💰 Free AI Credits + Setup Guide · June 2026 · For Beginners

Never used an API? Start here.

The single page that turns "I've never touched an API key" into a stacked $200+ AI toolkit with copy-paste instructions for every provider. Click "How do I set it up?" under each card for click-by-click instructions including where to find your API key, where to paste it in Lovable, and what to do when it breaks.

💰 ~$200+ free credits
⏱ 45 min to claim all
💳 No card on most
📖 Step-by-step for beginners

👋 Never used an API key before? Read this first.

An API key is basically a password that lets your app talk to a service (like Claude or ElevenLabs). For each service below: (1) you sign up, (2) the website gives you a string of letters like sk-ant-abc123..., (3) you copy that string into Lovable or Supabase as a "secret." Lovable usually pops up a window and asks you to paste it — so you don't need to know any code. That's it. Click the "How do I set it up?" buttons below for click-by-click instructions on each.

📖 Quick glossary · so the instructions make sense

5 words you'll see over and over. Memorize these:

API keyThe password your app uses to call a service. Looks like sk-... or a long hash. Treat it like your bank PIN.
SecretSame thing as an API key, just stored on the backend (in Supabase) so users can't see it. Lovable handles this for you.
Edge functionA small piece of code that runs on Supabase to call an external API (like ElevenLabs) using your secret. Lovable writes these for you.
Free tierWhat a service gives you for $0. Usually limited (e.g. "10 minutes per month") but enough for a hackathon demo.
TokenA unit of text (roughly 4 letters). LLMs are priced per million tokens (1M tokens ≈ 750K words).
Vault / Secrets managerThe secure place in Supabase where your API keys live. Open via Project Settings › Edge Functions › Secrets.

Your setup progress

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📝 Text / LLM · the brain of your mashup

Sign up to all 5 LLMs.

Google Gemini 3 (Flash-Lite) FREE · NO CARD
The hackathon hero. Gemini 3 family is the most generous free tier in market. Flash-Lite is free on AI Studio, no card needed. 1M-token context. Handles text + vision + audio + video in one endpoint.
Sign up at aistudio.google.com →

1Get your API key (3 minutes)

  1. Go to aistudio.google.com and sign in with your Google account
  2. Click the blue "Get API key" button (top-left sidebar) Get API key › Create API key
  3. Click "Create API key" → choose your project (or create new)
  4. Your key appears as a long string starting with AIza... — click the copy icon

2Add it to your Lovable app

  1. In Lovable, ask the AI: "Use Gemini 3 Flash-Lite to summarize the user's input"
  2. Lovable will pop up a window asking for GEMINI_API_KEY — paste the AIza... string
  3. Lovable stores it as a secret in Supabase → wires up the edge function automatically
⚠️ Gotcha: The free tier is rate-limited (15 requests/min on Flash-Lite). If you hit the limit during demo, wait 60 sec or upgrade to paid ($0.10/M tokens — still cheapest).
💡 Win: Use Gemini 3 Flash-Lite as your default LLM. Save Claude + GPT-5 credits for the calls that NEED the deeper reasoning.
Anthropic Claude $5 free trial
Get Fable 5 · Opus 4.8 · Sonnet 4.6 · Haiku 4.5. Fable 5 (released Jun 9, 2026) is the new flagship for multimodal reasoning. Opus 4.8 (May 28) for agentic coding. Sonnet 4.6 for everyday. Haiku 4.5 for cheap/fast.
Sign up at console.anthropic.com →

1Get your API key (4 minutes)

  1. Go to console.anthropic.com · sign up with Google or email
  2. Click "Get API keys" from the home screen (or use sidebar): Settings › API keys › Create Key
  3. Name it (e.g. "Hackathon 02") · choose your workspace · click Create
  4. The key shows as sk-ant-api03-... — copy it NOW (it shows only once)
  5. Confirm your $5 trial: Settings › Billing → you should see "$5.00 free credit"

2Add it to your Lovable app

  1. In Lovable, ask the AI: "Add a Claude API call using Sonnet 4.6 to generate descriptions"
  2. Lovable pops up a secrets window asking for ANTHROPIC_API_KEY — paste your sk-ant-... string
  3. For Fable 5 / Opus 4.8 specifically: tell Lovable to use model IDs claude-fable-5 or claude-opus-4-8
⚠️ Gotcha: Anthropic shows the API key only once. If you close the window without copying — go back to API keys, delete it, and create a new one.
💡 Win: Use Sonnet 4.6 by default · save Fable 5 and Opus 4.8 calls for when reasoning depth matters. $5 in trial = ~30 hackathon demos.
OpenAI (GPT-5) $5 free trial
GPT-5 + Whisper STT + image gen. Use when you need native audio output (voice mashups where GPT replies in audio without separate TTS).
Sign up at platform.openai.com →

