Every Free AI Model You Can Use With OpenClaw Bazaar Skills in 2026

You do not need to spend a dollar on API fees to run marketplace skills from OpenClaw Bazaar. Between local models through Ollama, free cloud tiers from Google and Groq, and community-supported models on OpenRouter, there are enough free options to power a fully functional skill-based agent at zero ongoing cost.

This guide compares every free model option available for Bazaar skill execution in 2026, with honest assessments of rate limits, quality trade-offs, and the multi-provider routing strategy that maximizes your free capacity.

Ollama: Unlimited Local Skill Execution at $0

Ollama lets you download a model once and run it on your own hardware indefinitely. No rate limits. No usage caps. No data leaving your machine. For privacy-conscious operators or anyone who wants to run Bazaar skills without worrying about monthly bills, Ollama is the foundation of a free skill stack.

Setup takes two minutes:

# Install Ollama
curl -fsSL https://ollama.com/install.sh | sh

# Pull a model suitable for skill execution
ollama pull qwen3.5:14b

Then configure your agent to point at the local endpoint:

{
  "modelProvider": {
    "type": "ollama",
    "baseUrl": "http://localhost:11434",
    "model": "qwen3.5:14b"
  }
}

Best free local models for Bazaar skills:

• Qwen3.5 14B — The default recommendation. Strong tool calling, fits in 16 GB RAM, handles the majority of marketplace skill categories effectively.
• Qwen3.5 7B — Lighter option for 8 GB machines. Adequate for simple skills like scheduling, tagging, and basic text processing.
• Llama 3.3 70B — The most capable free option if you have 64 GB+ RAM or a powerful GPU. Excellent for complex skill workflows.
• GLM-4 9B — Strong multilingual support. Pick this if your skills need to handle multiple languages.
• Mistral 7B — Fast and efficient. Good for high-throughput skill workloads where speed matters more than depth.

The hardware trade-off is real: you need at least 8 GB RAM for a 7B model, 16 GB for a 14B model, and 64 GB+ for a 70B model. But once you have the hardware, every skill execution is free forever.

Google Gemini Free Tier: Best Cloud Option at $0

Google's free tier for Gemini 2.0 Flash is the most generous free cloud offering available for skill execution:

• 15 requests per minute
• 1,500 requests per day
• 1 million tokens per minute
• No credit card required

{
  "modelProvider": {
    "type": "google",
    "apiKey": "YOUR_GEMINI_API_KEY",
    "model": "gemini-2.0-flash"
  }
}

Get your key from Google AI Studio — no billing setup needed. Gemini 2.0 Flash handles reasoning, code generation, and multi-turn skill conversations well. The rate limits support a personal agent running skills on demand without hitting caps during normal usage.

The limitation surfaces with high-volume skill workloads. If your agent processes batches of documents or runs skills in rapid succession, 15 RPM becomes a bottleneck. Pair Gemini with a local Ollama model to handle overflow.

Groq Free Tier: Fastest Free Skill Execution

Groq runs models on custom LPU hardware that delivers inference speeds dramatically faster than GPU-based providers. Their free tier includes daily token limits for several models:

• Llama 3.3 70B — A 70B-parameter model at cloud speed, for free. The standout option for skill execution quality.
• Llama 3.3 8B — Lighter and faster for simple skills.
• Mixtral 8x7B — Good performance-to-speed ratio for mixed skill workloads.
• Gemma 2 9B — Efficient option for lightweight skills.

{
  "modelProvider": {
    "type": "openai-compatible",
    "baseUrl": "https://api.groq.com/openai/v1",
    "apiKey": "YOUR_GROQ_API_KEY",
    "model": "llama-3.3-70b-versatile"
  }
}

Groq's speed advantage is most noticeable with interactive skills where response latency affects the user experience. Getting 70B-quality tool calling with sub-second response times at zero cost is remarkable. The daily token limits are tight — a few hundred requests depending on the model — but sufficient for a personal skill agent with moderate usage.

