Even the API key can start on a free tier.
Audits and reports in a11y checker are entirely free. The only thing that's BYOK is AI usage — and there are ways to get that for free as well. Google offers the AI Studio free tier; OpenAI offers free daily tokens through its data-sharing program. This page walks through both, screen by screen.
Which one should you pick?
A 30-second decisionGemini (Google AI Studio free tier)
All you need is a Google account — no credit card required. From key creation to pasting it in takes as little as 5 minutes. Running your first audit this way is the safest bet.
See the stepsOpenAI (data-sharing program)
Enable API data sharing in your organization settings and eligible organizations receive free daily tokens. Be aware that what you send is shared with OpenAI, and not every organization qualifies.
See the stepsGemini — using the Google AI Studio free tier
Recommended · No card requiredCreate an API key in Google AI Studio
Open aistudio.google.com/apikey and sign in with your Google account. Click "Create API key" and a key beginning with AIza… is issued. No credit card registration is required.
Copy the key
Copy the issued key. Treat it as a secret and keep it out of other people's hands (you can revoke and reissue it from the same screen at any time).
Paste it into the a11y checker dashboard
Log in (a one-time code by email — no password) and open the dashboard. Choose "Gemini (Google)" as the provider, pick Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite (fast · recommended) as the model, and paste your AIza… key into the API key field.
Enter URLs and hit "Start audit"
Enter the URLs you want to audit, one per line, and run. The key is sent straight from your browser / the isolated container to Google and is never stored on our servers.
- Free-tier limits (requests per minute and per day) vary by model and change over time. You can check your current limits on the AI Studio rate limits page.
- If you hit the free-tier rate limits, audits may slow down or some pages may fail. Starting with 1–2 pages is a good idea.
- On the free tier, content you send may be used by Google to improve its products. That is rarely a concern when auditing public pages, but for pages containing private information, consider a paid-tier key.
OpenAI — using free tokens from the data-sharing program
Eligible orgs only · Content is shared with OpenAIOpenAI runs a program that grants free daily tokens to organizations that agree to share their API inputs and outputs. If you want to audit with GPT models, enabling this setting can keep your API costs down.
Set up an OpenAI account and API key
Create an API key beginning with sk-… at platform.openai.com/api-keys (some of the steps below require organization-owner permissions).
Enable data sharing
Open Settings → Data controls → Sharing (organization settings) on the platform and turn on input/output sharing ("Share inputs and outputs with OpenAI").
Check whether you qualify for free tokens
If your organization is eligible, the same screen shows the covered models and your daily free-token allowance. As a guide: up to 2.5M tokens/day on small models (mini/nano) and up to 1M tokens/day on larger models, varying by usage tier. Not every organization qualifies. If nothing is shown, your organization is not eligible.
Run it in a11y checker
In the dashboard, choose the provider "GPT (OpenAI)" — starting with GPT-5.6 Luna (fast · low cost) is recommended. Paste your sk-… key into the API key field and run the audit. You can track free-token consumption on the Usage page.
- Once sharing is on, every prompt and response sent with that key is shared with OpenAI and may be used to improve their models. In an a11y checker audit, that includes the DOM and screenshots of the pages being audited. Do not use it to audit pages containing private or confidential information.
- The token allowance and covered models can change, and the program itself may be discontinued with 30 days' notice. Check the latest terms in OpenAI's help article.
- Usage beyond the free tokens is billed at normal rates. If you need a hard cap, set a budget limit on the OpenAI side as well.
The two options, side by side
| Item | Gemini free tier | OpenAI data sharing |
|---|---|---|
| Time needed | As little as 5 minutes | Around 10 minutes (involves org settings) |
| Credit card | Not required | May be required depending on the account |
| Open to everyone? | Yes, with a Google account | Eligible organizations only (check the settings screen) |
| What's free | Request-based (varies by model and over time) | Token-based (granted daily) |
| Data handling | Free-tier content may be used for improvement | Sent content is shared with OpenAI (program condition) |
| Recommended model | Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite | GPT-5.6 Luna |
Each provider's free tier and program terms can change without notice. This page reflects information as of July 2026 — check each company's official pages for the latest conditions. Claude (Anthropic) currently has no permanent free API program, so it is not covered here.
How your key is handled
The BYOK modelKey in hand, your first audit is 5 minutes away.
Log in with just a one-time code by email. Up to 5 audits a month, and viewing results and reports is entirely free.