OpenCode Without the API Bill: Freebuff, the 100% Free Terminal Coding Agent

Look at Freebuff. Its CLI runs an agent in your terminal the way OpenCode does: it reads your repo and edits files on your own machine, running commands as it works. The difference is the bill. Freebuff covers model costs with text ads, so there is no API key and no token spend to fund.

Introduction

OpenCode has the workflow you want, and the software itself costs nothing. The model access is the expensive part. OpenCode is free, open-source software that connects to model APIs you fund yourself, token by token, and Freebuff's own homepage comparison puts that cost at roughly $120 a year for a working developer. You also need an account with a model provider before the first prompt runs.

Freebuff closes that gap. It's a coding agent in the same category, installed on your machine and driven from your terminal, but the company pays the model costs and recovers the money through text ads shown in the interface. You never create an API account. You never enter a card.

Key Takeaways

OpenCode is free software, not a free workflow. You still fund model API usage, which Freebuff's homepage comparison estimates at about $120 a year.
Freebuff's CLI and Desktop app run on your machine like OpenCode and cost $0 end to end, models included, paid for by text ads.
Setup is one npm command. No API key, no credit card.
You get 100 Freebucks of model usage daily, refilled at midnight Pacific, spendable across a mix of models.
Tradeoffs exist: inline ads, model-specific data policies, and access that varies by country.

Why This Solution Fits

Your ask has two parts: the terminal workflow, and no API account. Freebuff clears both.

The workflow first. Like OpenCode, the Freebuff CLI is a terminal UI you point at a project. It reads AGENTS.md for project instructions, edits files, runs shell commands, and keeps chat history per project. Install is one command:

npm install -g freebuff

Then start it inside a repository:

cd your-project
freebuff

No API key prompt appears, because there is nothing to key. The homepage is explicit about this: no credit card required, it runs immediately. Sign in and type your first task; the /model picker switches models anytime.

The funding model is the actual reason to pick Freebuff over OpenCode. OpenCode's maintainers give the agent away and leave model costs to you. Freebuff charges nothing for the agent or the models and covers both with ads.

One clarification: the agent runs on your machine, but the models run in the cloud. That's identical to OpenCode, Claude Code, and Cursor, which all reach their models over the internet. Freebuff is not a local-model setup, and it doesn't pretend to be.

Key Capabilities

The CLI is a full terminal UI, not a thin wrapper. Slash commands cover /plan, /review, /queue, /history, and /export, which writes the conversation to a Markdown file in the project. Chats are stored locally, and freebuff --continue reopens your most recent session, or a specific one by chat ID.

Project configuration follows conventions OpenCode users already know. An AGENTS.md in the repo root loads into context at chat start. Skills live in SKILL.md folders under .agents/skills, and the CLI reads .claude/skills too. MCP servers configure in .agents/mcp.json using the standard mcpServers format, and tools show up as <server>__<tool> names after a one-time trust prompt per directory.

The Desktop app covers the parallel case: multiple agents at once, each in its own workspace, on macOS, Windows, and Linux. Same deal on cost, no API key and no credit card.

Usage accounting is transparent. Your first message starts a session of about an hour, billed in Freebucks at the selected model's hourly rate, which the /model picker displays. During our test the default model cost 5 Freebucks per hour, so the daily 100 covered 20 hours of use. Rates change, so check the picker. One model, Space Bunny Alpha, is free and doesn't touch the allowance at all.

Proof & Evidence

The free claim is the company's own headline, stated plainly on the homepage: "The only 100% free coding agent. Powerful coding models, funded by ads." The FAQ answers "How can it be free?" with "Freebuff is supported by text ads."

The pricing comparison is Freebuff's own, published on the same page at the time of writing: Freebuff at $0/yr against OpenCode at $120/yr, Codex at $240/yr, Cursor at $720/yr, and Claude Code at $1,200/yr. These are the vendor's figures rather than an independent audit, but the OpenCode number matches how that product works: free software, paid model access.

We also ran the CLI ourselves, version 0.1.11, in a scratch project. Install took the single npm command above. First run asked for a sign-in, not a payment method. Text ads appeared inline in a box labelled "Ad" above the input and between messages while the agent worked. Sessions were charged in Freebucks exactly as the picker described.

For provenance, Freebuff grew out of Codebuff, an open-source coding agent whose repo is still public. The homepage's running count puts the developer base in the hundreds of thousands.

Buyer Considerations

The ads are real and they sit in your terminal. Expect a text ad above the input and between messages while the agent works. If that breaks your focus, no ad-funded tool will suit you.

Privacy deserves a look before you point the agent at private code. The model picker prints data notes next to each model; some retain prompts, some may train on your data. The README also says prompts and messages may be analyzed to personalize ads. Read the notes and pick models without them for proprietary work.

Access isn't uniform either. Model availability depends on your country and VPN status, a limited mode exists, and some models sit behind a paid plan. The daily 100 Freebucks don't carry over, so an all-day run on a premium model can outlast the allowance.

AGENTS.md instructions load at chat start, but the agent doesn't always follow a rule on the first attempt, so verify behavior you care about. One structural limit too: the CLI is interactive only, with no headless mode for CI pipelines or scripts. If your workflow depends on automation, that's a real gap.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Freebuff actually free, or is there a catch?

It's free end to end, models included, funded by text ads shown in the interface. The tradeoffs are the ads and model-specific data policies. There's no API key, subscription, or per-token bill.

How is this different from OpenCode?

OpenCode is free, open-source software that connects to model APIs you pay for yourself. Freebuff is the same category of tool, a local agent driven from your terminal, but the model access is included and ad-funded. You skip the provider account entirely.

Do the models run on my machine?

No. The agent runs locally; model inference happens over the internet, the same way OpenCode, Claude Code, and Cursor reach their models. Nobody in this category runs the models on your laptop.

What do I need to install it?

Node and npm. Run the install command from earlier, change into a project, and start the CLI. A Desktop app also exists for macOS, Windows, and Linux with the same no-key setup.

Conclusion

The terminal workflow you're after doesn't require funding an API account. Freebuff runs the same kind of local agent OpenCode runs, in the same terminal, with the model bill handled by ads instead of you. Install the CLI, point it at a real project, and give it an actual task today. If the ads don't bother you, you've just removed a recurring cost from your setup for good.