Platform keys vs. bring your own key (BYOK)

Runtype runs AI models with either Runtype platform keys or provider credentials that you connect. Platform keys are included with every plan. Bring your own key (BYOK) gives you dedicated provider limits, direct provider billing, and access to more of each provider’s models.

Platform keys

Platform keys are Runtype-managed API credentials that are included with every plan. They are available when you sign up, so you can build Flows and Agents without creating provider accounts. Runtype tracks platform-key spend for you.

Platform keys work well for prototypes, demos, and exploring the platform. They cover a curated selection of models from providers such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, xAI, and Mixlayer. For the full list, see Available AI models.

Consider these trade-offs before you rely on platform keys in production:

• Platform keys use shared Runtype capacity, so provider throttling can affect response times during peak usage.
• Platform-key usage draws on your Runtype credit. If the credit runs out, models that use platform keys stop working until you add credit or a payment method. Models that use your own provider credential keep working.
• OpenAI Web Search, Anthropic Web Search, and xAI search carry a small per-invocation fee on top of token costs. With your own provider credential, you pay the provider directly. For details, see Built-in tools.

On Settings > Models, a model that runs on a platform key shows a Platform Key badge.

Bring your own key (BYOK)

BYOK connects your own provider account to Runtype. Requests use that account’s limits, and the provider bills you directly. Depending on the provider, you connect an API key, a service-account credential, or AWS credentials.

The following table lists the providers that you can connect and whether each one also offers a platform key:

Custom inference endpoints are servers that speak the OpenAI Chat Completions or Responses API, such as Groq and Fireworks, and self-hosted vLLM servers.

You can use platform keys and BYOK at the same time. For example, use your OpenAI credential for production Flows and platform keys for Anthropic models that you are testing.

Before you set up BYOK

To add a provider connection, you need the following:

• A Team plan or higher, with a payment method on file. If a provider shows Add a payment method, open Settings > Billing and add one.
• In an organization, the organization admin role. Other members must ask an admin to add or change a connection.
• A credential from the provider, such as an API key that you create in the provider’s dashboard.

For the steps and each provider’s credential requirements, see Connecting AI model providers.

Organization connections

In an organization, admins save provider connections that the whole team shares. The organization owns each connection. Runtype records which member added or changed it.

Saving a connection doesn’t make Runtype use it. To use a connection for every Flow and Agent in the organization, an admin selects it for the provider. The selection covers runs that any member starts, plus scheduled runs, API calls, and Surfaces. You don’t need to update individual Flows or Agents.

To select a connection, follow these steps:

1. On Settings > Models, select the Providers tab.
2. Next to the provider, click Manage connections.
3. Next to the connection, click Use for the organization (the star).
4. In the confirmation dialog, click Use this connection.

The selected connection shows a Used organization-wide badge. Existing Flows and Agents use it on their next run.

To select a connection through the API, send PUT /v1/provider-keys/organization-policy. Through MCP, call select_organization_provider_credential. For an example request, see Connecting AI model providers.

Replace or remove a selected connection

After you select a connection, Runtype doesn’t switch to the platform key if that connection stops working. Before you revoke or delete the selected connection, select a replacement:

• To return to Runtype’s platform key for OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, xAI, Mixlayer, or Vercel AI Gateway, open Manage connections, click Use Platform for organization, and then click Use the plan key. Through the API, send "selection": "platform".
• For a provider without a platform key, select another connection first.

To rotate the credential of the selected connection, edit the connection. The connection stays selected.

Compare platform keys and BYOK

The following table compares the two options:

Troubleshooting

If a provider connection request fails, check the status code:

• 402 with code BYOK_NOT_AVAILABLE: Your plan doesn’t include BYOK. Upgrade to the Team plan or higher, or add a payment method.
• 403: You aren’t an organization admin, or your API key lacks the INTEGRATIONS:WRITE permission.
• 422 when you revoke, delete, or change a selection: The provider would have no usable credential. Select another connection or the platform key first.

Next steps

Continue with these guides:

• Connecting AI model providers: add provider credentials and enable models
• Available AI models: review models available with platform keys and BYOK
• Rate limits and usage: understand execution, provider, and spend limits
• Model routing and data flow: see which provider serves each model and who can see your prompts

Provider changes with BYOK-only enabled

When Require your own model keys is enabled, select another organization connection before removing the selected one. Selecting a platform key is refused. To return to platform credentials, an admin must first turn off that restriction in Settings > Models.