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Guide · All 6 providers · Step-by-step

What is BYOK (Bring Your Own Key)?

BYOK — Bring Your Own Key — means connecting your own API key from OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, Mistral, Grok, or DeepSeek directly to your website support bot. BYOKChat hosts the bot, widget, and knowledge base, while your provider account handles the model usage behind the scenes.

That setup gives you direct control over provider billing, model choice, and spend limits. It also keeps the product focused on its core job: answering visitor and support questions on your website using your own content.

Start with the free tier →Setup guides for all 6 providers ↓

Step-by-step setup for all 6 providers

Each takes about 2 minutes. You only need one to get started.

🤖

OpenAI

GPT-4o, GPT-4o mini, GPT-4 Turbo

Cost estimate

Popular choice for customer support and product questions

Setup steps

  1. 1

    Go to platform.openai.com and sign in (or create an account).

  2. 2

    Click your profile icon → API Keys → Create new secret key.

  3. 3

    Give it a name (e.g. 'BYOKChat') and set an optional usage limit.

  4. 4

    Copy the key — it's shown only once.

  5. 5

    In BYOKChat: Settings → API Keys → OpenAI → paste and save.

💡

Set a monthly spend limit in OpenAI's dashboard so you stay in control of provider billing from day one.

🧠

Anthropic (Claude)

Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Claude 3 Haiku, Claude 3 Opus

Cost estimate

Strong instruction-following models for support conversations

Setup steps

  1. 1

    Go to console.anthropic.com and sign in.

  2. 2

    Navigate to API Keys in the left sidebar.

  3. 3

    Click Create Key, give it a name, copy the key.

  4. 4

    In BYOKChat: Settings → API Keys → Anthropic → paste and save.

💡

Claude models are often chosen when teams care about tone and consistent answers.

✨

Google Gemini

Gemini 1.5 Flash, Gemini 1.5 Pro

Cost estimate

Accessible setup through Google AI Studio

Setup steps

  1. 1

    Go to aistudio.google.com and sign in with your Google account.

  2. 2

    Click Get API key → Create API key in new project.

  3. 3

    Copy the generated key.

  4. 4

    In BYOKChat: Settings → API Keys → Gemini → paste and save.

💡

Gemini can be a simple option if your team already uses Google accounts and tooling.

🌬️

Mistral AI

Mistral Large, Mistral Nemo, Codestral

Cost estimate

Another provider option for website support workflows

Setup steps

  1. 1

    Go to console.mistral.ai and create an account.

  2. 2

    Navigate to API Keys → Create new key.

  3. 3

    Copy the key.

  4. 4

    In BYOKChat: Settings → API Keys → Mistral → paste and save.

💡

Mistral gives you another provider choice if you want to compare model behavior inside BYOKChat.

⚡

Grok (xAI)

Grok-2, Grok-2 mini

Cost estimate

Available through xAI for teams that want an additional model option

Setup steps

  1. 1

    Go to console.x.ai and sign in (requires X/Twitter account).

  2. 2

    Navigate to API Keys → Create API key.

  3. 3

    Copy the key.

  4. 4

    In BYOKChat: Settings → API Keys → Grok → paste and save.

💡

If you already use xAI, BYOKChat lets you route your website bot through that provider as well.

🔬

DeepSeek

DeepSeek-V3, DeepSeek-R1

Cost estimate

Low-cost provider option for support-heavy workloads

Setup steps

  1. 1

    Go to platform.deepseek.com and create an account.

  2. 2

    Navigate to API Keys → Create API Key.

  3. 3

    Copy the key.

  4. 4

    In BYOKChat: Settings → API Keys → DeepSeek → paste and save.

💡

DeepSeek can be useful if you want another provider option for support traffic and internal testing.

Is it safe to paste your API key into BYOKChat?

🔒

AES-256-GCM encryption

Your API key is encrypted using AES-256-GCM before it's stored in the database. The same standard used by banks.

🔑

Decrypted only in memory

The key is decrypted only at the moment it's needed to make an API call — never logged, never returned in responses.

🛡️

Set limits at the provider

Create your API key with a monthly spend limit in OpenAI's or Anthropic's dashboard. Even if something went wrong, exposure is capped.

FAQ — BYOK explained

What does BYOK stand for?+

BYOK stands for Bring Your Own Key. In AI chatbot platforms, it means you connect your own API key from an AI provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, etc.) directly to the platform. Instead of paying the platform for AI credits, you pay your AI provider directly at their published rates.

Why do people use BYOK for website support bots?+

BYOK keeps AI billing on your own provider account and lets you choose the provider and model that fit your support workflow. BYOKChat handles the hosted support bot, widget, and knowledge base while your provider handles model usage.

Do I need technical knowledge to set up BYOK?+

No. Setting up BYOK takes about 2 minutes: go to your AI provider's website, create an API key (it's a button click), copy the key, and paste it into BYOKChat's settings. No code, no configuration files, no terminal commands.

Can I use multiple AI providers at once?+

BYOKChat lets you save keys for multiple providers. Each chatbot you create is assigned one provider and model. You can have one chatbot using GPT-4o and another using Claude — each using the relevant API key.

How does BYOKChat use my key?+

BYOKChat stores your provider key in encrypted form and uses it only when the website support bot needs to answer a visitor. The model request is made on your provider account, so provider billing stays with you.

Ready to use BYOK for your chatbot?

Start with the free tier, connect your AI key, and launch a website support bot trained on your content.

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