1Get your API key

  1. Go to platform.openai.com · sign up
  2. Navigate to Dashboard › API keys (left sidebar)
  3. Click "+ Create new secret key" · name it · click Create
  4. Copy the sk-proj-... string (shows only once)

2Add to Lovable

  1. Ask Lovable: "Add a GPT-5 call to generate voice replies"
  2. Paste the key when prompted as OPENAI_API_KEY
⚠️ Gotcha: OpenAI's $5 trial expires after 3 months. Use it within hackathon week or you'll forfeit it.
xAI Grok $25 credits
Most overlooked free credit. Grok-3 / Grok-4. Most builders forget to sign up — go get yours.
Sign up at console.x.ai →

1Get your API key

  1. Go to console.x.ai
  2. Sign in with X (Twitter) account or email
  3. Navigate to API Keys in left sidebar · click Create API Key
  4. Copy the key (looks like xai-...)

2Add to Lovable

  1. Ask Lovable: "Add Grok-4 as a fallback LLM"
  2. Paste as XAI_API_KEY
Together AI up to $100
Open-source models (Llama, Qwen, FLUX) at cheap rates. Sign-up bonus varies. Useful if you want a Llama 3.3 fallback for any LLM call.
Sign up at together.ai →
🖼 🎬 Image + Video

Image + video generation.

Fal.ai $20 free credits
Hackathon hero for image/video. $20 = ~500 FLUX 2 Pro images OR ~130 sec Kling video. Lowest latency in market. Pre-built code snippets for every model.
Sign up at fal.ai →

1Get your API key

  1. Go to fal.ai · sign up with GitHub or Google
  2. Navigate to Dashboard › Keys (top-right sidebar)
  3. Click "Add Key" · copy the long string
  4. Confirm credits: Dashboard › Billing shows "$20.00 free credit"

2Add to Lovable

  1. Tell Lovable: "Use Fal.ai to generate images with FLUX 2 Pro"
  2. Paste the key as FAL_KEY when prompted
  3. Lovable creates a Supabase edge function that calls Fal.ai's image endpoint

3Test the API (recommended before scaffolding)

In your terminal, paste this curl command to verify the key works:

curl https://fal.run/fal-ai/flux-pro -H "Authorization: Key YOUR_FAL_KEY" -d '{"prompt":"a hackathon trophy"}'

💡 Win: Fal.ai has a "playground" UI on their site. Test prompts there BEFORE adding to your app to avoid burning credits on bad prompts.
Replicate free trial
Run anything (FLUX, Whisper, video models, Llama). Pay per second of compute. Good fallback if Fal.ai doesn't have your model.
Sign up at replicate.com →

1Get your API token

  1. Go to replicate.com · sign in with GitHub
  2. Click your profile (top-right) › Account settings › API tokens
  3. Copy the default token (starts with r8_...)

2Add to Lovable

Paste as REPLICATE_API_TOKEN when Lovable prompts you.

Black Forest Labs (FLUX 2) free signup credits
FLUX 2 Pro · Dev · Schnell directly from the makers. 1 credit = $0.01. Schnell tier is cheap; Pro tier for showcase quality.
Sign up at bfl.ai →
Ideogram 3.0 25/day FREE on web
Best for text-in-images. Posters · logos · signs. Web UI free tier.
Sign up at ideogram.ai →
🎙 Voice · TTS + STT

Voice tools · free tiers.

ElevenLabs v3 10K credits/mo FREE
~10 min TTS/month free. v3 model included (launched Feb 2026). Resets monthly. Free tier = no commercial rights · attribution required.
Sign up at elevenlabs.io →

1Get your API key (3 minutes)

  1. Go to elevenlabs.io · sign up with email
  2. Click your profile avatar (top-right) → "My Account"
  3. Navigate to My Account › API Keys › Create API Key
  4. Name it · click Create · copy the key (starts with sk_...)

