Do API keys cost money? The key is free, the calls are not

An API key itself doesn't cost money on a pay-per-use API: it is a credential that tells the provider which account to bill, and what you pay for is the usage the key runs. On Sume, you create keys on the API Keys dashboard page, and Sume's pricing bills calls, per call in USD at each model's published rate, and lists no price for a key.

This comes from Sume's API keys and Usage docs, the pricing FAQ, API pricing, the Terms of Service and current dashboard code, read on 2026-09-29.

Why do API keys cost money?

They don't, but the key is how the bill finds you. Every call carries the key, the provider resolves the account from it, and billed calls draw on that account. So "my API key costs money" can mean one of three things: the calls are metered, the provider needs a paid plan or a funded balance before it runs them, or someone else is using your key.

Whether a plan includes API access is a separate question from the key's price. Read it on the provider's plan page; for Sume, that is Pricing.

What does a Sume API key cost?

The key is free to hold; what it runs is billed. The table shows where money moves:

Are some API calls free?

Yes. A few checks and reads on Sume are unbilled, and requests that never run cost nothing; the list is in Free AI video API calls on Sume. For each paid call's price, see API pricing.

How do I see what a key has spent?

In the current dashboard, the API Keys page has a Monthly spend column for each key; what is and isn't tracked per key is in Can multiple people use the same API key?. Over the API, GET /v1/balance returns the workspace balance, which is USD-denominated:

curl https://api.sume.com/v1/balance \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SUME_API_KEY"

How do I keep a key from costing me money?

Treat the key like a card number. The terms say to use API keys only from server-side or otherwise secure environments, and not to share, publish or expose them.

• Keep it in a secret manager. The dashboard shows the full secret only when the key is created (Authentication has the header rules).
• One key per person or service makes spend traceable; see Can multiple people use the same API key?.
• In a team workspace, a view-only Member can't mint a key, because a team key spends on the team wallet (current code).
• If a key leaks, revoke it first: Exposed API key? Revoke it.