BYOK AI Coding Agent

Claude BYOK on a hosted AI coding agent, bring your own Anthropic (sk-ant-…) or OpenAI (sk-…) key, or sign in with Claude Pro / Max OAuth or ChatGPT Plus / Pro via Codex OAuth. AI charges go direct to the provider with zero VibeKit markup. Free tier is genuinely free, forever, with BYOK.

Two routes, pick what fits

• BYOK (free, no markup). Anthropic or OpenAI. Calls go direct to the provider using your key or your subscription sign-in. We never touch the meter.
• Platform fallback (no key needed). Don't have an API key? Pick from four models routed via OpenRouter: Anthropic, OpenAI, DeepSeek, or the free tier. The free tier is always $0. The other three charge OpenRouter list price plus 20%, deducted from your prepaid credits.

Why BYOK matters

• Honest pricing. Token bills are between you and Anthropic / OpenAI. VibeKit can't pad the meter because the meter isn't ours.
• Use the subscription you already have. Claude Pro / Max and ChatGPT Plus / Pro sign-ins both work, so you don't need a second AI subscription. (Claude sign-in use counts against your plan's limits.)
• Provider rate limits, not VibeKit's. If your Anthropic account can do 100 RPM, that's what the agent gets. We don't impose a quota on top.
• Spend visibility. Track exactly what each task cost on your provider's dashboard. No one's reconciling a bundled invoice.

BYOK providers

Platform fallback, no key required

If you don't BYOK, the agent still works. We route through OpenRouter on the gateway-level key and you pick from four providers in the Profile tab on iOS or Settings on the web:

The pricing math

A typical agent task, "fix this 500" or "add a route", costs $0.05-$0.30 in tokens at Sonnet pricing. Heavy refactors might hit $1-$3. With BYOK you pay exactly that, with no markup.

On the platform fallback you pay OpenRouter cost plus 20% (so the same task is $0.06-$0.36). The 20% covers gateway / proxy infrastructure. On the free tier the cost is $0.

Paid plans include monthly AI credit (Starter $3, Builder $20, Pro $25), spent on platform models at the same OpenRouter cost plus 20%. With BYOK that credit isn't touched: your provider bills you directly.

Setup

1. iOS: Profile → Bring your own AI provider (BYOK)
   Web: Settings → AI providers
2. Paste sk-ant-... (Claude) or sk-... (OpenAI)
   OR tap "Sign in with Claude" / "Connect OpenAI" (ChatGPT sign-in)
3. Every workspace now uses it; set each one's model in its model picker
4. The agent's next request runs on your account

One key, every workspace: you add it once, on your account, and every workspace's agent uses it. Each workspace still picks its own model, handy when you're testing Opus on one project while the rest stay on Sonnet. New to Claude API keys? See the sk-ant-api03 format breakdown for what each piece means and how to generate one.

Key security

Keys are encrypted at rest (AES-GCM) in VibeKit's database and never logged. The agent gateway that runs your workspaces holds the credential it needs to call the provider. Rotate or revoke a key any time from the Profile tab on iOS or Settings on the web. Tokens never appear in any chat transcript, log, or telemetry stream we keep.

BYOK + paid plans

Paid plans add more workspaces, always-on apps, custom domains and monthly AI credit for platform models (Starter $9.99/mo, Builder $24.99/mo, Pro $49.99/mo). They're a choice, not a requirement: BYOK works on every plan, including Free. Full pricing breakdown →

FAQ