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Cloud AI · 2 min read

Use ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini on your desktop with your own API key

What an API key is, how it differs from a ChatGPT Plus or Claude Pro subscription, and how to use OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and other models from one desktop bar, paying only for what you use.

You don't need a separate subscription for every AI company. With an API key from each provider, one desktop app can talk to all of them, and you pay the provider directly for exactly what you use.

API key vs subscription

  • A subscription (ChatGPT Plus, Claude Pro, Google's Gemini plans) is a flat monthly fee for using that company's own app.
  • An API key is a password that lets other apps use the company's models. You're billed per use, by the amount of text in and out. For occasional use this is often far cheaper than a subscription; for very heavy use it can cost more.

The two are separate. A ChatGPT Plus subscription doesn't include API credit, and third-party apps can't sign in with your subscription: OpenAI and Anthropic don't allow it. That's why apps like layman ask for an API key instead.

Getting a key

  • OpenAI (ChatGPT models): platform.openai.com → API keys. Add a payment method or credit.
  • Anthropic (Claude): console.anthropic.com → API keys.
  • Google (Gemini): aistudio.google.com → Get API key.
  • layman also supports xAI (Grok), Mistral, DeepSeek, Groq and OpenRouter. Each one's "Get a key" link is in Dashboard → Cloud AI.

Set a monthly spending limit on the provider's site. It's the simplest protection against surprises.

Adding it to layman

  1. Open Dashboard → Cloud AI and paste the key.
  2. layman checks it with the provider before saving it.
  3. The provider's current models load from its own list, so new models appear without an app update. Switch on the ones you want in your menu.
  4. Pick a model from the chip in the bar, per chat.

Cloud models get the same powers as local ones: they see your selection and attached files, and they can run actions, with the same confirmations.

Where your key and your data go

  • The key is stored encrypted on your computer (Windows DPAPI, or the macOS Keychain) and sent only to its own provider.
  • Your messages go straight from your computer to that provider. layman takes no cut and adds no markup.
  • Labels: every cloud model in the menu says which company receives your messages, so you always know when you've left your computer.

A sensible setup: a local model for everyday and private work, and a cloud model for the occasional hard problem. layman shows this month's cloud usage and estimated cost when you type usage.

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