On a managed-mode plan, your OpenClaw bot uses credits from a monthly budget. When that budget runs out, the bot stops responding to messages until credits reset at the start of your next billing cycle.
Before switching, review the available options in the Full AI Model Catalog. If group behavior also needs tuning, use the OpenClaw group chat settings guide.
You can avoid the interruption by switching to a free model before credits are exhausted. Free models don't touch your credit pool at all, so the bot keeps running at zero cost — but response quality and speed will be noticeably lower than your paid model. Free models are open-weight models suitable for routine tasks; they won't match Claude Sonnet or GPT-4.1 for complex reasoning or long-context work.
What you'll need
- A running OpenClaw bot on ClawCloud in managed mode
- Access to your bot on Telegram or Discord
How the credit bar works
ClawCloud monitors credit usage every few minutes via the OpenRouter API and updates the dashboard bar in real time.
The bar changes color as usage climbs:
- Blue — 75% or below, plenty of credits remaining
- Orange — above 75%, approaching the limit (no badge yet)
- Red + "Running low" — above 95%, very close to exhaustion. You'll see an inline notice suggesting a top-up or free model switch.
- Amber + "Credits low" — the 5% soft buffer has been crossed (~95% of your plan limit). The bot is still responding, but switching now avoids interruption. The inline notice reads: "Credits almost exhausted — top up now to keep your bot running, or switch to a free model."
- Red + "Credits used up" — usage has exceeded 100% of the plan limit. The bot has stopped responding on paid models.
When the "Credits low" or "Running low" badge appears, switching to a free model is the fastest way to stay online without waiting for the billing cycle to reset.
Step 1: See which free models are available
In your bot, send /models to list the full catalog. Free models are tagged :free in the model ID and don't deduct from your credits.
Some of the free models available:
| Model | Provider |
|---|---|
| Llama 3.3 70B Instruct | Meta |
| Qwen3 Coder | Qwen |
| Mistral Small 3.1 24B | Mistral |
| Gemma 3 27B | |
| DeepSeek R1 0528 | DeepSeek |
| GPT-OSS 120B | OpenAI |
6 free models are included when free models are enabled during deployment. The list may update as OpenRouter changes its free tier.
Step 2: Switch to a free model
There are two ways to switch — the dashboard and the bot itself. They behave differently.
Option A: Switch via the dashboard (persistent) - coming soon
Go to your instance, open the Actions menu, and choose Switch Model. A picker shows the available free models. Select one and confirm.
This writes the model directly to your bot's config file. The change survives restarts and credit resets (until you manually switch back). It will also clear the "Credits low" notice in the dashboard once the config is reflected.
This is the recommended method when credits are low or exhausted.
Option B: Switch via the bot (session-only)
When the credit bar turns amber or red, send a /model command to your bot:
/model meta-llama/llama-3.3-70b-instruct:free
/model qwen/qwen3-coder:free
Use the full model ID from the /models list.
Important: /model in the bot is a session-level directive — it affects the current gateway session only and does not persist to the bot's config file. If the bot restarts, it reverts to the config-file model. Use the dashboard Actions → Switch Model for a permanent change.
The bot stays on the free model until you switch away manually.
Free models don't count against your credits at all. If you switch mid-cycle, your credit usage stops accumulating for those conversations.
What happens when credits reset
Credits reset automatically on your billing date. ClawCloud detects the reset (via the Stripe invoice.paid webhook), clears the usage counters, and restores your original paid model config automatically. No action needed on your end.
Your bot goes back to its primary model — whatever you selected during deployment. You don't need to log in, switch manually, or restart anything.
Troubleshooting
My bot switched to a free model but my dashboard shows less than 95% usage.
If you've redeployed or reprovisioned your instance, a small portion of usage from the previous billing key may carry over as a baseline. This keeps credit tracking accurate across reprovisions but can make displayed usage higher than a single key's raw numbers. See How to Manage OpenClaw AI Credits for more detail on how credit baselines work, and Destroy vs Regenerate: When to Rebuild Your OpenClaw Server for when a full server rebuild makes sense.
I want to stay on a free model even after credits reset.
You can stay on a free model as long as you want. Model selection is manual — if you switch to a free model, it stays until you switch away.
I don't want to use a specific free model.
Use /model to switch to any free model listed in /models. See How to Switch AI Models for the full list of switching options and aliases.
For a detailed breakdown of credit mechanics and tips on stretching your monthly pool, see How to Manage OpenClaw AI Credits.
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