Bring Your Own Claude API Key
Connect your own Anthropic API key and all AI processing routes through your account — at Anthropic’s direct rates, with no markup. Your monthly scan cap disappears. You keep full usage visibility.
How BYOK works
Create an Anthropic account
Sign up at console.anthropic.com and add a payment method. You pay Anthropic directly for inference.
Generate an API key
In Anthropic Console → API Keys, create a key. It begins with sk-ant-. Copy it.
Add key to SentraCheck
In SentraCheck: Settings → Company → API Integration → paste your key. Done. All AI requests now route through your account.
Cost at different scales
Anthropic’s published rates — what you pay directly, with zero SentraCheck markup
| Scale | Pages/year | Haiku (text-only) | Sonnet (scanned/complex) | Mixed estimate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small department | 10,000 | ~$40 | ~$180 | ~$90/yr |
| Mid-size city | 50,000 | ~$200 | ~$900 | ~$450/yr |
| Large agency | 250,000 | ~$1,000 | ~$4,500 | ~$2,250/yr |
| Full city corpus | 1,000,000 | ~$4,000 | ~$18,000 | ~$8,500/yr |
Estimates based on Anthropic published rates as of April 2026. Haiku: ~$0.00025 input/token. Sonnet: ~$0.003 input/token. Average document = ~15 pages, ~800 tokens/page. Rates subject to change.
Why BYOK vs. managed AI?
- ✓No scan caps. When you bring your own key, your monthly document limit is removed entirely. Process 10 documents or 100,000 — your subscription price doesn’t change.
- ✓Full usage visibility. Every API call appears in your Anthropic Console with timestamps and token counts. Useful for compliance audits and internal cost allocation.
- ✓No markup. You pay Anthropic directly at published rates. SentraCheck earns only the subscription fee.
- ✓Data isolation. AI inference runs in your Anthropic account, not shared infrastructure. Useful for agencies with sensitive document workflows.
Data flow with BYOK
BYOK FAQ
What happens if my Anthropic key runs out of credit?
SentraCheck falls back to managed AI automatically so scans continue without interruption. You’ll see a banner in the dashboard and an email notification. Refill your Anthropic balance to resume BYOK routing.
Can I switch back to managed AI at any time?
Yes. Remove your API key from Settings at any time and SentraCheck reverts to managed AI with your plan’s standard scan limits.
Does BYOK affect my SLA?
SentraCheck’s uptime SLA (Agency and Enterprise plans) applies to the platform itself. AI response time depends partly on Anthropic’s API availability, which is outside our control. In practice, Anthropic maintains 99.9%+ uptime. Fallback to managed AI provides coverage if Anthropic is unavailable.
Is my API key stored securely?
Yes. Your key is encrypted at rest using AES-256 and never exposed in plaintext after initial entry. It is not logged, not accessible to SentraCheck staff, and not included in any analytics.
Set up BYOK in your first session
Every SentraCheck plan supports BYOK. Get started and connect your Anthropic key in 60 seconds.
Get Started