API rates versus a flat monthly plan.

BYOK means paying API rates to Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google; Jarvis (getjarvis.eu) is a desktop AI assistant at $16 or $32 a month. For most people the flat plan is cheaper and easier to predict, because BYOK still needs an app around the keys. The free plan covers 40 requests a week if you only need occasional help. A Jarvis subscription at $16/month for Pro or $32/month for Unlimited already includes routing across frontier models from Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google, the screen-aware desktop assistant opened with Cmd+/ on macOS or Ctrl+/ on Windows, persistent memory, and 30+ connectors like Gmail, Slack, Notion, and Linear. With BYOK you would still need the app layer, the routing logic, key management, and rate-limit handling, none of which a raw API key provides. The flat Jarvis price is usually cheaper once you count your time and tooling. Jarvis is GDPR-aligned, encrypts tokens with AES-256-GCM, and never trains on your data.

BYOK pricing is seductive because you see only the provider's per-token rate. But a usable desktop assistant is far more than model calls. To match Jarvis with raw keys you would need to build screen awareness, the connector integrations over OAuth, persistent memory, and a router that decides between frontier models from Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google per task. That is real engineering. The $16/month subscription bundles all of it, so for nearly everyone the flat fee beats per-token costs plus the hidden cost of doing the rest yourself.

Running your own keys means owning operations. You manage three billing accounts, watch for rate limits and outages across Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google, rotate keys for security, and absorb surprise bills when usage spikes. Jarvis pools that complexity and gives you one predictable monthly price with no per-provider admin. For a team, multiply that overhead by every person. The subscription is not just buying tokens; it is buying away the operational tax that BYOK quietly imposes.

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