Issues Accessing Models - "Model Requires a Pro Subscription" Error

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Issues Accessing Models - “Model Requires a Pro Subscription” Error

Hi everyone,

I’ve been successfully using various models through the Hugging Face API for my projects, but recently I’ve encountered an issue where every model I try to use returns the following error:

`Bad request: Model requires a Pro subscription; check out Hugging Face – Pricing to learn more. Make sure to include your HF token in your query.

I’ve double-checked that my API token is correctly configured and has the appropriate permissions. This issue happens even with models I could previously access, including those that are open-source. It seems like all models now require a Pro subscription.

Here’s what I’ve tried so far:

  1. Confirmed my API token setup in my .env file.
  2. Tested different models, including ones that were previously accessible without restrictions.
  3. Looked into running the models locally as an alternative but would prefer to continue using the API if possible.

Has there been a recent policy change restricting access to these models? Are there any free alternatives available through the API, or is a Pro subscription now mandatory for all hosted models?

Thanks in advance for any guidance!

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There was a fairly large degradation a few months ago. There are still many free models available, but you need to be a little creative with your searches.