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Free during alpha

The VLM Run Gateway is currently free to use and rate-limited per IP or API key (60 requests/min, 1000 requests/hr). See Rate Limits for tier details and how to request a higher quota.
The VLM Run Gateway accepts a standard Authorization: Bearer <token> header on every endpoint. All Gateway endpoints allow anonymous access today, so authentication is optional. Sign in with an API key when you want usage attributed to your account instead of a shared IP bucket.

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Tiers

TierHow to authenticateRate limitBucket key
AnonymousOmit the header, or send Bearer "" / Bearer vlmrun60/min · 1000/hrClient IP
AuthenticatedBearer <VLMRUN_API_KEY> from app.vlm.run60/min · 1000/hrYour account
Both tiers share the same numeric limits during the alpha. The difference is attribution: anonymous requests are capped per IP (so they can be shared with other users behind the same NAT or proxy), while authenticated requests are capped per account.
Every endpoint documented under API Reference accepts anonymous traffic today: chat completions, models, embeddings, audio transcriptions, and health. This may tighten as the Gateway moves toward general availability, so authenticate with an API key if you’re building something you plan to run in production.

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Get an API key

  1. Sign up at app.vlm.run.
  2. Copy your API key from the dashboard.
  3. Set it as an environment variable:
export VLMRUN_API_KEY="your-api-key"

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Examples

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    base_url="https://gateway.vlm.run/v1/openai",
    api_key="<VLMRUN_API_KEY>",  # omit, or use "vlmrun", for anonymous access
)

models = client.models.list()
for model in models.data:
    print(model.id)
An invalid (non-empty, unrecognized) bearer token returns 403 rather than falling back to anonymous access. See Error Codes for the response body.

Rate Limits

Per-tier quotas and how to request a higher limit.

Error Codes

403 (invalid API key) and 429 (rate limit) response bodies.