Free as in kittens, or free as in beer? Personally, I’d give OpenAlex a tip of my hat rather than a wag of my finger for working to ensure it remains both open and sustainable.

from https://help.openalex.org/hc/en-us/articles/24396686889751-About-us

The core OpenAlex data will always be free. The full dataset—hundreds of millions of works and all associated metadata—is free to download, share, remix, and build on under a CC0 license, with quarterly public snapshots. To keep that open infrastructure healthy and growing, we charge for services built on top of the data, in line with the POSI principle of revenue based on services, not data.

from https://openalex.org/pricing

The OpenAlex API uses simple, transparent pricing. Every account gets $1 per day for free — enough for most research and personal projects. If you need more, there are a few ways to get it: add prepaid usage<https://openalex.org/pricing#prepaid-usage>, get an annual subscription<https://openalex.org/pricing#subscriptions>, or purchase the PDF archive<https://openalex.org/pricing#pdf-archive>. For details on how pricing maps to API calls, see the API documentation<https://developers.openalex.org/>.

- Tom





From: Code for Libraries <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Eric Lease Morgan <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wednesday, July 1, 2026 at 11:00 AM
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Thanks! wos and openalex APIs

On Jul 1, 2026, at 9:37 AM, Amy Schuler <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Thanks to Eric and Jason for the excellent advice on these two APIs. The C4L list members never disappoint!
>
> --
> Amy C. Schuler

I found my code and I started documenting things. It was working, but then it broke, and then I learned that OpenAlex now has some fees associated with it. Bummer. I guess information really does not want to be free. 'More later, when I can use OpenAlex again. --Eric Morgan