If you are searching for the best free proxy for SillyTavern, the fact that saves you an evening is this: in SillyTavern, a proxy is not a network proxy that hides your IP address. It is a language-model backend, the server that writes your characters' replies, and the settings fields that take it are labelled Reverse Proxy and Custom Endpoint. Get that straight and the question becomes answerable: which free backends are reliable, how do you connect them, and what do the errors mean.
We run a network proxy service, the IP-changing kind, so we see this mix-up daily and have no reason to sell you the wrong thing. Below are the three free routes that hold up in 2026, the exact SillyTavern fields to fill in, the fixes for the four errors everyone meets, and the one case where a network proxy actually is the answer.
Why "proxy" means a backend here
SillyTavern is only an interface. Its documentation says you need access to an LLM backend to provide inference, and it lists two kinds: local APIs such as KoboldCpp, llama.cpp, Ollama and TabbyAPI, and cloud APIs such as OpenAI, Claude, Google AI Studio, Mistral and OpenRouter. Under the Chat Completion API type, the Chat Completion Source dropdown picks one of those, and two of its options carry the word proxy into the settings: the Reverse Proxy block, with a Proxy Server URL and a Proxy Password, and the Custom (OpenAI-compatible) source, with a Custom Endpoint (Base URL) and an optional Custom API Key.
Both are addresses of a model server. Neither changes your IP. The "free proxies" traded in roleplay communities are servers other people run that relay your requests on their key, and SillyTavern's own interface tells you what it thinks of them: using a proxy you are not running yourself is a risk to your data privacy, and any support requests will be refused if you use one. Chub's documentation for the same feature spells out why: such proxies are created by unauthorized third parties who gain access to your data and IP address, and may log your messages or run on stolen keys. So the best free SillyTavern proxy is a free backend you control with your own key. Three qualify.
The three free backends that hold up
OpenRouter free models. OpenRouter is one gateway in front of dozens of providers, and it tags some models :free. On 24 August 2026 its public model list carried 18 of them, including nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b:free, nvidia/nemotron-3.5-lightning:free, google/gemma-4-31b-it:free and z-ai/glm-5.2:free. One account and one key give you all of them, and OpenRouter has a native source in SillyTavern's dropdown. The catch is the cap: OpenRouter's published limits allow 20 requests a minute on free models and, until you have bought 10 credits (about $10), 50 requests a day; cross that threshold once and the daily cap rises to 1,000. Free ids also rotate as providers retire and replace them, so if a name in the list above stops working, open OpenRouter's models page and take the current one.
Google AI Studio. Google offers a free tier for the Gemini API through AI Studio, and SillyTavern lists Google AI Studio as a Chat Completion Source, so you paste a key and pick a Gemini model without any endpoint typing. It is fast and the free limits are usable for casual chat. Two caveats: Google's API terms say that on the unpaid tier it uses prompts and responses to provide, improve and develop its products, so it is the least private of the three, and the free tier is not offered in every country.
A local model. KoboldCpp, llama.cpp and Ollama run an open-weights model on your own GPU or CPU and expose it to SillyTavern on localhost. It costs nothing per message, nothing leaves your machine, and there is no daily cap; the limit is the model your hardware can hold. SillyTavern's documentation notes that installing a local backend can be complex and that its team does not provide support for it, but once it runs, it is the most private option that exists.
DeepSeek is the cheap fourth option rather than a free one: its own API charges pennies and has no free-tier throttle, and we cover it in free DeepSeek proxy for Janitor AI; the same endpoint works in SillyTavern's Custom source with https://api.deepseek.com as the base URL and deepseek-v4-flash as the model.
The exact fields to fill in
| Backend | Chat Completion Source | Endpoint or base URL | Model to pick | Free? | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenRouter | OpenRouter | none needed, the source knows it | a current :free id, for example nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b:free | Yes, on :free models | 50 requests a day until a one-time $10 top-up; free ids rotate |
| Google AI Studio | Google AI Studio | none needed | a current Gemini model from the dropdown | Yes, free tier | Google may use free-tier prompts; not offered in every country |
| Local model | KoboldCpp, llama.cpp or Ollama (Text Completion) or Custom (OpenAI-compatible) | http://localhost:5001 for KoboldCpp, http://localhost:11434/v1 for Ollama | whatever you loaded | Yes | Needs a capable GPU or CPU; you install and maintain it |
| DeepSeek direct | Custom (OpenAI-compatible) | https://api.deepseek.com | deepseek-v4-flash | No, but very cheap | A few dollars loaded first |
Two SillyTavern-specific rules save most of the support threads. The Custom Endpoint takes the base URL only: the interface's own hint says to add /v1 if the endpoint does not work and never to add /chat/completions, because SillyTavern appends that itself. And the model id is case sensitive, :free suffix included.
Connecting it, step by step
- Open the API Connections panel (the plug icon) and set the API type to Chat Completion.
