China Just Dropped the Most Powerful Free AI Model in the World — Here's How to Actually Use It
Kimi K3 launched July 16, 2026. 2.8 trillion parameters. Largest open-source model ever built. Developers who benchmarked it ranked it above everything available right now — and it's free today.
Here's what you need: how to access K3 free, how to wire it into your tools, and how to run Kimi Work to deploy hundreds of agents at once.
🆓 Use Kimi K3 For Free
Option 1 — kimi.com (No Setup) Go to kimi.com, create a free account, start using K3 immediately. No credit card. No API key.
Option 2 — Mobile App Download the Kimi app on iOS or Android. Same model, same access, works instantly.
Option 3 — Moonshot API (For Integrations) Go to platform.kimi.ai, create an account, add a minimum $1 top-up to unlock API access.
Important — Free chat and API access are separate. The $1 top-up is required to get your API key.
Two endpoints available:
- OpenAI-compatible:
https://api.moonshot.ai/v1— works with any tool - Anthropic-compatible:
https://api.moonshot.ai/anthropic— drops into Claude Code directly
Option 4 — Run Locally (July 27, 2026) Full weights drop on July 27. Run K3 entirely offline with no API costs. Watch Moonshot's GitHub and Hugging Face for the release.
🔌 Connect K3 to Your Dev Tools
One base URL swap. Works with everything you're already using.
Claude Code
ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=https://api.moonshot.ai/anthropic
ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN=your_moonshot_api_key
ANTHROPIC_MODEL=kimi-k3
Set these as environment variables before launching Claude Code.
Kimi Code plan users — Use https://api.kimi.com/coding/ as the base URL and authenticate with ANTHROPIC_API_KEY instead.
Cline / RooCode / Cursor
In each tool's model provider settings:
- Base URL:
https://api.moonshot.ai/v1 - API Key: your Moonshot API key
- Model:
kimi-k3
Validation — Send a test message after saving. Auth error means your $1 top-up on platform.kimi.ai hasn't processed yet.
Codex / OpenAI SDK
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI(
base_url="https://api.moonshot.ai/v1",
api_key="your_moonshot_api_key"
)
response = client.chat.completions.create(
model="kimi-k3",
messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Your prompt here"}]
)
Aider
aider --openai-api-base https://api.moonshot.ai/v1 --openai-api-key your_key --model kimi-k3
Continue / OpenHands
- Base URL:
https://api.moonshot.ai/v1 - Model:
kimi-k3 - Auth: your Moonshot API key
OpenRouter (One Key, All Tools)
- Model slug:
moonshotai/kimi-k3 - Base URL:
https://openrouter.ai/api/v1 - Auth: your OpenRouter key
Best for — Teams running multiple tools who want one key to manage instead of per-tool Moonshot keys.
🖥️ Run Kimi Work
Up to 300 agents running in parallel on a single goal. Not sequentially — all at once.
Go to kimiwork.com. Download for Mac or Windows. Sign in with your Kimi account.
After installing the app, you'll be prompted to install the Kimi WebBridge browser extension. Install it from inside the app — not the extension store.
This step is required — Without WebBridge, agents can't control your browser and most tasks won't run.
Open Goal Mode. Use this prompt structure:
Find 30 local businesses in [CITY] that don't have a website. For each business, collect the business name, phone number, address, and owner name if available. Then build a simple one-page website for each business. Output everything as an Excel sheet with a link to each website attached.
Replace [CITY] and hit run.
Kimi Work splits the goal into sub-tasks and launches agents in parallel immediately. The 30-business prompt above typically launches 150+ agents and returns a complete Excel sheet with contact info and built websites in under 30 minutes.
Validation — If agents run sequentially instead of in parallel, check that WebBridge is active in your browser.
What It Outputs
- 📊 Excel / CSV — structured data, contacts, URLs
- 🌐 Websites — custom one-page sites per business
- 📄 Word / PDF — research reports, competitor analysis
- 💻 Code — scripts, apps, full project folders
- 📅 Scheduled tasks — set it overnight, check results in the morning
Top Use Cases
🏢 Local Business Outreach Find businesses without websites, build a demo site for each one, compile contact info — all in one sheet. You show up to the sales call with their site already built.
Best for: Freelancers, web designers, local agency owners
🔍 Lead Research at Scale Find decision-makers at 50 companies, pull LinkedIn profiles, emails, and revenue data, output as a CRM-ready CSV.
Best for: Sales teams, recruiters, growth operators
📈 Competitor Analysis Analyze 20 competitors — pricing, features, review sentiment, positioning. Returns a structured report in under an hour.
Best for: Founders, product managers, marketing strategists
Get started at kimi.com, grab your API key at platform.kimi.ai, and download Kimi Work at kimiwork.com.