ANUS Open source

What it does

ANUS (Autonomous Networked Utility System) is a free, terminal-based coding agent that reads code, edits files, and runs commands like other CLI agents — but instead of requiring a paid API key, it automatically routes each request to whichever free LLM tier is currently available and capable. It maintains a ranked list of free models, refreshed twice daily from anus.dev/free-models.json, and falls back to the next provider when one hits its rate limit.

What it gives your terminal

Under the hood it's built on the open-source "pi" agent framework and wires together several providers' free allowances: OpenRouter (50 free requests/day, more after a $10 top-up), Google Gemini's free tier, Groq's free plan (8K tokens/minute), a 30-day Cerebras trial, and Mistral's no-card monthly credits. The agent picks the best currently-up free model so a session doesn't stall when one provider runs dry mid-task.

Works with

Runs standalone in any terminal; it is not tied to a specific editor or IDE, and talks directly to the provider APIs it routes between.

How to install or connect

npm install -g @anus-dev/anus
anus

Requires Node.js 22.19+. A curl-based installer is also offered on the project site.

Maintenance and safety

MIT licensed with active commits, ~6.5k GitHub stars, 924 forks, and 68 open issues being tracked. API keys are stored locally and the README is explicit that some free tiers may use submitted data to improve their models — worth knowing before pointing it at proprietary code. The provocative name is intentional branding rather than a safety signal either way.

Who should use it

Hobbyists, students, and anyone who wants a capable terminal coding agent without paying for API access, and who can tolerate variable quality as it rotates between whatever free tier is live.