototype, startup teams trying to stretch runway, researchers who need a buffet of models to compare quickly. This one fits all three. Also, the OpenAI-compatible API is a real perk if you’re migrating an app and you don’t want a rewrite.
This guide covers eligibility, the exact signup steps, what the credits cover (and don’t), and a few practical ways to make the $10 go further.
Program at a Glance
| Provider | Novita AI |
| Credit Amount | $10 free Model API credits (promo may vary) |
| Duration | Not stated (offer amount may change over time) |
| Eligibility | New users who sign up for Novita AI |
| Credit Card Required? | No, signup and credits require no card |
| Difficulty | Easy. Instant credit applied on signup. |
| Best For | Model testing, OpenAI-compatible migrations, cheap batch inference |
| Official Page | Novita AI Program Page |
What You Actually Get
The $10 credit applies to Novita AI’s Model API catalog, which includes 200+ models across categories: LLMs, image generation, video generation, audio and speech, embeddings, and reranking. You get a single API surface (plus a browser Playground) and the endpoints are fully compatible with the OpenAI API standard. In practice, that means you can often keep the OpenAI Python SDK and just change base_url and your api_key. Novita also notes Anthropic SDK-compatible access for Claude Code-style agent workflows, along with integrations used by common tooling like LangChain, LiteLLM, LobeChat, OpenCode, and others.
In real terms, $10 is enough to do serious smoke testing across multiple providers’ models without burning a paid OpenAI account on day one. Novita’s own example is a good gut-check: at about $0.02 per million input tokens for Llama 3.1 8B Instruct, $10 buys roughly 500 million input tokens. Even if your use case is heavier (bigger models, more output tokens), it’s still plenty for evaluation, prompt iteration, and integration testing.
Who Qualifies (and Who Doesn’t)
Eligibility is simple: it’s for new users signing up for Novita AI. The credits are applied automatically as a promotional offer, and you don’t need a credit card to claim them, which is honestly rare among API providers.
- You need to create a new Novita AI account (Google, GitHub, or email works).
- No credit card is required at signup or to receive the free credits.
- The $10 amount is promotional and may vary, so it’s worth checking the signup page.
- You must generate an API key in Key Management to actually use the Model API.
If you’re not a new user, don’t assume you’ll see the same $10 promo. Novita explicitly calls out that the baseline welcome voucher can be much smaller (listed as $0.50) and promotions change over time.
How to Sign Up
Registration takes about 5 minutes if you already have a Google or GitHub login handy.
- Go to novita.ai and click “Sign Up” or “Get Started”.
- Create an account using Google, GitHub, or email (a new account is automatically created on first login with Google/GitHub).
- Your $10 in free credits are applied to your account automatically upon signup (promo offer; baseline welcome voucher is $0.50, but current promotions bring this to $10).
- Navigate to Key Management in your account settings and create your first API key.
- Start making API calls, or use the Playground at novita.ai/model-api/playground to test models with no code.
After signup, the credits should show up automatically in your account. When you’re ready to continue past the free balance, add funds in the Billing and Payments section (and consider Automatic Top-up if you’re putting this into anything user-facing).
What the Credits Cover
The free credits are for Novita AI’s Model API usage across the catalog, which spans LLMs, image, video, audio, embeddings, and reranking. You can use the OpenAI-compatible endpoints, the official SDKs (Python and JavaScript), and the browser Playground to test models and generate code snippets.
| Service / Feature | What It Does | Included? |
|---|---|---|
| LLM Model API | Chat/completions across models like DeepSeek, Qwen, Llama, GLM. | ✓ |
| Image generation + tools | Txt2Img/Img2Img plus background removal, inpainting, upscaling, ControlNet, LoRA. | ✓ |
| Video generation | Generate videos via models like Kling, Wan, Vidu, Runway, Minimax Hailuo, SeeDance. | ✓ |
| GPU cloud instances | On-demand/spot/serverless GPU compute (A100/H100) with separate billing. | ✗ |
One easy thing to miss: Novita’s GPU cloud instances are a separate product line, and the $10 API credits do not apply there. Also, some models are completely free (no credits required), which changes how you should budget your testing.
