What is BYOK?
BYOK stands for Bring Your Own Key. It's an option for SolversBoard users - individual, family, or school - who already have API accounts with an AI provider and want to use their own key rather than the platform's shared API budget.
When you set up BYOK, all AI generation in SolversBoard (question generation, Meg's feedback, worked examples, concept explanations, the Learning Agent) routes through your own API account. SolversBoard handles the interface, session management, progress tracking, canvas, and all other platform features - you just supply the intelligence layer.
What it costs
BYOK pricing is significantly lower than standard plan pricing, because the platform doesn't need to cover AI API costs on your behalf:
| Plan | Standard | BYOK |
|------|----------|------|
| Individual | $7/month | $3/month |
| Family | $17/month | $7/month |
| School | $6/seat/month | $3/seat/month |
Your API provider bills you separately for usage. At typical usage levels - a student generating 20–40 questions per day - API costs on major providers run well below $5/month for an individual user.
For schools with large numbers of students or institutions that already have enterprise API agreements with Anthropic, OpenAI, or Google, BYOK can represent substantial savings.
Which providers are supported
SolversBoard currently supports BYOK with three providers:
Anthropic (Claude)
The default provider used by SolversBoard's own platform key. You can use any Claude model available on your Anthropic account. Claude Sonnet is the default and offers the best balance of quality and cost for SolversBoard's use cases.
OpenAI (GPT)
Connect your OpenAI API key and use GPT-4o or any other model on your account. Question generation, Meg's feedback, and worked examples all work via the OpenAI API when this provider is selected.
Google Gemini
Use your Google AI Studio or Vertex AI key with any Gemini model available on your account. Gemini 1.5 Flash is supported by default.
All three providers produce high-quality output for SolversBoard's use cases. The choice largely comes down to which provider you already have an account with, or which model you prefer.
How to set up BYOK
Setting up BYOK takes less than two minutes:
- Get your API key from your chosen provider (Anthropic console, OpenAI platform, or Google AI Studio).
- Open Settings in SolversBoard - click your profile icon and select Settings.
- Navigate to API Key in the settings panel.
- Select your provider (Anthropic, OpenAI, or Google) and paste your API key.
- Save - your key is encrypted and stored securely. It is never logged or exposed in plain text.
From that point on, all AI calls in SolversBoard use your key. You can change or remove it at any time from the same settings panel.
How keys are stored
Your API key is encrypted at rest using industry-standard encryption before being stored. It is never stored in plain text, never logged in application logs, and never transmitted to any third party. The key is decrypted only at the moment an API call is made, and only on SolversBoard's servers - your browser never sees the decrypted key.
If you remove your key, it is deleted from our systems immediately.
BYOK at the organisation level
On School and Family plans, BYOK can be configured at the organisation level, not just per user:
- School admin BYOK - a school administrator can add a BYOK key to the organisation, and all students and teachers in the organisation will route through that key automatically. Individual users don't need to manage their own keys.
- Family BYOK - a parent can add a BYOK key to the family account, covering all children in the family.
This is particularly useful for schools with enterprise API agreements or families where a technically-minded parent manages the API account.
Who BYOK is right for
Individuals who already have API accounts - if you're a developer, researcher, or power user who already pays for Anthropic, OpenAI, or Google AI Studio access, BYOK means you're not paying twice for the same AI.
Schools with high student volumes - at $3/seat/month plus direct API costs, BYOK can be significantly cheaper than the standard school plan for large deployments, especially for institutions with negotiated enterprise API rates.
Institutions with compliance requirements - some organisations have data governance requirements that specify which AI provider's infrastructure can process their data. BYOK lets those organisations use SolversBoard while routing all AI calls through their approved provider.
Users who prefer a specific model - if you have strong preferences about which AI model handles your questions (a specific Claude version, GPT-4o, or a particular Gemini model), BYOK gives you control over that choice.
What happens if my API key runs out of credits
If your API key runs out of credits or is revoked, SolversBoard will show an error on the next AI call and prompt you to update your key in Settings. Your sessions, progress data, canvas work, and all non-AI features continue to work normally. Only the AI-powered features (question generation, Meg's feedback, worked examples) are paused until the key is updated.
BYOK is available on all SolversBoard plans. To upgrade to a BYOK plan or add your key to an existing plan, go to Settings → API Key after logging in, or visit solversboard.com/pricing for plan details.