Your client connects their own AI account — and pays for it directly.
AgentticAI lets each client connect their own AI account (their own OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, or other provider). When they do, the model usage is billed to them by the provider directly — the agency does not front it, and AgentticAI never marks it up. The cost sits with the client who creates the usage, and your margin stops swinging with their traffic.
Reference
This is the answer to the question every agency asks first: "who pays for the AI?" The client does. They connect their own account, the provider bills them directly, and you charge for your service on top — clean, predictable, and yours to keep.
Who actually pays for the AI usage?
The client does. Each client connects their own AI provider account — their own OpenAI or Anthropic key — and the provider bills that usage straight to them. The agency never fronts the model cost, and AgentticAI never routes it through a markup. You charge for your service; the AI bill is the client's, on their own account.
What gets harder without it
Fronting the AI bill makes agency pricing a gamble
If the agency carries the model cost, one client's heavy month quietly eats the margin on every other client. You cannot price a service whose cost you do not control.
Some clients must own the provider relationship
Regulated and larger clients often need the AI invoice in their own name, on their own account — not buried inside an agency line item.
Different clients want different models
One client wants the newest model; another wants a cheaper one. When each client owns their account, they choose — without forcing a platform-wide change on everyone else.
What the solution includes
Which AI accounts you can connect
A client can bring an account from any of the major providers, for chat and for images alike.
- Chat models: OpenAI and Anthropic.
- Image generation: OpenAI, Stability, Replicate, and Gemini.
- Voice-to-text: OpenAI, where the plan allows voice input.
How the client's key is protected
A connected key is treated as one of the most sensitive things on the platform.
- It is encrypted the moment it is saved, before it ever touches storage.
- It is used only to make that client's own calls, and never shown again in full.
- It never appears in plain text in a log, on screen, or in any response.
When it is the right choice
Bringing your own keys pays off in the cases that matter most to an agency.
- Clients with real volume, where the model cost would dominate the bill.
- Clients who need the provider invoice in their own name.
- Clients with their own negotiated provider rates they want to use.
When the platform default is simpler
Sometimes routing through the platform is the easier start.
- Small pilots, where the usage is too low to bother setting up an account.
- Clients without a provider account yet, or no quick way to create one.
- Cases where you would rather hand the client one simple bill for everything.
How a client connects their account
Four steps, done once, by the client.
The client creates a key in their own AI account.
They add it to their space in the platform.
The platform confirms the key works.
Their assistants now run on their own account and their own bill.
What happens after
A few things worth knowing once it is live.
The client can rotate the key on their own schedule without downtime.
Their provider bill and the platform usage line up within a small margin.
If they revoke the key, the assistant falls back to whatever you have set.
What a security review will ask
The questions a careful team brings, answered plainly.
The key is encrypted and never left in plain sight.
One client's key can never be reached by another.
Every change to a key is on the record — who, and when.
How teams get to value
During the launch conversation, decide per client: their own AI account, or the platform default.
Have the client create the key with only the access it needs.
Test it on a low-stakes assistant before moving real traffic onto it.
Agree who owns rotating the key and on what schedule.
What you can measure
The model usage shows up on the client's provider bill, never on yours.
A provider invoice in the client's own name clears regulated and enterprise review.
Each client picks the model that fits, without changing anything for the others.
Questions teams ask
So who pays for the AI — us or the client?
The client. They connect their own AI account and the provider bills them directly. The agency does not front the cost, and AgentticAI never adds a markup. You charge for your service on top.
Can a client switch back to the platform default later?
Yes. The choice is per client and editable. Most start on their own account; switching back is rare but supported.
Does this work for image generation too?
Yes. A client can connect an image-capable account (OpenAI, Stability, Replicate, or Gemini) separately from their chat account.
Is the client's key ever stored in plain text?
No. It is encrypted the moment it is saved and used only to make that client's own calls — never shown again, never logged.
Explore adjacent solution paths
Let your clients carry their own AI bill.
Bring a client use case and we will help you decide whether their own AI account or the platform default fits, and walk through the security questions.