SenseNova Token Plan Free Guide: 1500 Calls Per 5 Hours

Last updated: 2026-08-21

If you're looking for a free and powerful AI API in 2026, SenseNova Token Plan is one of the best options. 1500 free calls every 5 hours, native multimodal Flash-Lite support, OpenAI SDK compatible, no credit card required. But there are catches — commercial use restricted, quota policy can change anytime. This guide covers everything you need to know.

What Is Token Plan

Token Plan is SenseTime's free API beta program launched on May 8, 2026. It belongs to the sensenova.cn platform, which is separate from SenseTime's enterprise training platform SenseCore.

In short: sign up, generate an API key, and start calling SenseTime's large models for free. There's no end date announced — the official wording is "completely free during the beta period, paid Lite/Pro tiers coming soon".

How Generous Is The Free Tier

The numbers: 1500 calls per 5-hour rolling window.

Theoretically, if you use it 24/7, that's 1500×4=6000 calls per day. In practice you'll hit lower numbers because you need to wait for window resets, and each model has its own independent quota.

Three models are available:

• SenseNova-6.7-Flash-Lite: Native multimodal, processes images directly without text conversion, 60% fewer tokens than standard models
• SenseNova-U1-Fast: Fast response version
• DeepSeek-V4-Flash: Free DeepSeek version, strong in coding and math

Compared to other platforms: Kimi allows 3 calls/minute (180/hour), DeepSeek has limited trial credits, Cerebras also has restrictions. SenseTime's 1500 calls/5 hours is generous for the category, especially with native multimodal support.

The Rolling Window Mechanism

Most platforms give you a daily quota like "100 calls per day". Token Plan is different — it uses a rolling window.

Every 5 hours, your quota resets. Not at fixed times like midnight, but continuously rolling.

Example: You use 1500 calls at 10 AM. Your window starts at 10 AM and resets at 3 PM, when you get another 1500 calls. It doesn't matter how many calls you make between 10 AM and 3 PM — the window resets regardless.

The benefit: you don't have to wait until tomorrow to use more. The catch: if you use multiple models simultaneously, each model has its own independent 1500-call limit.

Your API Key Never Expires — But The Free Quota Might

This is the most important point and the biggest trap.

Your sk- prefixed API key belongs to you permanently. It won't be revoked when the beta ends. But the free calling quota is a policy benefit, not a permanent entitlement tied to your key.

When will it change? When will it shrink? When will it stop? There's no commitment from the official. No advance notification mechanism. Policy changes are reflected directly on the website — no email, no announcement.

Rumors about "retaining a small free tier after beta" are just third-party speculation. SenseTime has not officially confirmed this. Don't treat it as a guarantee.

Smart approach: Use free quota for personal projects and prototypes. For long-running production projects, prepare a paid alternative in advance.

Commercial Use Restrictions

The free quota explicitly prohibits large-scale commercial production use. It's limited to personal learning and Demo prototyping.

What does this mean? Build a small tool, write a Demo, learn — go ahead. But if you run an online product using free quota with lots of daily users, you're crossing the line.

Once the beta ends and free quota is removed, calls will fail with errors. You'll need to switch to a paid plan. The official paid tier pricing hasn't been announced yet.

How To Register And Get An API Key

1. Visit sensenova.cn, register with a phone number (no real-name verification needed)
2. Go to the developer console, generate your API key (starts with sk-)
3. Configure using OpenAI-compatible format:

import openai
client = openai.Client(
    base_url="https://sensenova.cn/v1",
    api_key="your-sk-key-here"
)

No credit card required. Phone registration is enough. Note: the official site has WAF protection — direct curl requests get 403. Use a browser or Playwright.

What Can You Actually Do

Flash-Lite supports native multimodal input — images go straight in, no text conversion step. This means:

• Upload financial reports as PDFs, let the model analyze charts
• Input screenshots directly, let the model understand content
• Do image-based Q&A tasks

Official case study: 100-page financial report processed in 47 seconds. Useful for office scenarios.

There's also an open-source SenseNova-Skills project on GitHub for extended functionality.

Comparison With Other Free APIs

Platform	Free Quota	Refresh Cycle	Credit Card	Commercial	Multimodal
SenseNova Token Plan	1500/5hrs	Rolling	No	Restricted	✅ Native
DeepSeek	Limited trial	Per account	No	Restricted	❌ Text only
Kimi	3/min	Per minute	No	Restricted	✅ Supported
Cerebras	Fair but limited	Per account	No	Restricted	❌ Text only

SenseTime's quota is generous compared to peers, especially with native multimodal support. But the unstable free policy is the biggest risk.