Everyone is paying $20–200/mo for coding agents that do what this 30B MoE model does for $0/mo. Cohere dropped North Mini Code, a 30B Mixture of Experts model with only 3B active parameters, built specifically for agentic coding. Takes 10 minutes to set up. What you get: - 30B MoE with only 3B active parameters - Full agentic coding experience with a purpose-built model - 256K context + up to 64K output tokens - Strong performance on multi-step coding workflows - Works beautifully with Hermes, OpenCode, SWE-Agent style workflows - Truly zero cost What this replaces: - Multiple paid coding agent subscriptions - Expensive frontier model usage for daily coding work - Slow or bloated local models that eat resources Full setup guide (100% free): Step 1: Install Hermes (or OpenCode) Run the official Hermes installation command and set up your profile. Step 2: Create an OpenRouter free account Go to openrouter.ai Sign up with Google (no card required) Go to Keys → create a new API key Step 3: Set your environment variable bash export OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-v1-... Step 4: Configure Hermes/OpenCode to use North Mini Code Set your base URL to: openrouter.ai/api/v1 Use this model: cohere/north-mini-code:fre e Step 5: Start your agent Launch Hermes/OpenCode and select cohere/north-mini-code:free as the model. Pro tip for speed: Inside OpenRouter, choose the fastest available provider for this model (often SiliconFlow or similar free routing). This is the kind of model that quietly replaces several paid tools for daily agent work. save this this before they limit it.