BYOAIK — Bring Your Own AI Key: a directory of AI tools that run on your own API key.

Cherry Studio

All-in-one desktop AI client where you plug in your own provider keys for chat, agents, and 300+ assistants.

Website Source code

Category:

Desktop AI Assistants

Pricing:

Open Source

Open source:

Yes (AGPL-3.0)

Self-hostable:

No

Local-first:

Yes

Platforms:

Desktop

AI providers (bring your own key):

OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, Azure OpenAI, DeepSeek, Perplexity, Ollama, Custom / OpenAI-compatible

API key storage:

Stored locally on device

Key risk level:

LOW

Trust score:

93/100

Cherry Studio is an open-source (AGPL-3.0) cross-platform desktop AI productivity client for Windows, macOS, and Linux. It runs on a bring-your-own-key model: users paste their own API keys under Settings -> Model Providers for cloud providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, Azure OpenAI, DeepSeek, and others) or run local models via Ollama and LM Studio. A Custom Provider option lets users enter their own API key plus a configurable Base URL to connect any OpenAI-, Anthropic-, Gemini-, or Azure-compatible endpoint (e.g. vLLM, OpenRouter, self-hosted gateways). The app bundles smart chat, RAG/knowledge bases, autonomous agents, and a large library of preset assistants. The project is actively maintained (v1.9.11 released June 2026, 7,000+ commits) and very popular (~47.6k GitHub stars).

How your API key is handled

Your API key is stored locally on your device. Requests are sent directly to the AI provider.

Setup

Open settings, paste your provider API key, choose a model, and start — the key stays on your device.