BYOAIK (Bring Your Own AI Key) is a directory of AI tools that run on your own API key.

Karakeep

Self-hostable bookmark-everything app with AI tagging and full-text search

Website Source code

Category:
Productivity Tools
Maintenance:
Actively developed (last commit today)
Pricing:
Open Source
Open source:
Yes (AGPL-3.0)
Self-hostable:
Yes
Local-first:
Yes
Platforms:
Self-hosted, Web, Mobile, Browser Extension, Docker
AI providers (bring your own key):
OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, Ollama, Custom / OpenAI-compatible
API key storage:
Stored in browser storage
Key risk level:
MEDIUM
Trust score:
75/100

Karakeep (formerly Hoarder) is an open-source, self-hostable "bookmark everything" app: save links, notes, images, and PDFs with automatic AI tagging, summarization, OCR, and Meilisearch-powered full-text search. Self-hosters bring their own AI provider by setting OPENAI_API_KEY (with optional OPENAI_BASE_URL for any OpenAI-compatible endpoint such as Azure OpenAI) or pointing OLLAMA_BASE_URL at a local Ollama instance, and can pick their own text/image/embedding models via INFERENCE_TEXT_MODEL, INFERENCE_IMAGE_MODEL, and EMBEDDING_TEXT_MODEL. Ships as a Docker/Kubernetes web app plus browser extensions (Chrome/Firefox/Safari) and iOS/Android apps. A hosted Karakeep Cloud (free tier, $4/mo Pro) also exists, but BYOK applies to the self-hosted deployment.

Why this trust score (75/100)

Trust measures how the tool treats your API key and how much of that has been verified. It contains no popularity signal.

  • Key Safety 13/25: The key is persisted in browser local storage, which any script on the page can read.
  • Request Routing 17/20: Requests go straight from you to the AI provider.
  • Transparency 20/20: Source is public under AGPL-3.0, so anyone can check how the key is handled.
  • Privacy 14/15: Local-first: it works without sending your data anywhere. Can be self-hosted, so the data path stays inside infrastructure you control.
  • Maintenance 10/10: Actively developed: commits within the last three months.
  • Verification Confidence 1/10: Compiled from public documentation by an AI-assisted pass, not independently confirmed.

What was checked

Verification tier RESEARCH_ASSISTED, derived from the evidence below and not set by hand.

  • [REPORTED · RESEARCH] This listing was compiled by an AI-assisted research pass over the tool's public website, README and documentation. No person independently confirmed it.
  • [STRONG · SOURCE_SCAN] Supports a local model backend, so it can run with no cloud provider key at all. source
  • [CONFIRMED · SOURCE_SCAN] Most recent commit 2026-08-13, about 0 month(s) ago. source

How your API key is handled

Your API key is stored in your browser's local storage. Requests are sent directly to the AI provider. Because it can be self-hosted, your key never has to touch a third-party backend.

Setup

Open the extension/app settings, paste your provider API key (kept in your browser), and pick a model.