I Gave Claude Code 1.4 Billion FREE Tokens Every Month… (Here’s What Happened)

Links & Videos:

Install Claude Code : https://code.claude.com/docs/en/overview

Install OmniRoute : https://github.com/diegosouzapw/OmniRoute/blob/release/v3.8.51/docs/guides/SETUP_GUIDE.md

Full Video Tutorial:

Install Node JS on Windows THE RIGHT WAY (using NVM)

How to Install Node js on Mac, Use Multiple Versions NVM

VS Code on Windows 11 [Enable Open with Code]

How to Install Visual Studio Code on Mac

Why I Started Looking for a Free Claude Code Alternative

If you’ve watched my earlier videos, you already know I use AI to earn money — and a lot of you showed that content a ton of love. But one question kept coming up in the comments: “How do you use Claude Code, and how are you getting it for free?”

The truth is, a lot of you couldn’t figure it out. So a few months back, I made a video covering 5 free Claude Code alternatives. It’s been three months since then, and today I want to show you a brand-new alternative — one that gets you a massive number of free tokens, every single day.

Let me prove it’s working first, then I’ll walk you through the entire setup.

What Is OmniRoute?

OmniRoute is a free, open-source AI gateway that sits between your coding tool (Claude Code, Cursor, Cline, Kilo Code, OpenCode, etc.) and 150+ AI providers. Instead of paying for a single API key, OmniRoute lets you plug in multiple free-tier providers and automatically routes your requests between them — so your coding agent never runs out of tokens or stops working.

A few reasons this project stands out:

• It’s a genuinely popular, actively maintained open-source repo — you can inspect the entire codebase on GitHub, where it already has 64.4K stars.
• It gives you access to 150+ free providers.
• Combined, these free tiers add up to roughly 1.4 billion tokens per month — for $0.
• It works with basically any CLI coding tool, not just Claude Code.

If you want free or cheap ways to get AI coding done, this is exactly the kind of update I keep sharing on my channel — so subscribe if you haven’t already.

What You Need Before You Start

Before setting up OmniRoute, make sure you have:

1. Node.js installed on your PC
2. A terminal (Windows PowerShell/CMD, macOS Terminal, or a terminal inside VS Code)
3. A code editor — VS Code or Antigravity both work fine
4. Claude Code installed
5. Free accounts on a few AI providers (Google/GitHub sign-in is enough for most)

All the links and commands used in this guide are listed below — copy-paste them directly instead of retyping.

Step 1: Install Node.js

First, install Node.js on your system:

• Windows users: install Node.js using the standard Windows installer.
• Mac users: install Node.js via the macOS installer or Homebrew.
• Linux users: you probably already know how to do this.

Step 2: Install a Code Editor (VS Code or Antigravity)

Next, you’ll need a terminal. You can use:

• Windows PowerShell or CMD
• The macOS Terminal app
• Or, if you’re a beginner, the integrated terminal inside VS Code or Antigravity

VS Code and Antigravity are essentially the same tool with a different name — pick whichever one you prefer and install it.

To open a terminal inside VS Code:

1. Open VS Code
2. Go to the top menu → Terminal
3. Click New Terminal
4. Maximize it for a cleaner view

Step 3: Install Claude Code

Once your editor and terminal are ready, it’s time to install Claude Code.

1. Visit the official Claude Code installation link.
2. macOS/Linux users: copy the install command shown for Unix systems.
3. Windows (PowerShell) users: copy the PowerShell install command.
4. Windows (CMD) users: copy the CMD-specific install command instead.

Paste the command into your terminal and run it — this installs Claude Code on your system.

Step 4: Install OmniRoute

Now let’s install OmniRoute itself. In your terminal, run:

npm install -g omniroute

Once it finishes installing, start it by typing:

omniroute

Press Enter, and OmniRoute will automatically open a link in your browser. If it doesn’t open on its own, go to your terminal, copy the dashboard link manually, and paste it into your browser.

Step 5: Open the OmniRoute Dashboard

When the dashboard loads for the first time, you’ll be asked for a password. The default password is:

CHANGEME

Enter it and click Continue — this opens the full OmniRoute dashboard.

From here, go to the Providers tab. This is where all the magic happens.

Step 6: Connect Free AI Providers

Inside the Providers tab, you’ll find dozens of AI providers, including a dedicated Free Tier section. Some of these providers require zero authentication, while others just need a quick sign-in through Google or GitHub.

No-Auth Providers

Some providers don’t require an API key at all. Just open the provider, add any model you want, and click Test to check if it’s working. Providers that are live will show a checkmark; ones that are down will throw an error — that’s expected, just move on.

You can also click Test All Models to automatically test and add every currently working model in one click.

OpenRouter (Free Models)

OpenRouter has some of the best free models available, so it’s worth setting up first.

1. Go to Providers → Free Tier → OpenRouter → Add Connection.
2. Open a new tab, search for OpenRouter, and sign up (Google, GitHub, or any method).
3. Go to API Keys → Create Key.
4. Name it, set the expiration (or leave it as “No Expiration”), and click Create.
5. Copy the key and paste it back into OmniRoute.
6. Toggle Import Only Free Models, then click Save.

