Several users across different frontends have recently been encountering “error 429” or “rate-limited” errors while using free DeepSeek models through OpenRouter. The errors confuse users because they are not close to reaching their daily free request limit set by OpenRouter.
It’s not OpenRouter’s fault that you’re experiencing these errors. Chutes rate limits free users from OpenRouter to prioritize service quality for their subscribers.
What Is Chutes?
OpenRouter doesn’t offer inference; it simply routes your requests through various providers. Chutes is an inference provider for several free and paid LLM models available on OpenRouter.
Also Read: DeepSeek R1 vs. V3 – Which Is Better For AI Roleplay?
Chutes recently launched their monthly subscription plans. Their lowest-tier plan costs $3 a month with a limit of 300 requests per day. Meanwhile, OpenRouter offers users 50 free requests a day, which can be increased to 1000 requests a day by depositing $10 into your account.
Chutes Is The Primary Provider For Free DeepSeek Models
On OpenRouter, Chutes is the only inference provider for DeepSeek: R1 0528 (free) and DeepSeek: R1 (free) models, and it’s one of two providers for DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3 0324 (free) model.
The free DeepSeek models are among OpenRouter’s most used, and Chutes is the primary inference provider for these models. Free usage through OpenRouter causes service degradation for Chutes’ subscribers, as their service becomes overloaded, responds more slowly, or doesn’t respond at all.
Chutes Rate Limits Free Users From OpenRouter
To ensure their subscribers receive a stable service, Chutes enforces rate limits on free users from OpenRouter. Even if you’ve deposited $10 into your OpenRouter account and have 1000 free requests daily, Chutes can impose rate limits and restrict your access to the free DeepSeek models.
On July 22, 2025, OpenRouter confirmed that Chutes rate limits OpenRouter users to prioritize their paying customers.
In order to ensure stability for their paying customers, Chutes introduced rate limits specifically for the free DeepSeek v3 model.
Toven, OpenRouter Discord Announcement.
Since then, Chutes rate limits free users from OpenRouter often to prioritize stability for their subscribers. And the rate limits are no longer limited to just the free DeepSeek V3 model. So next time you see an “error 429” or a “rate-limited” error message, don’t blame OpenRouter. It’s Chutes that’s rate-limiting you.
Also Read: Context Rot: Large Context Size Negatively Impacts AI Roleplay
When Chutes rate limits free users from OpenRouter, you can still access other free models. Just choose a model where Chutes isn’t the only provider, and you should be able to use it. Alternatively, you can use DeepSeek’s official API as a reliable way to access their LLMs. It isn’t free, but it’s the cheapest way to access DeepSeek compared to other providers.
The Truth About Free LLMs
Services like Chutes that offer inference do not prioritize users who use their service for AI roleplay. OpenRouter and Chutes’ target audience for the limited free requests they provide is people who want to experiment with LLMs, learn about them, use them for research, or build small projects with them.
AI roleplay is currently an expensive hobby to support for inference providers. People often take using powerful LLMs with a large context size for granted. If you want reliability and quality, you will have to pay for it. And if you are using a free service, you’ll have to deal with issues and errors that can disrupt your experience.
