v0.12.163: README rewrite — lead with the free tier

Post-v0.12.160 the product story changed (8 NVIDIA models free forever,
no wallet required to start), but the README still buried the free tier
and opened Quick Start with "fund your wallet." The README rewrite in
0d4a7e9 fixes that — hero tagline, Why list, comparison-vs-others table,
Quick Start callout, routing-profiles table, and the stale 11-model
Costs section all reworked around the free-tier lead.

This release is README-only — code is identical to v0.12.162. Version
bump exists so the updated marketing surfaces on npmjs.com and on the
clawhub marketplace listing.

Author: 1bcMax

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -4,6 +4,12 @@ All notable changes to ClawRouter.
 
 ---
 
+## v0.12.163 — Apr 23, 2026
+
+- **README leads with the free tier.** Post-v0.12.160 the product story changed — 8 NVIDIA models free forever, no wallet required to start — but the README still opened "fund your wallet" as step 2 of Quick Start and buried the free tier in a single line at the bottom. Rewrites so the free tier is the hook, not a footnote: hero tagline adds "8 models free, no crypto required. No signup. No API key. No credit card." plus a 🆓 shields.io badge; the "Why ClawRouter exists" list opens with "Starts at $0"; the comparison-vs-others table adds a "Free tier" row showing ClawRouter's "8 models, no signup" against OpenRouter's rate limits and LiteLLM/Martian/Portkey's "no"; Quick Start gets a "No wallet? 8 models work free out of the box" callout and reframes step 2 as optional; routing-profiles table adds `/model free` at 100% savings; the Costs section lists the current 8 free model IDs by name (was a stale 11-model list referencing the retired Nemotron Ultra / Mistral Large / Devstral). This release is README-only — code is identical to v0.12.162 — version bump exists so the updated marketing reaches the npmjs.com package page and the clawhub marketplace listing.
+
+---
+
 ## v0.12.162 — Apr 23, 2026
 
 - **ByteDance Seedance video models wired into the client.** BlockRun server has exposed three Seedance models since late April — `bytedance/seedance-1.5-pro` ($0.03/sec), `bytedance/seedance-2.0-fast` ($0.15/sec, ~60–80s gen time), and `bytedance/seedance-2.0` Pro ($0.30/sec) — all 720p, text-to-video + image-to-video, 5s default and up to 10s. The `/v1/videos/generations` proxy passthrough in `src/proxy.ts` already forwarded any `model` value untouched, so **actual USDC charges were always correct** (server dictates the amount in its 402 response and `payment-preauth.ts` caches the server-sent `PaymentRequired`, not a local estimate — charges never depended on ClawRouter's local pricing table). Three client-side gaps were fixed anyway:

package-lock.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@blockrun/clawrouter",
-  "version": "0.12.162",
+  "version": "0.12.163",
   "description": "Smart LLM router — save 85% on inference costs. 55+ models (11 free), one wallet, x402 micropayments.",
   "type": "module",
   "main": "dist/index.js",