Limitations to Know About
Every free program has catches. With Novita AI, the “catch” is mostly about what the credits apply to and how the promo can change.
- The $10 free credit is a promotional offer, and the amount may vary over time based on current campaigns.
- The baseline welcome voucher is listed as $0.50, so you should confirm what you’re getting at signup.
- The credits apply to Model API usage, not Novita’s GPU cloud instances (which have separate billing).
- Once you exhaust credits, continuing usage requires adding funds through Billing and Payments (pay-as-you-go).
When credits run out, Novita switches you to strictly pay-as-you-go with no subscriptions or hidden fees. That also means you won’t be charged unless you add funds (and, if you enable Automatic Top-up, you should treat it like any other billing automation: set limits and monitor it).
Have Unused Novita AI Credits?
Credits are great until they’re not. Teams often pick up allocations through promos or referral campaigns, then realize they won’t burn through them before plans change. If you end up sitting on unused Novita AI credits, you can list them on AI Credit Mart and recover real value instead of letting them go to waste.
Need More Novita AI Credits?
Once your free credits are gone, you don’t necessarily have to pay full price to keep experimenting. AI Credit Mart lists discounted Novita AI credits from companies with surplus allocations, and discounts typically land around 30–70% below retail. It’s a clean way to extend your runway if you’re scaling usage gradually.
Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Credits
- Start with cheaper LLMs for integration testing (Novita cites Llama 3.1 8B at about $0.02 per million input tokens).
- Use the free models first (Llama 3.2 1B Instruct, Qwen2.5 7B Instruct, GLM-4-9B-0414, GLM-Z1-9B-0414, and BGE-M3 for embeddings).
- Lean on the Playground for fast prompt iteration because it’s free and generates API snippets you can paste into your app.
- Turn on Automatic Top-up only when you have monitoring in place, so you don’t get surprised by spend after a prototype goes viral.
- If you have offline workloads, look at batch inference where supported since Novita offers an introductory 50% discount on input and output tokens.
Frequently Asked Questions
They’re worth $10 of Model API usage across Novita’s catalog (LLMs, image, video, audio, embeddings, reranking). For a concrete example from Novita’s own notes, if you’re using a cheaper LLM like Llama 3.1 8B at about $0.02 per million input tokens, $10 can cover roughly 500 million input tokens. In practice, that’s enough for a lot of prompt iteration, evaluation runs, and end-to-end integration testing. If you spend on output-heavy, premium models, you’ll burn it faster, so treat $10 as a “real” but limited sandbox.
No.
Novita doesn’t state an expiration window in the program details, but the promotional credit amount itself may vary over time, so verify the offer on the signup page.
Yes. If you have Novita AI credits you won’t use before they expire, you can list them on AI Credit Mart and sell them at up to 70% of face value. Companies regularly list surplus credits from startup programs and enterprise agreements.
AI Credit Mart has discounted Novita AI credits available from companies with surplus allocations. Prices are typically 30-70% below retail.
Novita doesn’t specify an expiration behavior here; what they do specify is that once your credits are exhausted, continuing usage is pay-as-you-go and requires adding funds in Billing and Payments.
No, GPU cloud instances use separate billing and aren’t covered by the $10 Model API credits.
Yes. Novita says its endpoints are fully compatible with the OpenAI API standard, which means you can often keep the OpenAI Python SDK and switch by changing the base_url and api_key. It also supports Anthropic SDK-compatible access for Claude Code-style workflows, and it works with frameworks like LangChain and LiteLLM. That compatibility is the main reason Novita is a low-friction testbed when you’re migrating an existing OpenAI-based app.
$10 isn’t a giant grant, but it’s enough to validate an integration and compare a lot of models quickly. Claim the credits, test smart with the free models, and if you ever end up with surplus, you can always sell them instead of letting them rot.
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