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How AI Arena Works
AI Arena lets you bring your own provider access, build a lineup, send one prompt, and inspect the resulting answers side by side.
Bring Your Own Key
BYOK means Bring Your Own Key. AI Arena does not provide shared provider credits for V1. Instead, the provider access comes from a key you connect in your browser.
The selected provider handles the request. Your provider account therefore remains responsible for the access, quota, billing, and usage limits that apply to that account.
Choose Your Providers
Create or Copy a Key
- 01Sign in to the OpenAI API platform.
- 02Open the API keys area.
- 03Create a key for the project you intend to use.
- 04Copy the key and keep it private.
- 01Sign in to Google AI Studio.
- 02Open the API keys area.
- 03Create or select the key you want to use.
- 04Copy the key and keep it private.
Add a Provider to Your Lineup
Return to the Arena and open the provider slot you want to connect. Paste the API key, save it, and that provider becomes available for your lineup.
You can connect one provider or both. The Arena does not require a two-provider matchup.
Browser storage
AI Arena V1 stores your connected key in your browser and uses it from the browser. It is not attached to an AI Arena account.
One Prompt. One Round.
Example prompt
“Explain the trade-offs of building a system this way.”
ChatGPT
Response generated through your OpenAI API access.
Gemini
Response generated through your Google AI access.
Your Provider Account Still Matters
AI Arena does not control provider pricing, quotas, account billing, or API eligibility.
A key can be valid and a request can still fail when the provider account has reached a limit or does not have the required API access.
ChatGPT subscriptions and OpenAI API usage are also separate products with separate usage arrangements.
Treat Your Key Like a Credential
Do not paste your API key into chat, source code, GitHub, screenshots, or messages.
Use an appropriate key for this browser-based BYOK setup. Restrict it where the provider supports restrictions, and revoke or replace it when you believe it has been exposed.
Important
Client-side BYOK is intentionally simple for V1, but it is not equivalent to server-side secret management.