Six AI products that changed free access after abuse
Free credits brought these six products their users. Abuse changed how each product offered access. This case records the decision and the cost to real users so founders can protect a free plan without guessing.
CaseHarry Johnston, NoResponse Research7 min read
Free tier abuse changed what six AI products give away. Cursor, Kilo Code, ElevenLabs, Amp, Google's Gemini CLI and Windsurf have each cut, gated or redesigned a free tier or promotion, and each put the reason in writing. Users who lost a free plan, or met a card hold or an "Unusual activity detected" message, will find each company's own explanation here. The case is written for the platform on the other side, deciding whether to cut, gate or keep its own free plan. Our free trial abuse guide covers how to stop the abuse itself.
At a glance
- Cursor ended new sign-ups for its legacy student discount on 25 June 2026, saying the programme "had become a target for fraud".
- Kilo Code set its sign-up copy in a GitHub issue on 19 June 2025. The full $20 of free credits unlocked only after a card was added with a temporary $10 hold.
- On 27 May 2026 Stripe said ElevenLabs had blocked 2,000 users a day from abusing its free tier over two months. Stripe sells the fraud tool ElevenLabs uses, and the figure is Stripe's claim.
- Amp's CEO wrote on 6 January 2026 that "Each human can maintain no more than 1 Amp account with free usage."
- From 25 March 2026, free Gemini CLI users lost access to Gemini Pro models, and Google promised stronger abuse detection.
- By 19 October 2026, Windsurf's trial rules had moved to Devin's documentation, which said free trials of paid plans "are not currently offered".
The six changes, side by side
Two of the pages carry no date. We read the ElevenLabs page on 19 October 2026. Windsurf's trial rules come from its usage page as archived on 5 May 2026, which still read the same when we checked on 13 October 2026.
| Company | Date | What changed | Stated reason, in their words | What it cost real users |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cursor | 25 Jun 2026 | Student discount closed to new sign-ups | "The program had become a target for fraud and held Cursor back from reaching students globally." | New students pay full price. Discounts remain only at campus and online events |
| Kilo Code | 19 Jun 2025 | Free credits "up to $20 total" unlocked only after a card is added, with a $10 hold | "To keep our service reliable and prevent misuse, we place a temporary $10 hold on your credit card during verification" | $10 held for seven days, then "up to 2 more weeks" to return. No card, fewer credits |
| ElevenLabs | Undated, read 19 Oct 2026 | Free usage disabled on "unusual activity", usually a shared IP address | "This is regrettably a limitation we've needed to impose on the free tier to avoid people creating multiple accounts." | A VPN, a shared household, school, office or mobile network can trigger it. "All paid subscriptions are immune" |
| Amp | 6 Jan 2026 | One free account per person. A real name and email earn the largest daily grant | "Abusers are 100x louder than legitimate users." | A pseudonymous user "might get less or $0" |
| Gemini CLI | 25 Mar 2026 | Pro models moved behind paid plans. Free users limited to Flash | "Abuse Detection: We're implementing more robust detection for policy-violating use cases (e.g. using Gemini CLI oAuth with third-party software)." | Free users lose Pro. A wrongly flagged account must file a support ticket |
| Windsurf | Undated, read 13 Oct 2026 | Trials only for "a subset of customers", never for past users of Windsurf, Devin or Codeium | "Customers flagged for suspected abuse, fraud, or other violations of our terms of service" | Eligibility "is determined automatically by our systems and is not subject to appeal" |
Windsurf has since gone further. By 19 October 2026 its usage page redirected to Devin's documentation, which says "Free trials of paid plans are not currently offered, and support cannot apply one to your account." The page gives no reason for the change.
Card first or identity first
Two designs recur. Kilo Code and Windsurf put the card first. Kilo Code's hold is, in its words, "not a charge", but it still ties up the money for weeks. Windsurf offered trials only at checkout, and now offers none.
Amp, Gemini CLI and ElevenLabs put identity and account standing first. Amp's CEO, Quinn Slack, told users that the "best and biggest and most reliable Amp Free daily grant" goes to those who use "your full real name and your real email address". Gemini CLI now routes traffic "with higher priority given to accounts based on license type and account standing".
The only numbers come from vendors. Stytch, whose device checks Kilo Code uses, says attackers were "creating thousands of accounts to claim free Kilo Code credits, then reselling those accounts or routing LLM traffic through them for profit". Stripe, whose fraud tools ElevenLabs uses, says that "In the past two months, ElevenLabs has been able to block 2,000 users a day from abusing its free tier." Both are vendors describing their own customers. Neither Kilo Code nor ElevenLabs has published a figure, and neither vendor gives a method.
Card-first and identity-first designs both make real users pay
Abuse is pushing the category towards card-first and identity-first sign-up, and the companies know the cost. Stytch's account says the Kilo Code team "was hesitant to add credit card verification" because it "would add a huge barrier to the attackers" and to "most of their legitimate users".
A card requirement turns away the people a free tier exists for. They include students, developers in countries where cards are rare and anyone wary of giving a card to an untried tool. It also misses the operations that cost most, meaning the businesses running many accounts at once. They pay with stolen cards, and the card check tells them which numbers still work. Our card testing and chargebacks guide covers that attack.