This alone imports 22 free models. Scroll down and click Test All Models to see which ones are currently live.

Kiro AI (Amazon)

Next, add Kiro AI, Amazon’s AI offering — all of its models are free to use.

1. Click Add Connection on the Kiro AI provider.
2. Sign in with your Google account and approve access.
3. Once connected, click Test Models to see what’s currently available (expect models like Claude Sonnet, offered for free with some usage limits).

Agent Router ($125 Free Credit)

Agent Router gives new users $125 worth of free AI usage right out of the gate.

1. Sign up using GitHub.
2. Go to API Tokens → Create Token.
3. Name it, set an expiration, and define a spending limit (e.g., $10, or unlimited if you prefer).
4. Click Submit to generate your API key.
5. Back in OmniRoute, click Add Connection, paste the key, enable Import Only Free Models, and save.

A tip here: free models on Agent Router can be inconsistent. The two that consistently work are DeepSeek V3.2 and GLM-4.6. If the auto-import doesn’t pick them up, add them manually as Custom Models using their exact model IDs.

Nvidia NIM

Nvidia is another solid free provider.

1. Log into the Nvidia developer portal and go to Settings → API Keys.
2. Click Generate API Key (note: this site can be a little slow, so be patient).
3. Copy the generated key.
4. In OmniRoute, go to Add Connection, paste the key, enable Import Only Free Models, and save.
5. Click Test All Models to see which models are currently running (e.g., Nemotron 3 Super).

Feel free to repeat this process for any other free-tier providers listed under the Free Tier section — the more you add, the more fallback capacity you have.

Step 7: Create a Combo (Auto-Fallback Routing)

Once your providers are connected, go to Combos → Create Combo. This is where you build a single model endpoint (a “combo”) that automatically falls back between multiple providers if one goes down or hits its rate limit.

1. Name your combo (e.g., ai).
2. Select Free as the tier and click Next.
3. Click Select Provider, then choose each connected provider (OpenRouter, Nvidia NIM, Kiro AI, Agent Router) and add its best free models as steps — for example: Claude 4.5, GLM 5, Minimax 2.5, and DeepSeek 3.2.
4. Reorder the steps by priority — drag your most reliable models to the top.
5. Choose a routing strategy to avoid single points of failure.
6. Review everything and click Create Combo.

This combo (named ai in this example) is now your single free “model” that automatically routes between every provider you connected.

Step 8: Connect OmniRoute to Claude Code

Now for the fun part — hooking this up to Claude Code.

1. On the OmniRoute GitHub page, scroll to the Compatible CLIs section. OmniRoute works with Claude Code, Codex CLI, Cline, Kilo Code, OpenCode, and more.
2. Copy the Claude Code connection command.
3. In one terminal tab, run omniroute and leave it running in the background.
4. Open a second terminal tab, paste the copied command, but replace the model name with your combo’s name (ai in this example):

omniroute run claude --model ai

5. Press Enter — Claude Code will open, now powered entirely by OmniRoute’s free routing.

To confirm it’s working, ask it directly:

What model are you?

If it responds with ai, you’re officially running Claude Code on free tokens.

Live Test: Building a Website With Free Tokens

To put this to the test, I created a new folder, opened it in VS Code, started OmniRoute in one terminal, and ran the same connection command in a second terminal. Then I gave it a simple prompt:

Create a Tic Tac Toe game in HTML, CSS, and JS

Within moments, the code was generated and running — a fully working Tic Tac Toe game, built entirely through free-tier AI models routed by OmniRoute.

Final Thoughts

If you’ve been avoiding AI coding tools because of the API costs, this setup completely removes that barrier. With OmniRoute, you get:

• 150+ free providers connected through a single dashboard
• ~1.4 billion free tokens per month across combined free tiers
• Automatic fallback routing so your coding agent never fully stops
• Compatibility with Claude Code, Cursor, Cline, Kilo Code, OpenCode, and more

I’ve also covered other ways to get AI coding done without spending ₹4 lakh/month or hiring a full dev team — check out my other tutorials on the channel for the complete picture, including my in-depth 30-minute Claude Code walkthrough.

That’s it for this one. If you found this useful, subscribe for more free and low-cost AI coding workflows — I share these updates regularly.

FAQ

Is OmniRoute really free? Yes. OmniRoute itself is free and open-source. It connects to free tiers offered by third-party AI providers (OpenRouter, Kiro AI, Agent Router, Nvidia NIM, and more), which is what gives you access to a large combined pool of free tokens.

Does this work with tools other than Claude Code? Yes — OmniRoute is compatible with Cursor, Cline, Kilo Code, OpenCode, Codex CLI, and other popular AI coding tools.

Do I need to pay for API keys? No. Every provider covered in this guide has a legitimate free tier. You sign up with Google or GitHub and generate a free API key — no credit card required for the setup shown here.

What if a model stops working? That’s exactly why the Combo/auto-fallback step matters. If one model or provider goes down or hits a rate limit, OmniRoute automatically routes your request to the next available model in your combo.

Which free models are the most reliable? From this setup, DeepSeek V3.2 and GLM-4.6 were the most consistently available free models, though this can change over time as provider capacity shifts.