Vercel AI Gateway: get an API key and write fiction with it on your phone

An aggregator with zero markup: tokens bill at each provider's list price with no platform fee, plus a rolling $5 monthly free credit — comparing models across vendors costs about the same as going direct. This page is the BYOK quick answer for Vercel AI Gateway: key steps, direct console and pricing links, and the app-side notes that matter. Verified 2026-07-18.

Two links up front: get your key at the official console and check rates on the official pricing page. Prices and free quotas move; the official pages are authoritative.

What does it power inside Foreverse?

The factory preset declares 1 modality flag for Vercel AI Gateway. The models actually available come from the live catalog fetched in-app — catalogs move fast, and the flag only means the protocol wiring is ready.

Modality	Used for
Text	Continuation · roleplay chat · agent

How do I get a Vercel AI Gateway API key?

Sign up or log in at vercel.com (a free Hobby account is enough).
In the dashboard, open the AI Gateway tab → API Keys → Create key; you can attach a spend budget to the key while you're at it.
The key is shown once — copy it. After your first request, $5 in free credits lands every 30 days; buy credits only when you outgrow it.

Key in hand: three steps to connect

Open the app's Settings → AI models & services and find Vercel AI Gateway in the list (one of 62 presets, with logo and search).
Paste the key and tap the connectivity test — it fires one real request to verify key and network, and pulls back the model list while it's at it.
Enable the models you want, then set per-modality defaults (text, image, speech, and video each get their own); continuation, chat, and listening route through them from then on.

The one universal host pitfall: the API host must include its full version prefix (this provider's exact form is in the notes below) — the app never appends /v1 for you.

Vercel AI Gateway-specific notes

The preset host is https://ai-gateway.vercel.sh/v1. Model names carry a provider prefix (like anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5 or openai/gpt-5). Note that buying paid credits flips the account to pure pay-as-you-go and stops the monthly $5 grant. You can also park your own provider keys behind it (BYOK, also markup-free).

FAQ

Does Vercel AI Gateway have a free tier?

Yes: every Vercel account gets $5 in gateway credit each 30 days after its first request; the free tier covers a subset of the catalog (see the official Free Tier models list) at lower rate limits than the paid tier, and the grant stops once you purchase paid credits. The dashboard is authoritative.

Where does the key live once I paste it into the app?

It's stored on your device only, under system-level encryption — never uploaded or synced to any Foreverse server. Requests go straight from your phone to the provider's official endpoint with zero markup. To revoke access, delete the key in the provider's console.