Identity rules make their mistakes where users see them less. ElevenLabs itself lists the innocent triggers, which include a VPN, a shared office, a school and a mobile network. Windsurf said eligibility "is not subject to appeal". Amp asked users for "grace here when our abuse system makes a mistake".
Stytch describes a second design at Kilo Code. Every sign-up gets a light check, and only the ones that fail it are asked for a card. In Stytch's words, "Everyone else could go straight through." This account conflicts with Kilo Code's June 2025 sign-up copy, which asked every user for a card. Stytch's story is undated, so the light check may have replaced the card hold later.
What this means for your platform
If you are deciding what to do with your own free plan, the six cases give four designs to choose from. The table is our reading of what each one stops and what it costs.
| Design | Who used it | What it stops | What it misses | What real users pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cut or shrink the free offer | Cursor's student discount, Gemini CLI's Pro models, Windsurf's trials | Abuse of the part that was removed | Abuse of whatever stays free | Everyone loses the offer, including the people it was meant for |
| Card first | Kilo Code's June 2025 sign-up copy | Repeat sign-ups by people without a spare card | Operations with stolen cards, which also use the check to test them | No card means fewer credits. A $10 hold can last up to three weeks |
| Identity and account standing first | Amp, Gemini CLI, ElevenLabs | Repeat accounts on one network or without a real name | Operations with clean networks and real-looking details | Shared networks, VPN users and pseudonymous users get flagged, sometimes with no appeal |
| A light check on every sign-up, and a heavy step for the few that fail | Kilo Code, by Stytch's account | Accounts that match past abuse, before any credits are spent | New operations with no history | Most users see no extra step. Flagged users are asked for a card or identity |
The fourth design needs a check that knows something about a new account before its first request. Identity Intelligence checks the email, username or phone number against 2,000+ sources of identity data from 150 countries. Within 3 seconds it returns a risk score from 0 to 100 and a decision, or a pending answer that a signed webhook completes. You decide which scores get the card or identity step. Our free trial abuse guide sets out the order of those checks, and our ban evasion guide covers users who come back after a ban.
Book a demo to see how many of your recent sign-ups would have needed the heavy step.
Read next
Token fraud on AI platforms and how to stop it
Every token an AI platform serves runs on compute someone pays for. Token fraud is when the person using it is not the person you sold it to. This guide maps the four ways that happens and links to a guide for each.
GuideHow to stop free trial abuse on an AI platform
Every free credit on an AI platform is compute someone pays for. Score each sign-up before it gets credits, stage the credits and keep the card for accounts that raise a signal.
GuideCard testing and chargebacks on AI platforms
A stolen card that buys API credits costs you twice. The compute is spent as soon as the tokens are served, and the dispute arrives weeks or months later with a fee and a mark against your card network ratios. Here is how the pattern works and where to stop it.
GuideHow AI platforms detect ban evasion on new accounts
A ban removes an account, not the person or the setup behind it. On an AI platform the strongest evidence that they are back is how the new account uses your API.
Guide
Questions people ask
Should I cut my free tier because of abuse?
Cutting costs real users the most. Cursor, Gemini CLI and Windsurf each removed part of a free offer, and the people it was meant for lost it too. Before cutting, find out whether a small share of accounts causes most of the cost, and put a heavier step in front of those accounts only.
Is a card hold worth it for a free trial?
A card hold stops repeat sign-ups by people without a spare card, and it costs real users money and time. Kilo Code's sign-up copy says its $10 hold is released after seven days and the money can take up to two more weeks to return. Stytch says Kilo Code's team worried that a card step would put off most legitimate users. Operations with stolen cards can also use the hold to test which cards work.
Why did Cursor end its student discount?
Cursor says the legacy student discount "had become a target for fraud" and held it back from reaching students globally, so it stopped new sign-ups on 25 June 2026. Existing holders keep their rate until their plan expires, and students are pointed to campus and online events for discounts and credits.
What does "Unusual activity detected. Free Tier usage disabled" mean?
It is ElevenLabs' message when its abuse system thinks a free account may be one of several. ElevenLabs says the message can also follow from a VPN, a shared household, school or office connection, or a mobile network, and that paid subscriptions never see it.
Sources
- Student discountCursor help centre, discount discontinued 25 June 2026, fetched 19 October 2026
- Update copy on the welcome credits and the $10 holdKilo Code, GitHub issue 778 setting the sign-up copy, 19 June 2025, fetched 19 October 2026
- Stopping AI and LLM Abuse: How Kilo Code Uses Stytch Device FingerprintingStytch customer story, undated, fetched 19 October 2026
- What does "Unusual activity detected. Free Tier usage disabled. If you are using proxy/VPN you might need to purchase a paid plan to not trigger our abuse detectors" mean?ElevenLabs help centre, undated, fetched 19 October 2026
- Expanding Stripe Radar to protect more of your businessSamuel Bakouch, Stripe, 27 May 2026
- As we prepare to make Amp's free tier a LOT more generous, a friendly reminder and clarification of our policyQuinn Slack, CEO of Amp, post on X, 6 January 2026
- Service update: mitigating abuse and prioritizing trafficGemini CLI team, announcement in the google-gemini/gemini-cli repository, 18 March 2026
- Plans and UsageCognition, Windsurf documentation, undated, Internet Archive copy of 5 May 2026
- Plans and UsageCognition, Devin documentation, where the Windsurf page redirects, fetched 19 October 2026