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AI app builders where you bring your own API key
Most AI builders resell model capacity. You pay them, they pay the provider, and the difference is their margin — reasonable as a business, but it means you are paying twice for the same tokens if you already hold a key.
| Adrian | The usual shape | |
|---|---|---|
| Who bills you | Your model provider, directly, on your own account. | The platform, in its own credit or token unit. |
| Platform margin on model usage | None. Adrian takes no cut of your provider bill. | Built into the credit price, and usually not itemised. |
| Cost of an idle month | Zero on BYOK or local. Nothing is metered when you are not building. | The subscription, whether or not you opened it. |
| Free path | Local models through Ollama — no account, no key, no card. | Usually a capped free tier, then a subscription. |
| Predictable monthly number | Only on a paid plan. A provider bill is variable by nature. | Yes — that is the main thing a subscription buys. |
When Adrian is the better choice
- You already pay a model provider and do not want a second margin on the same tokens.
- Your usage is uneven — heavy some weeks, nothing for a month.
- You want to start at zero cost and decide later whether a plan is worth a line item.
When it is not
- You want one predictable number every month more than you want a low one. A provider bill moves with how hard you work it.
- You do not already hold a provider key and do not want to manage one.
- You would rather never think about which model is running or what it charges.
Common questions
- What does BYOK mean for an AI app builder?
- Bring Your Own Key means you supply an API key from a model provider you already pay, and the tool acts as a client for it. Your usage is billed by that provider, on their pricing, to your account. Adrian takes no cut of that bill and adds no markup.
- Is bringing your own API key cheaper than a subscription?
- It depends on how evenly you work. BYOK removes the platform margin and costs nothing in a month you do not build, which usually wins for uneven usage. A subscription wins when you would rather have one predictable number than a low one, because a provider bill moves with how hard you work it.
- Does Adrian mark up model usage?
- No. On BYOK nothing is proxied through us and no percentage is taken — you pay the provider directly. On the paid plans you are buying hosted agents metered in Adrian Credits, which is a different product rather than a markup on the same one.
- Is there a genuinely free way to build with AI?
- Yes, running local models through Ollama: no account, no key, no card, and nothing metered. The real cost is machine capability — local models are slower than frontier hosted ones and weaker on long multi-file work, so it is free but not costless.
The desktop app is free with local models or your own API key. Windows today — macOS and Linux are not released yet, and the build is unsigned, so Windows shows a SmartScreen warning on first run.