Skip to main content
Free AI For That

Lightning AI

Cloud GPU workspaces (Studios) to build, train, fine-tune and deploy AI models, from the makers of PyTorch Lightning.

Dev Infrastructure & AI APIsFreeverified Listed on Free plan

Try free
Rate it

Is Lightning AI free?

Yes, Lightning AI has a free plan. What you get: 1 CPU Studio free 24/7, plus up to 30 free credits (one-time). Free limits: 1 free active CPU Studio, running 24/7 (restart every 4 hours); up to 2 concurrent GPUs; 15 req/min and 120,000 tok/min to model APIs. Verified on lightning.ai.

Free plan at a glance

Includes
  • Up to 30 free credits, one time (5 at signup, 25 more after adding a card)
  • 1 free active CPU Studio, running 24/7 (restart every 4 hours)
  • Up to 2 concurrent GPUs
  • 15 req/min and 120,000 tok/min to model APIs
  • 10 GB free storage
  • 200 GB persistent storage limit

Credits expire after 12 months and work on compute, storage and tokens. The maker says 30 credits is about 80 GPU hours on interruptible machines.

Duration
Free forever

How to get it free

Free account · phone required
  1. Sign up and verify your phone number
  2. Start the free CPU Studio, or use your free credits on a GPU

Good to know

  • The free CPU Studio restarts every 4 hours
  • 25 of the 30 free credits need a card on file
  • Credits expire after 12 months
Get the free plan

lightning.ai, Checked Source

Overview

Lightning AI gives you cloud Studios with on-demand GPUs to prototype, train, fine-tune and serve models, plus model APIs and app hosting. The free tier runs one CPU Studio at no cost and includes up to 30 free credits, which the maker says is about 80 GPU hours on interruptible machines.

Free vs paid

FreePro
Price$0$50/mo
Includes
  • Up to 30 free credits, one time (5 at signup, 25 more after adding a card)
  • 1 free active CPU Studio, running 24/7 (restart every 4 hours)
  • Up to 2 concurrent GPUs
  • 15 req/min and 120,000 tok/min to model APIs
  • 10 GB free storage
  • 200 GB persistent storage limit
Plan details

Key features

  • Cloud Studios with GPUs such as T4, L4, L40S, A100, H100 or H200, billed by the second
  • Connect a local IDE such as VS Code or PyCharm, or work over SSH
  • Pretrain and fine-tune models, with multi-node training on paid tiers
  • Deploy model endpoints and host AI apps
  • Model APIs at 15 req/min on the free tier
  • 80% off on interruptible (spot) machines

Best for

Tasks
Host & deploy apps, Use LLM & AI model APIs
People
ML engineers who need on-demand GPUs, Researchers and students prototyping models, Teams fine-tuning and serving their own models

Limitations

  • The free CPU Studio restarts every 4 hours, and A100, H100 or H200 sessions stop after 4 hours
  • Only 5 of the 30 free credits come, and credits expire after 12 months
  • Up to 2 concurrent GPUs and one GPU per Studio on the free tier

Screenshot

Lightning AI screenshot, as published by Lightning AI
Image published by Lightning AI

FAQ

Is Lightning AI free?
Yes. Lightning AI has a free plan: 1 CPU Studio free 24/7, plus up to 30 free credits (one-time). We last checked lightning.ai's pricing page on 2026-10-24.
What does the Lightning AI free plan include?
The Lightning AI free plan includes: 1 free active CPU Studio, running 24/7 (restart every 4 hours); Up to 2 concurrent GPUs; 15 req/min and 120,000 tok/min to model APIs. Source: https://lightning.ai/pricing (checked 2026-10-24).
How do I get Lightning AI for free?
Steps: Sign up and verify your phone number; Start the free CPU Studio, or use your free credits on a GPU. Sign-up options: phone. Start at https://lightning.ai/ (checked 2026-10-24).
What are free alternatives to Lightning AI?
Exa (free credits), Requesty (free plan) and Crawl4AI (free plan) are free alternatives. We checked their free offers on 2026-10-25.
Why does Lightning AI ask for my phone number?
To prevent abuse of the platform, according to its pricing FAQ.Source: lightning.ai/pricing
Does Lightning AI have a free trial or academic pricing?
There's no separate trial: the maker points to the free tier, which it calls truly free. Startup and academic pricing are available if you get in touch.Source: lightning.ai/pricing

Free alternatives

Sources

Free offer
Verified on lightning.ai/pricing
…The free tier is truly free! You can run 1 Studio for free and get up to 30 free…
Page content

Checked against

How we check free offers

Added by our team. We check that a free option exists and record the date; signing up is between you and Lightning AI, so read their privacy policy and terms first.

Is this your tool? Claim it · Promote it

Try Lightning AI free