Free.ai Coder

Free AI coding assistant for your terminal. A free, open-source alternative to Claude Code, Cursor, and GitHub Copilot.

Website | PyPI | npm | Web IDE

Install

# Universal (Linux / macOS)
curl -fsSL https://free.ai/install | sh

# pip
pip install freeai-code

# npm
npm install -g freeai-code

Quick Start

# Interactive coding session in your project directory
cd your-project/
free-code

# Ask a one-shot question about your codebase
free-code ask "How does the auth system work?"

# Execute a task
free-code run "Add unit tests for the User model"

# Run a task in the Free.ai cloud (codex-style) and watch it
free-code cloud "Fix the failing CI on main" --repo https://github.com/you/project

# Initialize and scan codebase
free-code init

Commands

Features

• File read/write with diff preview and approval gates
• Shell command execution (with confirmation in safe mode)
• Git integration (status, diff, commit, branch)
• Test runner auto-detection (pytest, jest, go test, cargo test)
• Streaming output with syntax highlighting
• Context window optimization and repo map generation
• .gitignore-aware file discovery
• Session sync — continue conversations from web to CLI and back
• Cloud tasks — run long coding tasks on Free.ai's GPUs and pick up the result later

Cloud Tasks

Run a coding task on Free.ai's infrastructure instead of your machine — like a codex agent from the terminal. Requires an API key: run free-code login and paste a key from free.ai/developer (free tier works).

# Submit and watch (polls until done, prints the markdown report)
free-code cloud "Add rate limiting to the API" --repo https://github.com/you/project

# Pick the cloud model
free-code cloud "Refactor the auth module" --model deepseek-coder

# Fire and forget (you get an email when it finishes)
free-code cloud "Write integration tests" --no-watch

# Download the resulting code as a zip, unpacked into ./result
free-code cloud "Fix the flaky test suite" --download ./result

# List recent tasks
free-code tasks

Configuration

Config is stored at ~/.free-code/config.yaml.

# Set your Free.ai token (get one at https://free.ai/account/)
free-code config set token sk-free-xxx

# Use your own API key (BYOK — no markup, use your own provider)
free-code config set provider openai
free-code config set api_key sk-xxx

# Choose a model
free-code config set model qwen7b

# Enable safe mode (confirm before file writes)
free-code config set safe_mode true

Supported Providers

How It Works

1. Scans your project (respects .gitignore)
2. Builds a context map of your codebase
3. Sends your request + relevant code context to the AI
4. AI plans steps, reads/writes files, runs commands
5. You review and approve changes (safe mode)

All file operations happen locally on your machine. The AI sees only what it needs.

Pricing

• Anonymous: 10K tokens/day (Qwen Coder only)
• Free account: 50K tokens/day (sign up at free.ai)
• Paid plans: From $5/month for 200K tokens (pricing)
• BYOK: $0 — bring your own API key, no markup

Links

• Free.ai — 400+ free AI tools
• Web IDE — Use in your browser
• API Docs — Build on top of Free.ai
• Compare vs Claude Code
• Compare vs Cursor

vs Competitors

BYOK (Bring Your Own Key)

Use your own API keys from any provider — zero markup, zero fees. Free.ai just proxies the request.

# OpenAI
free-code config set provider openai
free-code config set api_key sk-proj-xxx

# Anthropic
free-code config set provider anthropic
free-code config set api_key sk-ant-xxx

# Google
free-code config set provider google
free-code config set api_key AIzaSyxxx

# OpenRouter (access 346+ models)
free-code config set provider openrouter
free-code config set api_key sk-or-xxx

When using BYOK, requests go directly to the provider. No markup. No logging. Your key, your usage, your bill.

You can also set keys via environment variables:

export FREEAI_PROVIDER=openai
export FREEAI_API_KEY=sk-proj-xxx
free-code

Free.ai Ecosystem

• Free.ai — 400+ free AI tools on the web
• Python SDK — pip install free-dot-ai — use Free.ai from your code
• CLI Coder — pip install freeai-code — AI coding in your terminal
• iOS App — Native iPhone/iPad app
• Android App — Native Android app
• API Docs — Build on top of Free.ai
• Web IDE — Code in your browser

License

MIT