{"id":762,"date":"2026-10-19T08:57:38","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T08:57:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/help.upwex.io\/articles\/connect-openrouter-key\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T08:57:38","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T08:57:38","slug":"connect-openrouter-key","status":"publish","type":"knowledge_article","link":"https:\/\/help.upwex.io\/en\/articles\/connect-openrouter-key\/","title":{"rendered":"Connect your own OpenRouter AI key"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On a paid Flex plan you can connect your own OpenRouter API key (often called &#8220;bring your own key&#8221;). Once the key is connected, AI generation in Upwex runs on your OpenRouter balance instead of your <a href=\"\/articles\/understanding-ai-credits\/\">AI Credits<\/a>. Upwex sets no credit limits on these requests &#8211; you pay OpenRouter directly for what you use.<\/p>\n<h2>Who can use it<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Teams on a <strong>paid Flex subscription<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>The own key is <strong>not available during the free trial<\/strong>. It unlocks once you subscribe to Flex.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Step 1 &#8211; Create a key at OpenRouter<\/h2>\n<p>Sign in at <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/openrouter.ai\">openrouter.ai<\/a>, open <strong>Settings \u2192 Keys<\/strong> and create a new API key. Copy it right away and keep it somewhere safe.<\/p>\n<h2>Step 2 &#8211; Top up your OpenRouter balance<\/h2>\n<p>AI requests made with your key are paid from your OpenRouter balance, so add funds there before you connect the key. A key with no balance cannot serve requests.<\/p>\n<h2>Step 3 &#8211; Open the key window in Upwex<\/h2>\n<p>Sign in to <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/account.upwex.io\">account.upwex.io<\/a> and open the key window from either place:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/account.upwex.io\/tools-and-apps\">Tools &amp; Apps<\/a> in the left sidebar &#8211; the OpenRouter card with a <strong>Connect<\/strong> button<\/li>\n<li><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/account.upwex.io\/billing\">Billing<\/a> &#8211; the <strong>OpenRouter key<\/strong> card with a <strong>Connect<\/strong> button<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Click <strong>Connect<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h2>Step 4 &#8211; Paste the key and save it<\/h2>\n<p>Paste the key from OpenRouter and click <strong>Validate &amp; Save Key<\/strong>. Upwex checks the key with OpenRouter before saving it, so a mistyped or revoked key is rejected at this step.<\/p>\n<h2>What you see after connecting<\/h2>\n<p>The OpenRouter card shows the end of your key as <code>****1234<\/code> (the last 4 characters of your key) and a green <strong>Active<\/strong> status. From now on, AI actions in Upwex run on your OpenRouter balance and do not use AI Credits.<\/p>\n<h2>Key statuses<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Active<\/strong> (green) &#8211; the key works and AI runs on it<\/li>\n<li><strong>Invalid<\/strong> (red) &#8211; OpenRouter no longer accepts the key, for example because it was deleted or revoked<\/li>\n<li><strong>No balance<\/strong> (red) &#8211; the key is valid, but your OpenRouter balance is empty<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>If the key stops working<\/h2>\n<p>Your work is not interrupted. When the key fails or runs out of OpenRouter balance, AI automatically falls back to your plan credits. A red banner appears in Upwex, for example <em>&#8220;Your OpenRouter key failed &#8211; AI now runs on your plan credits&#8221;<\/em>, or a similar message saying the key has no balance.<\/p>\n<p>Click <strong>Update<\/strong> in the banner to open the key window. Paste a working key, or top up your OpenRouter balance first and then save the key again.<\/p>\n<h2>Replace the key<\/h2>\n<p>Click <strong>Update<\/strong> on the OpenRouter card (Tools &amp; Apps or Billing), paste the new key and click <strong>Validate &amp; Update Key<\/strong>. The new key is checked the same way before it replaces the old one.<\/p>\n<h2>Remove the key<\/h2>\n<p>Click the trash icon on the OpenRouter card on the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/account.upwex.io\/tools-and-apps\">Tools &amp; Apps<\/a> page. After that, AI runs on your plan credits again.<\/p>\n<h2>How it shows in usage history<\/h2>\n<p>On the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/account.upwex.io\/credits\">AI Credits<\/a> page, actions served on your own key appear in Usage History with an <strong>Own AI key<\/strong> badge. They do not use credits, so your credit balance stays the same.<\/p>\n<h2>Privacy and security<\/h2>\n<p>Your key is stored encrypted. Upwex never shows the full key again after you save it &#8211; only its last 4 characters, so you can tell which key is connected.<\/p>\n<h2>Related articles<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"\/articles\/understanding-ai-credits\/\">Understanding AI Credits<\/a> &#8211; how credits work when no own key is connected<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/articles\/top-up-ai-credits\/\">Top up AI Credits<\/a> &#8211; buy extra credits instead of using your own key<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/articles\/pricing-plans-overview\/\">Pricing plan overview<\/a> &#8211; what the Flex plan includes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Use your own OpenRouter balance for AI in Upwex instead of AI Credits &#8211; setup, statuses, replacing and removing the key.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-762","knowledge_article","type-knowledge_article","status-publish","hentry","knowledge_category-billing-credits"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Connect your own OpenRouter AI key | Upwex Customer Service &amp; Support | Upwex Help<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Explore comprehensive guides, FAQs, and step-by-step tutorials for Upwex. 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