# Vector Search with JavaScript: generate embeddings needs paid openai account?

**URL:** <https://forum.devtalk.com/t/vector-search-with-javascript-generate-embeddings-needs-paid-openai-account/215349>\
**Category:** PragProg Customers\
**Tags:** book-vector-search-with-javascript, question\
**Created:** [19 September 2025 10:00 UTC](https://forum.devtalk.com/t/vector-search-with-javascript-generate-embeddings-needs-paid-openai-account/215349 "2025-09-19T10:00:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![mbarchfe](https://forum.devtalk.com/user_avatar/forum.devtalk.com/mbarchfe/32/7577_2.png) [@mbarchfe](https://forum.devtalk.com/u/mbarchfe)\
**Post date:** [19 September 2025 10:00 UTC](https://forum.devtalk.com/t/vector-search-with-javascript-generate-embeddings-needs-paid-openai-account/215349/1 "2025-09-19T10:00:24Z")

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Hi,

I have created a free openai account and generated an api key.

When I run the generate embeddings code with the api key, I get the following error:

Error: 429 You exceeded your current quota, please check your plan and billing details. For more information on this error, read the docs: [https://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/error-codes/api-errors](https://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/error-codes/api-errors).

Is a paid account needed?

Anyways, what model would you recommend to generate embeddings locally?

Thanks

Markus

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**Author:** ![hummusonrails](https://forum.devtalk.com/user_avatar/forum.devtalk.com/hummusonrails/32/7536_2.png) [@hummusonrails](https://forum.devtalk.com/u/hummusonrails)\
**Post date:** [21 September 2025 02:27 UTC](https://forum.devtalk.com/t/vector-search-with-javascript-generate-embeddings-needs-paid-openai-account/215349/2 "2025-09-21T02:27:37Z")

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Hi Markus,

Yes, OpenAI does have a pricing model. You can learn about their pricing model on t[heir pricing page](https://openai.com/api/pricing/).

There are certainly good open source alternatives. To start take a look at the trending board of [open source models on HuggingFace](https://huggingface.co/models?library=transformers,sentence-transformers&sort=trending) as a good reference point to begin your exploration. One particular model you can take a look at [nomic-embed-text](https://ollama.com/library/nomic-embed-text) from ollama, but I encourage you to explore all the open source options and find what works best for your needs.

All the best,

Ben