Choose how to reach providers

The AI Gateway can reach providers in three ways. Pick the path that matches what you’re trying to do.

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Use a provider without a provider account

Use credits when you want the fastest path to OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, DeepSeek, or another provider you can pay for with credits. The gateway supplies upstream credentials and bills model usage through your credit balance. Start here: Pay with credits.

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Bring your own provider key

Bring your own key when you want model usage billed to your provider account, need a provider that requires your own credentials, or want to use your own provider account. Start here: Bring your own provider key.

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Use a model you run yourself

Use a custom provider when your model runs on your machine, private network, cloud GPU, or another OpenAI- or Anthropic-compatible endpoint outside the built-in catalog. Start here: Use a model you run yourself.

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Make the provider usable from a request

Adding a provider or provider key doesn’t route traffic by itself. A working request needs:

1. A provider: built-in or custom.
2. A credential source: credits or a provider key, when required.
3. An access key configuration that allows the provider and model.
4. An access key assigned to that configuration.
5. A request with a matching model or provider:model.

If requests are rejected before they reach the provider, check Restrict providers and models.

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Next steps

• Choose a model: Use model IDs in requests
• Access key configurations: Scope access and choose credentials
• Model catalog: Check providers, models, and key requirements