d52f13a8d40d4f6a9a5559c5efeef44eQ: Why are my Followr credits still being deducted at a 40x rate if I am already paying for the generation costs?
Hello! Thanks for your response. I'd like to clarify your policy for users with their own API key (BYOK), as it seems illogical.
You state that advanced models are expensive, which makes sense when using Followr credits. But when I use my own API key, I am the one paying for those expensive tokens directly.
So, my questions are:
Why are my Followr credits still being deducted at a 40x rate if I am already paying for the generation costs myself? What extra value or resource from Followr justifies this charge?
How does using my external API key create more load on your servers than your internal models?
Clarifying this would help me understand the fairness of your pricing for BYOK users.
MarcosfromFollowr
Aug 4, 2025A: You're right: when using your own API key (BYOK), you are covering the cost of the generation itself. However, Followr still handles things like usage orchestration, secure key handling, storage, history logs, post scheduling, and account management, which generate infrastructure costs on our side.
That said, we understand that if you're using BYOK exclusively, the current credit deduction might feel too steep. We're already working on refining BYOK limits and pricing to make it more flexible and fair, especially for power users.
In the meantime, if you've already upgraded and are primarily using BYOK, feel free to reach out directly — we're happy to adjust your usage limits manually to reflect that.
Verified purchaser
It's clear that the core functionality runs on Followr's servers. So why do you charge an increased cost for the exact same actions? In fact, when we switch to our own API (BYOK), your actual costs decrease, since you no longer have to pay for generation credits.
It creates the impression that your business model is simply a scam. This is a very bad signal.