---
title: "AI assistant costs and keys"
description: "Which Anthropic API key the AI assistant runs on (yours, the network's or the platform's, billed), what a reply costs and how the monthly allowance is counted, the promo month, and the AI assistant card in Preferences where you add your own key and set your own limit."
type: "reference"
audience: [network-manager, publisher, advertiser]
keywords: [ai assistant cost, anthropic api key, own key, network key, platform key, price multiplier, monthly limit, allowance, spend meter, promo, free month, promo ended, ways to save, add your own key, limit on your own key, cost per reply, list price]
ui_path: "Account → AI assistant → spend meter; Account → Preferences → AI assistant"
---

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/llms.txt. Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. Append .md to any documentation page URL to get its markdown version.

# AI assistant costs and keys

Reference for [Work with the AI assistant](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/collaboration/ai-assistant.md): which Anthropic API key the assistant
calls the model with, what a reply costs you and how the monthly allowance is counted, the promo
month, and the card in **Preferences → AI assistant** where you add your own key and set your own
limit. Administrators set the network-side limits and read the usage report — see
[AI assistant for administrators](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/collaboration/ai-assistant-admin.md).

## Which key it runs on

The assistant calls the model with an Anthropic API key. The first of these that exists is used:

| Order | Key | Who sets it | Billed by the platform? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | **Your own key** | You, in **Preferences → AI assistant** | No — Anthropic bills you directly. Works only for you. |
| 2 | **The network's key** | A network administrator, in **Admin → White label → API keys → AI (Anthropic API key)** | No — Anthropic bills the network directly. Used by every user without a key of their own. |
| 3 | **The platform's key** | Epom, switched on in the network's active billing plan (ask Epom support or your account manager) | **Yes** — on the network's Epom invoice at the list price × the plan's AI price multiplier. |
| — | **None** | — | The assistant is off for you and shows the no-key page. |

Every billing plan ships with the platform's key switched on; Epom can switch it off for a plan.
During the [promo](#the-promo-month) usage on it is not billed; after it, every reply is.

The same cascade runs **every AI feature**, not only the chat: the analyst notes of a
[Traffic Quality](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/admin/moderation-and-quality.md) report, **Match the rest with AI** when you
[paste a targeting list](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/targeting/add-targeting.md#when-the-list-is-not-in-our-words), reading a
spec into a preset and **Fix with AI** on Stale locations. Each runs on your own key, else the
network's, else the platform's while the billing plan switches it on — and then it is billed like the
chat, at the list price × the plan's AI price multiplier (×2 unless Epom set another). With none of
them only the AI part is off: the Traffic Quality figures, statuses and PDF still work, without the
analyst notes, and a pasted list is still matched exactly, without the AI step. Both say so where
the AI part would be. Every one of them counts against your [monthly allowance](#what-it-costs-you),
the same one the chat counts against: what the Traffic Quality notes or a targeting match cost
brings the chat closer to its limit, and once the month is spent they stop too, before any model
call. The Traffic Quality page and the paste dialog then say *You have reached your monthly AI
assistant budget*, the chat's own words, and offer neither **Add AI notes** nor **Match the rest with
AI**; a report asked for meanwhile is still made, without the notes.

**Saving on cost.** While the assistant runs on the platform's key, **Ways to save** — in the
details that open from the spend meter, and as a button on your Preferences card — lists the
alternatives: add your own Anthropic key in Preferences, ask your network administrator for a
network key, or use your own Claude subscription through the
[MCP connector](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/api/mcp.md) (Claude Code, Cursor and other clients run the same
tools against your account, paid by your own subscription).

### Adding your key

1. In **Preferences → AI assistant** click **Add your own key**.
2. Paste a key from the Anthropic Console and click **Save key** (**Cancel** closes the field
   again). The key is checked with Anthropic first (a free call that lists the models); a key
   Anthropic refuses is not stored (*The key was rejected by Anthropic.*), and if Anthropic cannot
   be reached nothing is stored either (*Could not verify the key, try again.*).
3. A stored key is encrypted and never shown again — the card shows only its last four characters
   (*Your key ···7f3a · added Oct 6, 2026*); the ⓘ next to the field says the same. **Replace**
   opens the field to swap it; **Remove** deletes it after a confirmation, and the assistant falls
   back to the network's key, if there is one.

