Connect your AI
Get a monthly AI word budget on every plan, then connect your own AI key for unlimited generation.
Connect your AI
EarlyForge writes full, source-grounded articles with AI. Every plan includes a monthly AI word budget on EarlyForge's managed key — no setup required. The budget is plan-aware: Free 5,000 · Starter 10,000 · Pro 25,000 · Scale 50,000 words/month, and custom on Enterprise. Once you use it up, paid plans connect their own AI key (BYOK) for unlimited generation, paying their AI provider directly for exactly what they use.
This page explains how the model works and how to connect your key in under a minute.
How AI generation is billed
A monthly AI word budget on every plan. Then bring your own AI key for unlimited generation. You only ever pay your AI provider for usage beyond your word budget — EarlyForge does not mark it up.
| Managed word budget | Beyond your budget | |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | Monthly AI word budget (5,000–50,000 words by plan) | Unlimited generation |
| Whose key | EarlyForge's managed key | Your own AI key (BYOK) |
| Who pays usage | EarlyForge (on us) | You, your provider directly |
| Plans | Free, Starter, Pro, Scale, Enterprise | Paid plans only |
The word budget is plan-aware: Free 5,000 · Starter 10,000 · Pro 25,000 · Scale 50,000 words/month, and custom on Enterprise. It covers all AI work — article generation, the AI editor (rewrite, expand, tone shift, and so on), and autocompletion — not just whole articles. As a rough guide, ~700–1,000 words is about one typical article, so Free is roughly 5–7 articles a month.
A few things worth knowing:
- Your word budget refreshes on your billing-cycle date. Unused words do not roll over.
- BYOK is for paid plans only. On the Free plan you get the 5,000-word budget, then you upgrade to keep generating — Free cannot connect a key.
- Connecting a key never changes your EarlyForge subscription price. It only powers generation beyond your word budget.
- The AI sidebar in the editor (rewrite, expand, summarize, tone shift, autocompletion) draws on the same word budget — see the AI editor guide.
What "bring your own key" means
EarlyForge generates through OpenRouter, a single gateway that gives you access to many leading AI models. When you connect your OpenRouter account, generation runs on your credits and you choose which model to use. Because models and pricing change often, EarlyForge doesn't lock you to a specific one — pick what fits your budget and quality needs.
You stay in control of cost and model choice. Start with a small, fast model for drafts and switch to a stronger one for flagship pieces — all from your OpenRouter account.
Connect your AI key
Open Settings → AI keys in the dashboard. You have two ways to connect.
Go to Settings → AI keys
Open the dashboard, then navigate to Settings → AI keys.
Sign in with OpenRouter
Click Sign in with OpenRouter. You'll be redirected to OpenRouter to authorize EarlyForge. If you don't have an OpenRouter account yet, one is created for you during sign-in.
Done
You're returned to EarlyForge with your key connected. Generation beyond your word budget now runs on your OpenRouter credits.
Your key is encrypted at rest and never shown back to you or anyone else after you save it — not in the dashboard, not in logs. If you ever need to rotate it, paste a new one (or re-run one-click sign-in) to replace it.
Track usage and top up
The Settings → AI keys dashboard is your single view of AI consumption:
- Word budget used — how much of your monthly AI word budget you've used (for example,
322 / 25,000 words). - BYOK usage — your spend so far and remaining credit on your connected account.
- Top up — a button that takes you to OpenRouter to add credit when your balance runs low.
What happens when you reach your word limit
On a paid plan with no key connected, spending your full word budget doesn't break anything. The next generation request returns a clear "connect your AI to continue" prompt instead of a draft. Connect a key (either method above) and generation resumes immediately — your unfinished work is preserved.
On the Free plan, the same prompt invites you to upgrade, since BYOK isn't available on Free.
Reaching your word limit never blocks editing or publishing existing articles — only new AI generation pauses until you connect a key (paid plans) or upgrade (Free).
FAQ
Do unused words roll over to next month? No. Your word budget resets on your billing-cycle date and doesn't accumulate.
Does EarlyForge charge a markup on my AI usage? No. Beyond your word budget you pay your AI provider directly through your own OpenRouter account.
Can I use my own key on the Free plan? No. BYOK is for paid plans only. On Free you get a 5,000-word budget, then upgrade to continue.
Is my key safe? Yes. It's encrypted at rest and never displayed again after you save it.
Can I switch models? Yes. OpenRouter gives you access to many models — choose whichever you prefer for each piece of work.
Where do I see how much I've used? In Settings → AI keys, which shows your word budget used, BYOK spend and remaining credit, and a Top up button.
What's next?
- AI editor — the rich editor and AI sidebar that share your word budget
- Citations and sources — how generated articles stay factually grounded
- Plans — compare what each plan includes