AI — BYOK vs Managed — QFormance Docs

In one sentence

Both delivery models give you the same AI — same models, same features, same call log — they just differ in who you pay and how usage charges flow. Pick the one that fits how your finance team prefers to procure cloud services.

Three things to remember

BYOK = your Anthropic bill. You bring an Anthropic API key, QFormance charges $49/month flat to operate it (included on Business), and Anthropic invoices you directly for token consumption. You see the same dashboard you'd see if you were using the API yourself.
Managed = one QFormance bill. $39 / $79 / $149 per month per tier covers a baseline of token usage; if you exceed the baseline, the system handles top-ups according to a policy you set. No Anthropic account required.
You can switch. Most teams start on Managed (faster setup, predictable line) and migrate to BYOK once usage stabilises.

What they have in common

Whichever you pick:

The same Claude models power both flows.
Every AI feature toggle is per-feature in Admin → Organization → AI Settings — turn the document agent on without enabling AI summaries, etc.
Every call is logged with user, time, model, tokens, and the records the call touched. Available in Activity for compliance review.
Both honor the 20-bucket monthly safety cap (see below) so neither model can run away with your bill.

The choice is purely about how you pay.

When BYOK is the right call

Bring Your Own Key — $49/month flat (included free on Business).

Pick BYOK when:

You already have an Anthropic account. You manage the spend in their console, you see token usage in real time without a QFormance markup.
Finance wants the AI cost on its own line. Some procurement teams insist on direct vendor bills for AI services, separately from SaaS subscriptions.
Usage is high or volatile. At high volumes the per-token rate via Anthropic direct beats the bucket math on Managed.
You're on Business. BYOK is included free on Business, so the $49/month operating fee is gone — there's no reason not to use it.

How it works:

Generate an Anthropic API key.
Paste it into Admin → Organization → AI Settings → AI Key. Encrypted in our vault.
QFormance routes calls through your key. Anthropic invoices you for token consumption directly.
We bill the $49/month operating fee (or zero on Business) on the same QFormance invoice as your seats.

Watch out for: rotating the key

If you rotate or revoke the Anthropic key without pasting the new one into AI Settings, AI calls fail until the new key is in. The system surfaces a clear error rather than silently failing — but watch the AI dashboard during the rotation window.

When Managed is the right call

Managed AI — $39 (Starter) / $79 (Professional) / $149 (Business) per month.

Pick Managed when:

You don't want a second vendor. One QFormance bill, no Anthropic account to set up, no key to rotate, no separate procurement process for AI.
Usage is moderate and predictable. The bundled tokens cover most teams' first year. Top-ups are buckets, not surprise bills.
You're evaluating. Managed is the no-friction default for trying AI — no IT ticket required to start.

The bundle covers a baseline of token usage; specifics depend on tier and current model pricing. Once you exceed the baseline, the overage policy kicks in.

Overage modes

You pick how the system behaves when the Managed bundle is exhausted:

Mode	What happens
`hard_stop`	AI is paused for the rest of the period. Users see a clear message; everything else in the app keeps working. The default for cost-cautious orgs.
`auto_buy`	The system automatically purchases a $25 token bucket and continues. Stops at the monthly safety cap (see below). The default for most active teams.
`manual_approval`	At 80% bundle consumption, an admin is notified. Each top-up bucket is approved manually. AI continues during the approval window for everything except new calls beyond the cap.
`byok_migration`	Migrate to BYOK on overage rather than buy a bucket. Useful when you've decided BYOK is the long-term home and want the switch to happen automatically when usage demands it.

Set the mode at Admin → Organization → AI Settings → Overage policy. Change it any time.

The 20-bucket monthly safety cap

A hard system limit — no policy override, no admin toggle. The system never auto-buys more than 20 buckets ($500 of token top-ups) in any single month, regardless of auto_buy running unchecked.

If you hit it:

AI is paused for the rest of the period.
An admin is notified with the usage breakdown.
The next billing cycle resets the count.

The cap exists so an unexpected usage pattern (a new automation, a bot crawling, a bulk operation) can't drain your AI budget overnight. If 20 buckets a month is too low for your team, BYOK is the answer — there's no equivalent cap on direct Anthropic usage.

Switching between the two

Either direction is a one-page change at Admin → Organization → AI Settings:

Managed → BYOK — paste your Anthropic key, click switch. The next call goes through the new path.
BYOK → Managed — clear the key, click switch. The next call uses the bundled tokens.

Switching prorates the operating fees on your next invoice. Historical AI call log stays intact regardless of which mode they ran on.

Pricing & seat model
Trial restrictions — the $10 sample bucket
Billing & overages — the /billing page walkthrough
AI Features & Settings — per-feature toggles
Document Agent — the most-used AI feature

AI — BYOK vs Managed