DeepSeek Free Tier: Strong Reasoning at $0

DeepSeek offers daily token allocations for their API. DeepSeek V3 competes with models that cost significantly more, making it a compelling free option for skills that require strong reasoning or code generation.

{
  "modelProvider": {
    "type": "openai-compatible",
    "baseUrl": "https://api.deepseek.com/v1",
    "apiKey": "YOUR_DEEPSEEK_API_KEY",
    "model": "deepseek-chat"
  }
}

The daily limit resets at midnight UTC. Even beyond the free tier, DeepSeek's paid pricing is among the cheapest in the industry, making it a natural upgrade path when you outgrow the free allocation.

Note for regulated workloads: DeepSeek is a Chinese company. If your skills process sensitive data with residency requirements, factor this into your provider selection.

OpenRouter: Free Model Aggregator

OpenRouter aggregates dozens of models through a single API, with several available for free:

• Meta Llama 3.3 8B Instruct (free)
• Google Gemma 2 9B (free)
• Mistral 7B Instruct (free)
• Qwen 2.5 7B Instruct (free)

{
  "modelProvider": {
    "type": "openai-compatible",
    "baseUrl": "https://openrouter.ai/api/v1",
    "apiKey": "YOUR_OPENROUTER_API_KEY",
    "model": "meta-llama/llama-3.3-8b-instruct:free"
  }
}

The advantage is flexibility — if one free model goes down, switch to another with a single config change. The disadvantage is unpredictable availability and rate limits on free models.

Hugging Face Inference API: Experiment and Test

Hugging Face offers a free Inference API for popular open-source models. The free tier limits are modest — you will hit rate caps quickly with active skill use — but it works well for testing new models against your Bazaar skills before committing to a primary provider.

{
  "modelProvider": {
    "type": "openai-compatible",
    "baseUrl": "https://api-inference.huggingface.co/v1",
    "apiKey": "YOUR_HF_TOKEN",
    "model": "meta-llama/Llama-3.3-8B-Instruct"
  }
}

Best used as a fallback or experimentation layer rather than a primary skill execution provider.

Full Provider Comparison for Skill Execution

The Multi-Provider Routing Strategy

The smartest free-tier approach uses model routing to spread skill workload across multiple providers so no single rate limit becomes a bottleneck:

{
  "modelRouting": {
    "default": {
      "provider": "ollama",
      "model": "qwen3.5:14b"
    },
    "complex": {
      "provider": "google",
      "model": "gemini-2.0-flash"
    },
    "fast": {
      "provider": "groq",
      "model": "llama-3.3-70b-versatile"
    },
    "fallback": {
      "provider": "deepseek",
      "model": "deepseek-chat"
    }
  }
}

Routine Bazaar skills go to your local Ollama model (free, unlimited). Skills needing stronger reasoning go to Gemini (free tier). Skills needing fast interactive responses go to Groq. If any provider is unavailable, DeepSeek handles overflow.

Recommendations by Skill Workload

Personal productivity skills (low volume): Google Gemini 2.0 Flash free tier. Quality and rate limits are perfect for personal use with no hardware requirements.

Developer skill testing: Ollama with Qwen3.5 14B. Unlimited executions, no rate limits, works offline. You need 16 GB RAM minimum.

Privacy-focused skill execution: Ollama with any local model. Skill data never leaves your machine. Zero cloud API calls.

Speed-critical interactive skills: Groq free tier with Llama 3.3 70B. Fastest available response times for real-time skill execution.

Maximum free capacity across all skills: Multi-provider routing across Ollama, Gemini, Groq, and DeepSeek free tiers. Distributes load so no single provider's limits constrain you.

The bottom line: a fully capable skill-powered agent running OpenClaw Bazaar skills costs $0 in ongoing API fees when you use the right combination of free providers and local models.

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