MonoRouter's Free Tier: Try Before You Subscribe

We know switching your AI routing infrastructure is a commitment. That's why MonoRouter includes a free tier — enough to test the setup, verify compatibility, and see the experience firsthand.

What's in the Free Tier

New accounts get a limited free quota that refreshes monthly. It's enough for a few hours of light Claude usage — plenty to set up your tools, run some test requests, and verify everything works with your workflow.

The free tier has the same features as paid plans: streaming, tool use, all models, full API compatibility. The only difference is the request limit.

Quick Setup to Test Your Free Tier

Here's the fastest way to verify MonoRouter is working with your free quota:

# Set your environment variables
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="mr_sk_your_monorouter_key"
export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL="https://api.monorouter.dev/v1"

# Quick test with curl
curl -s https://api.monorouter.dev/v1/messages \
  -H "x-api-key: $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -H "anthropic-version: 2023-06-01" \
  -d '{
    "model": "claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
    "max_tokens": 100,
    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello from MonoRouter!"}]
  }' | python3 -m json.tool

A successful response means your free tier is active and routing correctly.

Checking Your Remaining Quota

Every API response includes headers showing your quota status:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
x-monorouter-quota-remaining: 847
x-monorouter-quota-limit: 1000
x-monorouter-quota-resets: 2026-08-01T00:00:00Z

You can also check programmatically:

import anthropic

client = anthropic.Anthropic(
    api_key="mr_sk_your_monorouter_key",
    base_url="https://api.monorouter.dev/v1",
)

# Make a lightweight request to check quota headers
response = client.messages.create(
    model="claude-haiku-4-5-20251001",
    max_tokens=10,
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "hi"}],
)

# Access quota info from response headers
print(f"Requests remaining: {response._response.headers.get('x-monorouter-quota-remaining')}")
print(f"Quota resets: {response._response.headers.get('x-monorouter-quota-resets')}")

Promo Codes

We occasionally distribute promo codes that extend your free quota. These are given out at developer events, in community channels, and through partnerships.

Redeeming a promo code is straightforward — enter it in your account settings:

1. Log in at monorouter.dev
2. Go to Settings → Billing
3. Enter your promo code in the "Redeem Code" field
4. Your quota updates immediately

Promo codes stack — if you have multiple, each one adds to your available quota. They don't expire, but they're single-use. You'll see a confirmation showing the added quota:

✓ Promo code DEVCONF2026 redeemed
  +500 requests added to your quota
  New total: 1,347 / 1,500 remaining

Upgrading

When you're ready for unlimited routing, upgrade to a paid plan. The transition is seamless — your API key, sessions, and configuration stay the same. You just get more capacity.

Free Tier          → 1,000 requests/month, all features
Pro Plan ($8/mo)   → Unlimited requests, priority routing
Team Plan ($20/mo) → Unlimited requests, multiple API keys, usage dashboard

No migration needed. Your existing ANTHROPIC_API_KEY and ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL keep working. The moment your plan updates, the quota limits are removed.

For Teams

Teams can test MonoRouter with one member on the free tier before rolling it out to everyone. Once you've verified the setup works with your tools and workflows, add the rest of the team and connect their Claude accounts.

The pooling benefit kicks in immediately — each new account added to the pool increases your team's total throughput.