BYOK
Also called bring your own key · bring-your-own-key
Bring Your Own Key: running a tool against your own account with an AI provider, so the provider bills you directly for usage instead of the tool's vendor reselling it to you.
In more detail
In a BYOK tool you paste an API key from a provider you signed up with yourself: Anthropic, OpenAI, ElevenLabs, Runware. The tool sends requests using that key, and the charges land on your account at the provider's own published rates. The tool's price and the usage cost are separated: you pay the tool maker once for the build, and the provider continuously for what you generate.
Example
You buy a script generator for a one-time $29 and paste in a Claude API key you created at console.anthropic.com. The $29 goes to the tool maker. Every script you then generate is billed by Anthropic to your card, at Anthropic's rate, whether that is one script this year or four hundred.
Why it matters
It changes what happens when things go wrong. If a subscription tool raises its price, sunsets a feature or shuts down, a renting creator's production stops. With BYOK the account, the credit and the key are yours, so the worst case is swapping the tool rather than rebuilding the channel. It also means an idle month costs nothing, which matters more than the headline rate for anyone publishing irregularly.