What is BYOK (Bring Your Own Key)?
BYOK means you supply your own API key for a model provider (e.g. OpenAI, Anthropic) instead of buying inference through a reseller markup.
BYOK stands for "Bring Your Own Key." Instead of a platform reselling AI model usage at a markup, you create an account directly with a model provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, etc.), generate an API key, and give that key to the platform to use on your behalf.
The tradeoff is billing: you pay the model provider directly for tokens used, and pay the platform separately for hosting/orchestration. In exchange, you get provider-direct pricing, and you can switch providers or models without switching platforms.
On VibeOpenClaw
VibeOpenClaw is BYOK across 13 model providers with no inference markup — you add your own key, and every token you use is billed by that provider at their rate. VibeOpenClaw's flat $24/mo (Pro) or $48/mo (Premium) fee covers hosting and orchestration only.