The card is shown only with the *AI Assistant Chat* permission.

## What it costs you

- **Every reply shows its cost** under it (*Cost: $0.0420*) — all the model calls and tool steps of
  that turn. On the platform's key that is the billed amount; on your own or the network's key it is
  the model's list price (what Anthropic charges for it), which the platform does not bill.
- **The header shows your month** as a compact meter: *$6.84 / $20* over a slim bar that turns amber
  at 80 % and red when the allowance is used up (just *$6.84* with no limit), plus the promo badge
  while a [promo](#the-promo-month) applies. On a phone the same meter sits at the bottom of the chat
  list. Click it for the details: the key in use, the limit and who set it (*Limit: platform
  default*, *Limit: set by your admin*, *Limit: network default*, *Limit: yours* or *No limit*),
  what the figure counts (billed price on the platform's key, Anthropic list price on your own or the
  network's key), the promo, **Ways to save** on the platform's key, and a link to
  **Preferences → AI assistant**.

  ![Spend meter details: key, limit, promo and ways to save](https://epom.com/docs-images/ad-server/ai-assistant/spend-popover.webp)
- The allowance is per user and per calendar month (UTC) and renews on the 1st, and it counts only
  what ran on the key you are on now. On the platform's key there is always one (the platform default
  applies when nobody set one). On the network's key there is a limit only if an administrator set
  one, measured at list price. On **your own key** only the limit you set yourself applies (see
  [the Preferences card](#your-ai-assistant-card-in-preferences)) — an administrator's limits never
  cap your own key.
- **Fix with AI** on the [Stale locations](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/targeting/stale-locations.md) page runs on the same
  key, permission and allowance: each time it asks the model about places names could not match,
  that request counts against your month and shows in the usage report like a reply. It has no
  chat of its own, so it shows no cost line.
- The **other AI features** — a Traffic Quality report's analyst notes, **Match the rest with AI** on
  a pasted targeting list, and reading a spec into a preset — count against the same month on the key
  they ran on, so the meter includes what they cost; they have no chat either, so no cost line.
- **Models cost differently.** Prices are shown relative to the default model: **Fast** 1×,
  **Balanced** 4×, **Deep** 8× per token. Switching the model mid-chat makes the next reply cost
  more, because the conversation so far is cached per model and a new model re-reads the whole
  history at full price. See [Models](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/collaboration/ai-assistant.md#models).

### When the limit is reached

When your spend reaches your monthly limit, the message box is disabled with *You've used this
month's AI assistant allowance of $20.00. It renews on the 1st — ask your network manager if you
need more.* On your own key, where the limit is the one you set, it says *You've reached the
monthly limit of $25.00 you set for your own key. Raise or clear it in Preferences → AI assistant.*
A reply already running when you cross the limit finishes the model call it is in and stops before
the next one, keeping what it produced. What the other AI features spent this month counts toward
the limit too.

## The promo month

To let everyone try the assistant without worrying about the bill, usage on the **platform's key**
is free for the network until the last day of its promo (UTC, inclusive). The promo is part of the
network's billing plan, which Epom support sets; you see it on **Admin → Billing & Fees → Ad Server
Fees** (see [Finances & billing](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/admin/finances-and-billing.md)). Every existing network's plan
starts with the launch promo, for **one month from the release**; a new network gets its date when
Epom sets the network up. An empty date means no promo.

During the promo the spend meter still counts what each reply *would* cost — so your monthly limit
keeps applying and a runaway chat is still stopped — but the network is billed **$0** for it. The
meter on the assistant page and your Preferences card carry a green badge that always says the
usage is paid afterwards: *Free until Nov 8 · then paid*. In the last week it turns amber and counts
down (*Free · ends in 3 days · then paid*), and once a quarter of the allowance or less is left it
shows the amount (*Free: $4.50 left · then paid*). The details behind the meter (and the ⓘ next to
the limit on the Preferences card) spell it out: *The promo lasts until {date} or until your network
has used {allowance}. After that, usage is billed to your network.*, with how much of the allowance
is left.

