BYOAIK (Bring Your Own AI Key) is a directory of AI tools that run on your own API key.
Readest
Cross-platform open-source EPUB/PDF reader with built-in translation and BYOK AI reading tools.
- Category:
- Productivity Tools
- Maintenance:
- Actively developed (last commit 2 days ago)
- Pricing:
- Open Source
- Open source:
- Yes (AGPL-3.0)
- Self-hostable:
- Yes
- Local-first:
- Yes
- Platforms:
- Web, Desktop, Mobile, Self-hosted, Docker
- AI providers (bring your own key):
- OpenAI, OpenRouter, Groq, Together AI, DeepSeek, Ollama, Custom / OpenAI-compatible
- API key storage:
- Stored locally on device
- Key risk level:
- LOW
- Trust score:
- 85/100
Readest is a modern, feature-rich open-source ebook reader (EPUB/PDF/Mobi) built on Next.js and Tauri v2, available on macOS, Windows, Linux, Android, iOS, and the web. It offers immersive reading with annotations, full-text search, TTS, dictionary/Wikipedia lookup, OPDS/Calibre and KOReader sync, and instant in-book translation via DeepL/Yandex. It ships a multi-provider AI subsystem (summaries, embeddings, assistant) where users can bring their own key: the OpenRouterProvider uses the AI SDK's createOpenAICompatible with a user-supplied API key and a configurable base URL that works with any OpenAI-compatible endpoint (OpenAI, OpenRouter, Together, Groq, vLLM/LiteLLM, etc.), plus a local Ollama provider with a configurable base URL. A settings AI panel exposes the API key, base URL, and model picker. A hosted AI Gateway and cloud sync are offered via optional Plus/Pro paid plans.
Why this trust score (85/100)
Trust measures how the tool treats your API key and how much of that has been verified. It contains no popularity signal.
- Key Safety 23/25: The key is held on your own device.
- 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.
- [CONFIRMED · SOURCE_SCAN] Ships a container definition, so it can be self-hosted on your own infrastructure. source
- [CONFIRMED · SOURCE_SCAN] Most recent commit 2026-08-15, about 0 month(s) ago. source
How your API key is handled
Your API key is stored locally on your device. 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 settings, paste your provider API key, choose a model, and start. The key stays on your device.