Good for trying the models, not for production, since trial keys bar commercial use. Cohere sells language, embedding and reranking models through an API with two kinds of keys. Trial keys are free, limited to 1,000 API calls a month, rate limited, and not permitted for production or commercial purposes. Production keys are paid. The rate-limits docs list trial limits of 20 requests a minute per Chat model, 2,000 inputs a minute for Embed, 10 requests a minute for Rerank and 5 requests a minute for audio transcription, and production limits of 500 requests a minute on Command A, R+, R and R7B, with newer variants handled through sales. Trustpilot has only one review, and it concerns a recruiting offer, not the API. Reddit posters like Command R+ output and the reranker, and note that trial limits suit a demo more than a product.
Free tier quotas
Trial key
Free, rate limited, limited to 1,000 API calls a month per the docs
Commercial use
The pricing FAQ says trial keys are not permitted for production or commercial purposes
Chat trial limit
20 requests a minute per model, listed for Command A+, A Reasoning, A Translate, A Vision, A, R+, R, R7B and North Mini Code
Embed trial limit
2,000 inputs a minute for text, the same as production. Image embedding is 5 inputs a minute on trial
Rerank trial limit
10 requests a minute on trial against 1,000 on production. One search unit is one query with up to 100 documents
Other trial limits
Audio transcription 5 requests a minute, EmbedJob 5, Tokenize 100, Parse 500, and 500 for anything not listed
Production Chat limit
500 requests a minute on Command A, R+, R, R7B and North Mini Code. Newer variants say contact sales
Older model prices
Command R 03-2024 $0.50 in and $1.50 out per million tokens, Command R+ 08-2024 $2.50 and $10, Command-light $0.30 and $0.60
Last sniffed Oct 3, 2026. Always confirm on the official pricing page.
👍 Good boy
+The free trial key covers Chat, Embed, Rerank, Tokenize, Parse and audio transcription, and the docs publish a trial limit for each endpoint.
+Embed has the same 2,000 inputs a minute on trial and production, so an embedding prototype does not hit a lower ceiling than a launch would.
+Production keys for Command A, R+, R and R7B list 500 requests a minute with no sales call needed, and Rerank production allows 1,000 requests a minute.
+An older r/LocalLLaMA commenter said Command R+ responses were detailed, in depth, to the point and sensible, and that they used it through OpenRouter or Cohere's own API.
+An r/LangChain poster asking whether Cohere's reranker is still the automatic choice said they liked using it on their last project, with the trial key good enough for a demo.
+An r/JanitorAI commenter said the free trial refreshes each month if you hit the limit, which matches the 1,000 calls a month rule in the docs.
👎 Watch out
−Trial keys cannot be used for production or commercial purposes. The pricing FAQ says so directly, so the free key is for evaluation, not for a live product.
−The monthly cap is 1,000 API calls on trial keys, and the docs add that production keys on newer Chat model variants share that 1,000 calls a month limit.
−Trial rate limits are low: 20 requests a minute on Chat, 10 on Rerank and 5 on audio transcription or image embedding. An r/LangChain poster described 10 requests a minute on the trial key as enough for a demo.
−Production limits for the newest Chat models (Command A+, A Reasoning, A Translate, A Vision) say contact sales, so there is no self-serve number to plan around.
−An r/SillyTavernAI thread asked about issues with Cohere's free trial keys, and a reply recommended a Google alternative for having no token limit. It is an older thread, so details may have changed.
−Independent reviews are close to absent. Trustpilot has one review at 3.2 about a recruiting offer, not the API, and I found no usable G2 listing for the API.
The catch
The free key is an evaluation key. The pricing FAQ says API calls made with a trial key are free, but trial keys are rate limited and not permitted for production or commercial purposes. The rate-limits docs cap trial keys at 1,000 API calls a month and list per-endpoint minute limits: 20 requests a minute per Chat model, 10 for Rerank, 5 for audio transcription and image embedding, 2,000 inputs for text Embed. Because of the commercial-use bar I set the commercial-use field to not allowed for the free key.
The docs say production keys on newer Chat model variants are also limited to 1,000 calls a month, and that Command A+, A Reasoning, A Translate and A Vision need a conversation with sales for production limits. Older models list 500 requests a minute on production keys.
The prices I could read were for older models in the pricing FAQ: Command R 03-2024 at $0.50 in and $1.50 out per million tokens, Command R+ 08-2024 at $2.50 and $10, Command-light at $0.30 and $0.60. I did not read current prices for the Command A family. I left the card requirement as unknown.
Independent evidence is thin. The one Trustpilot review is about a recruiting offer, not the API, and the Reddit posts I read are older and mostly about trial-key limits and model quality.
What’s included
✓Chat API with Command A, R+, R and R7B models
✓Embed API for text and images
✓Rerank API with a search-unit price per query of up to 100 documents
✓Audio transcription endpoint
✓Parse endpoint
✓Tokenize endpoint
✓EmbedJob for batch embedding
✓Trial and production API keys on one dashboard
✓Documented rate limits per endpoint
Free tier value
Generosity
B
Estimated value
Free evaluation access capped at 1,000 API calls a month
Feature parity
Production keys remove the call cap and the commercial-use bar, and raise limits.
Billed per million tokens. The pricing FAQ I read lists Command R 03-2024 at $0.50 in and $1.50 out, Command R+ 08-2024 at $2.50 and $10, and Command-light at $0.30 and $0.60. I did not read prices for the current Command A family.
Rerank, per search
One search unit is a single query with up to 100 documents to be ranked. I did not read the per-search price.
Higher limits, contact sales
Production limits for Command A+, A Reasoning, A Translate, A Vision and audio transcription are set through sales.
Common questions
Is the Cohere API free?
Trial keys are free but limited to 1,000 API calls a month and are not permitted for production or commercial use. Production keys are paid.
What are the trial rate limits?
20 requests a minute per Chat model, 10 for Rerank, 5 for audio transcription and image embedding, 2,000 inputs a minute for text Embed and 500 for most other endpoints.
Can I use the trial key in a product?
No. The pricing FAQ says trial keys are not permitted for production or commercial purposes.
What does a production key allow?
The docs list 500 requests a minute on Command A, R+, R, R7B and North Mini Code, 1,000 a minute on Rerank and 2,000 inputs a minute on Embed.
How is Rerank priced?
Per search, where one search is a single query with up to 100 documents to rank.
Change history
Checked October 22, 2026
Rate-limits docs and pricing FAQ read. Prices read were for older models. Trustpilot has one unrelated review, and no usable G2 listing found.
