Share a Key to the Shared Pool
Donate one of your provider keys to the community shared pool, earn up to 8% of the token cost back as credits, and withdraw anytime — a step-by-step guide.
The shared pool lets the community route requests through donated provider keys instead of AnyRouter's managed capacity. If you hold a provider account with quota you don't always use — free-tier limits, prepaid credits, a coding plan — you can donate that key to the pool and earn credits every time it serves someone else's request. This guide walks you through creating an account and sharing your first key.
What the shared pool is
- Community-served requests. When you donate a key, AnyRouter can route other users' matching requests through your provider account, exactly as if you'd made the call yourself.
- You earn up to 8% back as credits. Every token served through your donated key adds to a pending balance — 8% on Pro and Max, 5% on Go (or with no plan) of the notional token cost. If a request costs $0.01 in tokens, a Pro donor earns $0.0008. Rewards are capped at $1 per key per UTC day; a key that hits the cap pauses until the next day.
- Opt-in, per key. Donating is a per-key toggle. A key you haven't flipped on is never shared.
- Withdraw instantly. Turn the toggle off and the key stops serving the pool immediately — there's no lock-in.
- Your account comes first. You always keep first call on your own key; the pool only uses spare capacity.
- Eligibility is about routing, not your provider's terms. A provider shows the donate option once AnyRouter has somewhere to route its traffic — that's not a claim your provider's Terms of Service permit sharing your key. You're responsible for confirming that before you donate.
Share your first key
Create an account
Sign up at anyrouter.dev. It's free — no credit card, no credits required to get started.
Add a provider key
Open Dashboard → BYOK. In the Available grid, click Add key on the provider you want to donate, paste your provider API key, and save. AnyRouter validates the key against the provider before storing it. For step-by-step help generating a key at each provider, see the BYOK Provider Setup Guide.
Toggle Donate to pool
On an eligible key, flip Donate to pool on. AnyRouter verifies the key is still live before enrolling it — you'll see a "Key verified" confirmation once the check passes (takes a moment). Your key joins the community pool right away and starts earning up to 8% of the token cost on every request it serves. This toggle only appears for providers AnyRouter can route to — review your provider's terms before donating.
Track your earnings
Watch requests served and credits earned in your dashboard. Every served request adds to a pending balance — claim it into spendable balance whenever you like, or turn on auto-claim on the key to sweep it in automatically.
Live pool stats
See what the pool is doing right now at /pool. The page shows aggregate activity — providers available, requests served, credits paid out — so you can gauge demand before donating. It's public and aggregate-only: no per-user data, no key details, and no request contents are ever shown.
For the full donation flow, live pools, and use cases, visit /donate.
Frequently asked questions
Which providers can I donate?
Any provider AnyRouter has a working upstream for — that's an operational compatibility list, not a claim that your provider's Terms of Service permit sharing your key. Eligible providers show a Donate to pool toggle on their key in the BYOK dashboard; you're responsible for reviewing your own provider's terms before donating.
Can I set what callers pay?
On All models coverage you set a USD price per 1M tokens for each paid model, from $0 up to 10% over the upstream list. Pool callers pay that price from AnyRouter credits, and your reward is computed from it. Leave a model unset to bill it at the upstream list. You can change or clear those prices later from the same key.
How much do I earn, and when?
You earn a share of the notional token cost of every request the pool routes through your key — up to 8%: 8% on the Pro and Max plans, 5% on Go or with no plan. The rate follows your current plan, so upgrading lifts it on your next served request. Rewards are capped at $1 per key per UTC day. Every served request adds to a pending balance; claim it into spendable balance whenever you like, or turn on auto-claim to sweep it in automatically.
How do I stop donating?
Turn the Donate to pool toggle off. Your key leaves the pool instantly and goes back to serving only your own requests. You can re-enable it anytime. If it was your last donated key, donation-backed Go pauses and this month's $4 credit is clawed back — re-donating in the same month restores the unspent remainder ($4 minus what you already used).
What happens if my donated key stops working?
We monitor every donated key continuously. If your key fails three consecutive upstream requests (e.g., the provider returns an auth error or your quota runs out), it's automatically paused and removed from the pool. If it was your only donated key and you were on the donation-backed Go plan, that plan is revoked on the next sync — you'll get an email with the details, and you can get it back by donating a new key or subscribing directly. Re-donating in the same month restores the unspent remainder of the $4 credit ($4 minus what you already used). As soon as the paused key works again (e.g., you top up your provider account), it's automatically re-enabled after the next validation probe.
Is my key safe?
Yes. Every key is encrypted at rest with a per-row salt, is write-only in the UI (shown only as an alias and masked identifier after save), and is never logged — it's stripped from request and response logs. Your key is only ever sent to the upstream provider it's scoped to. Pool stats are aggregate-only and never expose your key or usage.
Do I still get first call on my own key?
Always. Your own requests take priority; the pool only ever uses spare capacity on your key.