2Add to Lovable

  1. Tell Lovable: "Use ElevenLabs to generate voice output for the user's text"
  2. Paste your key as ELEVENLABS_API_KEY when prompted
  3. Pick a voice ID from Voice Lab on ElevenLabs site · paste it into Lovable too
⚠️ Commercial rights: Free tier = you must attribute "Voice by ElevenLabs" anywhere it's used. Upgrade to Starter $5/mo before launching for revenue.
💡 Win: 10K credits = ~10 min of TTS. Build a demo at 1-2 min of TTS per session → you can support ~5 demo sessions/mo on free tier.
Cartesia (Sonic 2) free tier
Lowest latency (~150ms). Best for real-time voice mashups · voice agents · conversational apps.
Sign up at cartesia.ai →

1Get your API key

  1. Go to cartesia.ai · click "Get Started"
  2. Sign up · go to Dashboard › API Keys
  3. Click Create API Key · copy

2Add to Lovable

Paste as CARTESIA_API_KEY. Use the model ID sonic-2 for low latency.

Deepgram (STT) $200 free credit
Best speech-to-text deal in market. Nova-3 model. $200 = ~830 hours of transcription. Real-time leader.
Sign up at deepgram.com →

1Get your API key

  1. Go to deepgram.com · click "Sign up free"
  2. Sign in · go to Console › API Keys
  3. Click Create a New API Key · choose scope: Member · copy

2Add to Lovable

Paste as DEEPGRAM_API_KEY. Use model nova-3.

Hume EVI 3 free trial
Emotion-detecting voice agent. Use only if emotion is your product (coaching · therapy-adjacent · companion apps).
Sign up at hume.ai →
🧑‍🎤 🎵 Avatar + Music

Avatar + music · free tiers.

HeyGen 4 3 videos/mo FREE
Avatar talking-head videos. Free tier enough for hackathon demo. v4 + real-time avatars. Used by Foundry + most cohort builders.
Sign up at heygen.com →

1Get your API key

  1. Go to heygen.com · sign up
  2. Upgrade NOT required for API access — go to Settings › Subscriptions › API
  3. Click "Subscribe to API" (free tier is included)
  4. Go to Settings › API Token · click Show Token · copy

2Add to Lovable

Paste as HEYGEN_API_KEY. Pick a default avatar from Avatar Gallery on HeyGen.

⚠️ Heads up: HeyGen rate-limits the free tier hard. Build your demo around 1-2 video generations, not 10.
D-ID Studio 14-day trial
Photo-to-talking-head. Cheapest paid option ($5.99/mo).
Sign up at d-id.com →
Suno v5 50 credits/day · NO COMMERCIAL
Best AI music gen. 50 credits = ~10 songs/day. Resets daily UTC midnight. Free tier = NO commercial rights · upgrade to Pro ($8/mo) for commercial use.
Sign up at suno.com →

1Use Suno's web UI for hackathon

Suno doesn't have an official public API. For hackathon: generate songs on suno.com web · download MP3 · upload to your Lovable app as static asset OR use a third-party Suno API.

2If you need API access

  1. Use a third-party Suno API like sunoapi.org ($0.014-$0.11/song)
  2. Or apiframe.ai ($19/mo for 3,000 credits)
⚠️ Critical: Free Suno = no commercial rights. For hackathon DEMO it's fine. Don't put it in a product you sell.
Udio free trial
Suno's main rival · better for instrumental + remix. Has stems (separate vocal + drum tracks).
Sign up at udio.com →
🏗 Infra + Builders

Where you build · all free tier.

Lovable.dev daily free credits
Cohort default builder. ~5 messages/day on free tier · Supabase + Stripe + GitHub native. Pro $25/mo unlocks more daily prompts.
Sign up at lovable.dev →

1Sign up + connect Supabase

  1. Go to lovable.dev · sign in with GitHub
  2. Create new project · let Lovable build the first scaffold
  3. Click the Supabase icon (top-right) → "Connect Supabase"
  4. Authorize · select your Supabase org · pick or create a project

2How API keys get stored

When you tell Lovable to use ElevenLabs (or any external API), it pops up a window asking for the secret. You paste your key. Lovable then:

  1. Stores it as a secret in Supabase Project Settings › Edge Functions › Secrets
  2. Writes a Supabase edge function that uses the secret to call ElevenLabs
  3. Wires up your Lovable frontend to call that edge function

3To check / edit secrets manually

Open Supabase dashboard → your project → Project Settings › Edge Functions › Secrets. You'll see every key Lovable stored. Add new ones with + Add Secret.