- Pick the Chat Completion Source: OpenRouter, Google AI Studio, or Custom (OpenAI-compatible) for DeepSeek and most local servers. KoboldCpp and llama.cpp also appear under the Text Completion type, which is the better fit for raw local models.
- Paste the key from the provider: OpenRouter keys begin
sk-or-, Google issues its own in AI Studio, DeepSeek in its platform. Local servers usually need none. - For a Custom source, paste the base URL exactly as in the table. Nothing after the host except
/v1if the hint applies. - Select or type the model. For OpenRouter, the dropdown lists the current models; filter on
:free. - Click Connect. A green status means SillyTavern reached the backend and the key was accepted. If a working endpoint keeps failing the automatic check, the Bypass API status check box under the connection settings stops SillyTavern from refusing it, which is the documented workaround for endpoints that do not answer the status probe.
- Open a character and send a test message.
Treat the key like a password; anyone holding it can spend against your account.
Fixing the four errors everyone hits
401 Unauthorized. The key is wrong, expired, or pasted with a stray space. Regenerate it on the provider's site, paste it clean, and for paid backends confirm there is credit on the account.
429 Too Many Requests. You hit a limit on the backend, almost always OpenRouter's free cap. Wait a minute, switch to a less loaded free model, or load about $10 once to lift the daily cap from 50 to 1,000. On Google AI Studio the free tier caps requests per minute and per day too. A network proxy does nothing here, because the limit follows your key, not your address; our post on LLM API rate limits and proxies explains why in full.
No endpoints found. OpenRouter's message for a model nobody is serving right now. Usually the id is misspelled or retired, or your OpenRouter privacy settings block the providers that offer it, since many free models route through providers that require you to allow prompt logging. Check the id on the models page, enable the data-policy toggle in OpenRouter settings, and if the model is simply down, pick another :free one.
Connection error or the status check fails. The request never reached a model. For a Custom source, recheck the base URL: no /chat/completions, try adding /v1. If the URL is right, the endpoint may be down for the moment, your network may block the host, or the provider may not serve your country, which is the one case for the section below. For a local server, confirm it is actually running and listening on the port you typed.
The honeypot problem: shared reverse proxies read your chats
All over Discord and Reddit you will find ready-made "proxies" for SillyTavern: a Proxy Server URL and a Proxy Password that route through somebody else's OpenAI or Claude key. They look like the easiest free option because you skip signing up for anything. Do not use them.
You are spending a stranger's key, which is often stolen and can be cut off mid-conversation. And the person running the server sees everything: every message and every reply passes through their machine in plain text on their end, to be logged, kept or sold. Some exist for exactly that reason. SillyTavern refuses support to anyone using one, and it says why in the interface. Roleplay logs are often personal, and this is real exposure rather than a hypothetical.
Use your own key with an official endpoint, or a free tier you signed up for yourself. It takes five extra minutes and keeps the chat between you and the provider.
This is the same trust problem we deal with on the network-proxy side every day: a free proxy of any kind is a stranger's machine in the middle of your traffic, as we set out in are free proxies safe.
If you actually needed a network proxy
A few of you came here for the IP-changing kind, and there is a real case for it with SillyTavern. Google AI Studio's free tier is not offered in every country. Anthropic publishes a list of countries where Claude and its API are available and excludes several. OpenAI keeps a separate supported-countries page for its API, and DeepSeek's platform terms bar sanctioned countries. If your backend refuses you on those grounds, no free model fixes it, because the refusal happens before any request is counted.
SillyTavern handles that case in config.yaml rather than in the interface: the requestProxy block, with enabled, url and bypass, sends your outbound API calls through a network proxy so the provider sees that address instead of yours. The setup, which type fits, and the honest limits are in proxies for SillyTavern. The short version: one static residential or ISP address in a supported country, held permanently, from $0.44 per GB pay as you go, no KYC. It is a decision to read against the provider's terms, so read them first.
For the free-backend question that brought most of you here, you probably do not need us at all: pick a backend from the table, use your own key, get the base URL exactly right, and you are chatting for free. That is the whole answer.
Sources
- SillyTavern documentation, introduction (an interface that needs an LLM backend; the local and cloud backend lists) and OpenAI and Chat Completion (the Custom (OpenAI-compatible) source, the /v1 hint, the Bypass API status check).
- SillyTavern release-branch interface source, public/index.html: the Reverse Proxy block and the warning that support is refused to users of third-party proxies.
- SillyTavern documentation, config.yaml reference: the requestProxy setting.
- OpenRouter, API rate limits: 20 requests a minute on free models, 50 a day under 10 credits, 1,000 a day at 10 or more; and the public models list, which carried 18 models tagged :free on 24 August 2026.
- Google, Gemini API terms: how the unpaid tier uses prompts and responses.
- Chub documentation, API connections: the warning about third-party reverse proxies.
- DeepSeek API news, DeepSeek-V4 release: the deepseek-v4-flash id and the retirement of the old aliases after 24 July 2026.