--- title: Free models description: The free models promotion: a ladder of steps — a one-time Intro bonus for the Telegram channel subscription, Top-up by the balance you hold, the Starter, Pro, Max and Ultra packages; one common daily limit, weekly images, the minimum balance and what happens past the limit. keywords: free models, promotion, free, limit, daily limit, steps, intro, top-up, balance, telegram, images, starter, pro, max, ultra group: account --- ## What it is {#what keywords="free models, promotion, free, catalogue"} Some models of the catalogue can be called **free within limits** — in chat, in the lab and by API, with the same key and the same base URL. Which models take part is shown in the console's catalogue on the «Free» tab and on each model's page. The first step, Intro, gives a **one-time bonus to try the models**. After that free access comes **every day** with a top-up or a package. The higher the step, the bigger the daily limit and the more images a week. ## Steps {#steps keywords="steps, intro, top-up, balance, $3, $20, $50, $100, starter, pro, max, ultra, telegram"} - **Intro** — a subscription to the Kumo channel on Telegram (see [«Linking Telegram»](#telegram)) and a confirmed email. No top-up needed. The step gives a **one-time bonus**, not a daily limit: it is given once per Kumo account and once per Telegram account, lasts 30 days from your first free request and does not renew daily. While the bonus is active, free requests use it first, even if the account has a top-up or a package. Once the bonus is spent or its term is over, Intro no longer applies. - **Top-up** — the channel subscription and **$3 or more on the balance**. The more you hold, the higher the limit: the next levels are **from $20, from $50 and from $100**. What counts is the balance you hold now, not the sum of past top-ups: as you spend, the level goes down, and a refunded top-up lowers it at once. A level lasts 30 days after a top-up of at least its amount; a top-up counts net of refunds, and fully refunded, cancelled and disputed top-ups do not count. When a top-up is refunded or its payment is reversed, the cost of all free requests (text and images) on the days the Top-up step applied is withheld ([clause 3.6 of the promotion terms](https://kumorouter.com/en/legal/free-models#eligibility)). - **Starter, Pro, Max, Ultra** — an active package. A package gives more than the same amount on the balance. Without the channel subscription only part of the package's limit is open — 80 % today; the console draws the rest as locked, and subscribing opens all of it. The step is chosen automatically: always the **highest** one whose conditions you meet. The console shows its name on the limits card; hover over the name to see every step and what it gives. Intro and Top-up also have a **common daily budget shared by everyone on the step**: once it is spent, that step's requests go at the normal price until 00:00 Moscow time. Packages do not share these budgets. ## How the limit works {#daily keywords="daily limit, common limit, images, week, reset, 00:00, at once"} - **One common daily limit for all free models.** The console draws it as one percent meter. Each model spends it at its own price: an expensive model faster, a cheap one slower. - **A request is free only if it fits the rest of the limit whole.** So late in the day an expensive model turns to the normal price before a cheap one, and the cheap ones stay free. The console says so in the «Free» hint and on the model's page. - **Images are a separate weekly limit.** How many images a week your step gives and when new ones arrive is shown next to the meter. Images do not depend on the daily text limit. - **The daily limit resets at 00:00 Moscow time, images on Mondays.** - **Only a limited number of an account's requests run free at once** — two today; another one meanwhile goes at the normal price. ## Minimum balance {#floor keywords="paused, minimum balance, balance, $2, package, top up"} On every step above Intro, a free request goes free only if the account holds **at least $2 on the balance or at least 2M tokens in the package**. That way a request that runs past the free limit can always be paid. With less, free models are «paused» and requests to them go at the normal price; the console says how much to top up. Intro has no minimum balance. ## Past the limit {#over keywords="past the limit, normal price, error, 429, history"} There is no error: a request that does not fit the free limit simply goes **at the normal price** — from the package or from the balance, as chosen for the key. Free requests stay free in the history. > [Packages →](/en/packages) [How the wallet counts →](/en/billing) ## Linking Telegram {#telegram keywords="telegram, subscription, channel, bot, username, sign in with telegram"} The Telegram button in the console opens a window with a short instruction: :::steps - **Subscribe to the Kumo channel** — The subscription is needed for Intro (together with a confirmed email) and Top-up, and opens a package's full limit. - **Link Telegram in one of two ways** — With «Sign in with Telegram», or type your @username, press «Confirm subscription» and press Start in the chat with the bot. The bot shows your Kumo account's email (partly hidden): if it is yours, press «Привязать» (Link); if not, «Отмена» (Cancel). - **The subscription is checked automatically** — Nothing needs to be forwarded. ::: The bot links Telegram only if Start was pressed by the account with exactly the @username you typed; a typed name alone links nothing. Only the Telegram account that pressed Start can confirm; «Отмена» (Cancel) voids the link. The «Confirm subscription» link is single-use and valid for 10 minutes. One Telegram account links to one Kumo account; once unlinked from one account, it links to another only after 30 days. The promotion terms are among the [legal documents](https://kumorouter.com/en/legal).