Vercel · Hobby tier FREE FOREVER
Most generous hosting in market. 100GB bandwidth · serverless functions · auto-deploy. Most MVPs never leave Hobby.
Sign up at vercel.com →
Supabase free tier
Hackathon-grade DB + auth + edge functions. 500MB DB · 50K MAU · edge functions for ALL the API integrations Lovable can't do natively.
Sign up at supabase.com →

1Sign up

  1. Go to supabase.com · click Start your project
  2. Sign up with GitHub · create your first project (pick the closest region)
  3. Wait ~30 sec for the project to provision

2Where to find your Supabase keys

  1. Open your project · go to Project Settings › API Keys
  2. You'll see TWO types of keys:
  3. Publishable keys (safe to use in browser) — for the frontend
  4. Secret keys (NEVER share, bypasses security) — for server-side / edge functions only

3Where to add external API secrets (ElevenLabs, Fal, etc.)

  1. Go to Project Settings › Edge Functions › Secrets
  2. Click + Add Secret
  3. Name: e.g. ELEVENLABS_API_KEY · Value: paste your key
  4. Click Save · the key is now available to all your edge functions
⚠️ Critical: NEVER paste a secret key directly into your Lovable code. ALWAYS go through Supabase secrets manager → edge function. Anything else is a security breach waiting to happen.
Replit Agent free tier · 1 always-on
Alternative to Lovable + Vercel combined. Replit Agent includes hosting + DB + AI builder. Best for backend-heavy mashups. Core $20/mo unlocks more.
Sign up at replit.com →

1Where to add API keys in Replit

  1. Open your Repl project
  2. Click the 🔒 lock icon in the left sidebar (Secrets)
  3. Click + New Secret · Name (e.g. OPENAI_API_KEY) · Value (paste key) · Save
  4. Reference in your code as os.environ.get("OPENAI_API_KEY") (Python) or process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY (Node)
Bolt.new daily token allowance
Fastest "see it move" builder. StackBlitz under the hood. Pro $20/mo.
Sign up at bolt.new →
🎓 Student Stacks · if you have .edu

Stack $500-$2,000+ more as a student.

AWS Educate $30-$100
Bedrock-Claude (Fable 5 · Opus 4.8) · Bedrock-Titan access. Apply with .edu email.
Apply at AWS Educate →
GitHub Student Pack ~$200+ value
Massive bundle. DigitalOcean $200 · Namecheap domain · Notion Pro · Figma · Heroku. Single application unlocks everything.
Apply at GitHub Education →
Google Cloud Platform $300 (90 days)
Free tier on signup (no student status needed). Use for Vertex AI access to Veo 3.1 · Gemini 3 · Imagen 4.
Sign up at cloud.google.com/free →
Microsoft Azure (Imagine) $100+ free
Azure OpenAI access · GPT-5 + Fable 5 via Azure Foundry deployment.
Apply at Azure for Students →
Hackathon sponsorships $200-$1K each
The highest-leverage stack. Anthropic, OpenAI, Google sponsor most student hackathons. 3-4/year = $500-$2K stacked. Find on MLH / Devpost.
Browse Devpost → MLH calendar →
🎯 Megan's $0 Playbook

Ship a mashup at $0.

The exact stack to ship a multi-modal MVP without paying a cent. Tested by Hackathon 02 cohort.

  1. Gemini 3 Flash-Lite (free tier on AI Studio) → all LLM calls + vision + audio understanding
  2. Fal.ai $20 free → image gen (FLUX 2 Pro) + video gen (Kling)
  3. ElevenLabs 10K free → voice TTS for demo
  4. Lovable free + Supabase free + Vercel Hobby → entire backend at $0
  5. Total cost: $0. Stack value: ~$200. User capacity: ~500 active users/mo.
💡 Megan's rule: If your first MVP costs more than $5 in real money, you over-engineered it. Build cheap. Learn fast. Upgrade only when a user pays you first.
⚠️ Free-tier commercial rights: Suno + ElevenLabs free tiers don't grant them. Fine for demos · upgrade to Pro before you launch with paying customers.
🚀 Beyond June 2026: The free-tier landscape changes monthly. Check getaiperks.com or grizzlypeaksoftware.com for refreshed cheat sheets.
📊 Open the slide deck → 🏠 Hackathon 02 hub →