Stop Paying Subscription Fees: I Built a Unified "Bring Your Own Key" AI Chat Studio (Gemini + Claude + GPT-4)

Like many of you, I have "subscription fatigue." I love using Claude for coding, GPT-4 for logic, and Gemini for creative brainstorming. But paying $20/month for each of them? That’s $60/month just to chat with bots.

Plus, I hated switching between three different tabs just to compare answers.

So, I built AI Chat Studio.

It’s a web-based, multi-model interface where you Bring Your Own Keys (BYOK). You pay the providers directly for only what you use (which is often pennies), and you get a unified, pro-level workspace for all of them.

Why I Built This (The Problem)

Most official chat interfaces have limitations:

• Vendor Lock-in: You are stuck in their UI.
• Privacy Concerns: Your data is often used for training by default on free tiers.
• The "Tab Shuffle": Copy-pasting a prompt from ChatGPT to Claude to see who does it better is annoying.

The Solution: AI Chat Studio

I wanted a "Mission Control" for AI. A single dashboard where I can select a model, drop a file, speak a prompt, and get work done.

Key Features for Developers

Here is what makes it different from just using the official websites:

1. Multi-Model Support 🧠

Switching models is as easy as clicking a button. No page reloads.

• Google: Gemini 2.5 Flash
• Anthropic: Claude 3.5 Sonnet
• OpenAI: GPT-4 Turbo
• Open Source: Llama 3, Mistral AI, DeepSeek

2. Full Multimodal Support 🎤 📷

It’s not just text.

• Voice-to-Text: I implemented real-time transcription so you can "talk" your code logic instead of typing it.
• File Analysis: Upload docs, PDFs, or images. The AI "sees" the file and can summarize or extract code from screenshots.

3. Privacy & Security (BYOK) 🔒

This was a priority.

• Your Keys, Your Control: You enter your API keys in the settings.
• Client-Side Focus: The app acts as a bridge. You aren't paying a middleman subscription; you are paying the API providers directly (which is significantly cheaper for 90% of users).

4. Developer UX 🛠️

• Code Highlighting: Proper syntax highlighting for code blocks.
• Smart History: Searchable conversation history (organized by Today, This Week, Pinned).
• Message Editing: Edit a prompt and regenerate the response in place—crucial for prompt engineering.

How to Try It

It’s live and free to use (you just need your API keys).

1. Go to AI Chat Studio.
2. Click Settings and paste your API key (e.g., from OpenAI or Anthropic).
3. Start chatting!

What's Next?

I'm actively working on adding more models and improving the "Agent" capabilities.

I’d love to hear your feedback.