On your first visit to the assistant page during the promo a note above the message box says *The AI
assistant is free until {date}. After that, it is billed to your network.* — **Got it** closes it for
you in that browser; a new promo date announces itself again.

The promo has a **shared allowance per network** of would-be billed usage across all its users, for
the whole promo: the plan's **AI promo allowance, $** ($20 for the launch promo; an empty field means
the platform default, $20). The reply that would take the network past it, and every reply after it, is
billed as usual — nothing is blocked. The badge then reads *Promo ended*, and the details say *The
promo has ended: usage is billed to your network.* When the promo ends, usage is billed as usual. Own
and network keys are not affected — they are never billed by the platform anyway.

Once the promo is over — its last day has passed or the allowance is used up — the assistant page
shows a note above the message box: *The promo has ended*, with what you can do from now on: keep
using the assistant there (billed to your network), add your own Anthropic key in Preferences (no
bill from the platform, you pay Anthropic directly), or work from your own Claude through the MCP
connector. Close it with ✕; it stays closed for you in that browser.

## Your AI assistant card in Preferences

**Preferences → AI assistant** (shown with the *AI Assistant Chat* permission) gathers everything
about your assistant spend in one place, as figures rather than sentences:

- **Badges** — the key you run on (*Platform key*, *Your key ···7f3a*, *Network key* or *No key*)
  and, on the platform's key, the [promo](#the-promo-month) badge (*Free until Nov 8 · then paid*, or
  *Promo ended*). On the platform's key a **Ways to save** button sits at the end of the row.
- **This month** — the spend as a big figure against the limit (*$13.92 / $20.00 this month*) with a
  slim bar that turns amber at 80 % and red at 100 %, and one short line naming who set the limit:
  *Limit: yours* (the one you set for your own key), *Limit: set by your admin* (the per-user limit
  on your user), *Limit: network default*, *Limit: platform default*, or *No limit*. The ⓘ next to it
  explains who can change the limit and what the figure counts — *Billed to your network at the
  platform's price* on the platform's key, *Counted at Anthropic list price* on your own or the
  network's key — and, during the promo, how long it lasts and what is left of it. Hidden while you
  have no key.
- **Your key** — one row: *Platform key in use* / *Network key in use* / *No key: the AI features
  are off* with **Add your own key**, or *Your key ···7f3a · added Oct 6, 2026* with **Replace** and
  **Remove**. The key field opens only when you click one of them (see
  [Adding your key](#adding-your-key)).
- **Your monthly limit on your own key, $** — only while you run on your own key: the field, its ⓘ
  and **Save limit** in one row. Empty (*No limit*)
  means no cap; any amount from 0 to 1,000,000 stops the assistant once your own key has cost that
  much this month at Anthropic list price. It applies only to your own key: if you remove the key and
  fall back to the network's or the platform's key, the limits your administrator set apply again
  and your own limit is ignored. Click **Save limit**; an amount outside the range is refused with
  *Enter your monthly limit in USD, from 0 to 1,000,000, or leave it empty for no limit.*

![Preferences AI assistant card on the platform's key during the promo](https://epom.com/docs-images/ad-server/preferences/prefs-ai-assistant-card.webp)

## Related

- [Work with the AI assistant](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/collaboration/ai-assistant.md)
- [AI assistant for administrators](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/collaboration/ai-assistant-admin.md) — switch it on, set limits, see what it cost
- [Get the most out of the AI assistant](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/collaboration/ai-assistant-tips.md) — saving on cost
- [Preferences](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/collaboration/preferences.md)
- [Connect an AI assistant (MCP)](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/api/mcp.md)
- [Finances, fees and referral billing](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/admin/finances-and-billing.md)