Builder pricing
Building on CloakAPI is priced the same honest way everything at CloakAPI is: a markup on the upstream model usage you relay. No subscriptions, no seats, no per-tier plans, no minimums, no “enterprise” upsell. You pay for the model tokens you actually send, plus the markup — in USD only.
The markup
| You use… | Markup on upstream model I/O |
|---|---|
| Pooled keys (CloakAPI holds the provider keys) | 15% |
| BYOK (you bring your own provider keys) | 5% |
That’s the whole model. The percentage is applied to the upstream provider’s own input/output token cost for the call; there is no separate platform fee on top.
- Pooled keys — 15%. CloakAPI supplies the upstream provider keys, so you don’t hold provider accounts. Simplest to start.
- BYOK — 5%. You bring your own provider keys; CloakAPI meters, relays, and signs. Lower markup because you carry the provider relationship.
Per-provider: pooled vs BYOK
Which rate applies depends on the provider. Five providers are available both pooled (15%) and BYOK (5%); the rest are BYOK-only (5% — you must bring your own key, because CloakAPI holds no pooled key for them):
| Provider | Pooled (15%) | BYOK (5%) |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropic (Claude) | ✅ | ✅ |
| OpenAI (GPT) | ✅ | ✅ |
| Google Gemini | ✅ | ✅ |
| xAI (Grok) | ✅ | ✅ |
| DeepSeek | ✅ | ✅ |
| OpenRouter | — | ✅ |
| Perplexity | — | ✅ |
| Mistral | — | ✅ |
| Cohere | — | ✅ |
| Groq | — | ✅ |
| Together AI | — | ✅ |
| Fireworks AI | — | ✅ |
- Pooled-or-BYOK (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google Gemini, xAI Grok, DeepSeek). Use CloakAPI’s pooled keys at 15%, or connect your own key for the same provider at 5%.
- BYOK-only (OpenRouter, Perplexity, Mistral, Cohere, Groq, Together AI, Fireworks AI). CloakAPI holds no pooled key for these, so you bring your own key and pay the 5% markup on the provider’s published token price.
- Local (Ollama). On-device inference through the desktop app is free of model cost; a 5% metering fee applies to complete-local usage (see the main pricing page). No provider key needed.
Billed through the gateway
Every relay is metered at the gateway — the same gateway lock that guarantees
the privacy relay and the signed receipt also guarantees the billing. Because all
five integrations (drop-in proxy, SDK, self-hosted MCP, starter-kit, REST) go through
api.cloakapi.io, every call is metered and receipted the same way, whichever
surface your build uses.
Fund the account with a top-up balance; usage draws down against it. Calls fail closed when the balance reaches zero — a paused, no-key, or zero-balance state blocks the call rather than leaking or silently proceeding.
What builders charge their own users
That’s entirely your decision. You might resell at your own price, bundle it into a subscription, or absorb it — CloakAPI only ever charges you the markup above, on the traffic your build relays. Nothing here dictates your product’s pricing.
No invented tiers
To be explicit (and to keep your own copy honest): there is no free tier, no enterprise tier, no seat pricing, and no currency other than USD for builder usage. New accounts get a $2 trial credit to try the platform; after that it’s the markup above. If you see any other pricing claim, it isn’t real.
See also: Choose your integration · Build on CloakAPI.