Best LLM API for AI Agents
Building agents with OpenClaw, Hermes Agent, LiteLLM, CrewAI, or AutoGen? We've tested every provider to find the best LLM APIs for reliable, fast, and cost-effective agent inference — with working config snippets.
🧩 Provider Recommendations for Agents
Each section includes a working config snippet you can drop into your agent framework.
🏆 Best Free Provider for Agents
Groq offers Llama 3.3 70B for free with 30 req/min. Ultra-fast inference with LPU hardware. No credit card required.
⚡ Best Fast Inference for Agents
NVIDIA offers Llama 3.3 70B for free with 40 requests per minute. No credit card required. Perfect for testing, prototyping, and low-traffic production.
💻 Best Coding Agent Provider
Access DeepSeek R1 through OpenRouter. Limited free tier available, pay-as-you-go for more usage.
🔄 Best Fallback / Routing Provider
Access Mixtral 8x22B via OpenRouter at competitive pay-per-token pricing. No subscription required, pay only what you use.
📋 Top Agent Deals — Ranked by Hot Score
All verified deals from agent-friendly providers.
Groq — Llama 3.3 70B
TOP PICKFree · 30 req/min · No CC required
Groq — Llama 3.3 70B
Groq offers Llama 3.3 70B for free with 30 req/min. Ultra-fast inference with LP
PRICE
$0.00
/1M tokens
QUOTA
30/min
Rate limit
Updated 23h ago
312 comments
Confidence
NVIDIA NIM — Llama 3.3 70B
TOP PICKFree · 40 req/min · No CC required
NVIDIA NIM — Llama 3.3 70B
NVIDIA offers Llama 3.3 70B for free with 40 requests per minute. No credit card
PRICE
$0.00
/1M tokens
QUOTA
40/min
Rate limit
Updated 23h ago
203 comments
Confidence
OpenRouter — DeepSeek R1
$0.00 · 20 req/min · No CC required
OpenRouter — DeepSeek R1
Access DeepSeek R1 through OpenRouter. Limited free tier available, pay-as-you-g
PRICE
$0.00
/1M tokens
QUOTA
20/min
Rate limit
Updated 1d ago
267 comments
Confidence
OpenRouter — Mixtral 8x22B
$1.20 · Unlimited req/min · CC required
OpenRouter — Mixtral 8x22B
Access Mixtral 8x22B via OpenRouter at competitive pay-per-token pricing. No sub
PRICE
$1.20
/1M tokens
QUOTA
Unlimited/min
Rate limit
Updated 1d ago
156 comments
Confidence
OpenRouter — Claude Sonnet 4
$3.00 · Unlimited req/min · CC required
OpenRouter — Claude Sonnet 4
Access Claude 4 Sonnet via OpenRouter. Great for coding agents and complex reaso
PRICE
$3.00
/1M tokens
QUOTA
Unlimited/min
Rate limit
Updated 1d ago
98 comments
Confidence
NVIDIA NIM — Nemotron
Free · 40 req/min · No CC required
NVIDIA NIM — Nemotron
NVIDIA's in-house Nemotron model available for free with 40 RPM. Enterprise-grad
PRICE
$0.00
/1M tokens
QUOTA
40/min
Rate limit
Updated 1d ago
145 comments
Confidence
Groq — Mixtral 8x7B
Free · 30 req/min · No CC required
Groq — Mixtral 8x7B
Groq's LPU inference delivers Mixtral 8x7B at incredible speeds. Free tier with
PRICE
$0.00
/1M tokens
QUOTA
30/min
Rate limit
Updated 1d ago
89 comments
Confidence
Together AI — Llama 3 70B
$0.90 · Unlimited req/min · CC required
Together AI — Llama 3 70B
Llama 3 70B at one of the lowest per-token prices on the market. Great for produ
PRICE
$0.90
/1M tokens
QUOTA
Unlimited/min
Rate limit
Updated 1d ago
134 comments
Confidence
OpenRouter — GPT-4o
$2.50 · Unlimited req/min · CC required
OpenRouter — GPT-4o
Access GPT-4o without OpenAI subscription via OpenRouter. Pay-per-token with 128
PRICE
$2.50
/1M tokens
QUOTA
Unlimited/min
Rate limit
Updated 1d ago
156 comments
Confidence
Together AI — Qwen 2.5 72B
$0.90 · Unlimited req/min · CC required
Together AI — Qwen 2.5 72B
Alibaba's Qwen 2.5 72B on Together AI. Strong multilingual support including Chi
PRICE
$0.90
/1M tokens
QUOTA
Unlimited/min
Rate limit
Updated 1d ago
67 comments
Confidence
❓ FAQ for Agent Builders
Which LLM API is best for AI agent frameworks like CrewAI and AutoGen?
Together AI and OpenRouter are the top picks for agent frameworks. Both are OpenAI-compatible, meaning they work out of the box with any framework that uses the OpenAI SDK. Together AI offers unlimited throughput at low prices; OpenRouter gives access to 200+ models for fallback and routing.
Does Groq work with LiteLLM?
Yes. LiteLLM supports Groq natively. You can use `litellm.completion(model='groq/llama-3.3-70b-versatile', messages=[...])` directly, or configure Groq as a provider in your LiteLLM proxy config. Groq's ultra-low latency makes it ideal for interactive agent use cases.
What's the cheapest model for coding agents?
DeepSeek V3 at $0.27/M input tokens is the cheapest high-quality coding model. It's available via DeepSeek direct API, OpenRouter, and Fireworks AI. For complex coding tasks, Claude Sonnet 4 via OpenRouter ($3/$15 per M tokens) provides the best code quality.
How do I handle rate limits in agent applications?
Use a router/provider abstraction like LiteLLM that supports fallback chains. Configure your primary provider (e.g., Together AI) with a fallback to Groq or NVIDIA NIM free tiers. This ensures your agents stay operational even when hitting rate limits or during provider outages.
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