Picking your AI account

Connect one of these seven AI companies with a key, or another through the Another provider row. Your agent thinks with it.

The same on every account#

• The whole catalog of skills, routines, personalities, and knowledge.
• Your key sits in your computer’s own password vault (the Keychain on a Mac, Credential Manager on Windows), where we have no way to read it. You pay the AI company directly; Otian never takes a cut.
• Switching later keeps your agent’s memory, skills, and settings.

How the accounts differ#

Each name links to current prices. Without web search, answers come from what the model already knows; without images, video notes use the spoken words alone.

Which accounts need a card#

• Groq: very cheap, but needs a card; its free tier is too small for Archie.
• Google (Gemini): free, no card in most countries. In the EEA, UK, and Switzerland, Google requires billing on even for the free tier.
• Anthropic, OpenAI, xAI, DeepSeek, and Mistral: a card and a small prepaid balance. $5 is plenty to start.
• DeepSeek: very low cost per message. The company is based in China, so that is where your messages travel.
• Mistral: French, the only EU company here.

Costs after setup#

Each bills per message from your own account, usually $13 to $31 a month for one agent, depending on how much you message it. Response quality is the biggest lever within one company. Anthropic, OpenAI, and xAI let you cap a key monthly; do it during setup.

Which account to pick#

• No card yet? Archie includes credits for your first stretch, so you need none of these on day one.
• Already have an account with one? Use it; you can switch later.