Optional · premium quality
Optional: your 3 premium keys in 2 minutes
You don't need any keys: the studio works out of the box on built-in free AI, free voices and free images, and search runs on the site's shared key. These keys are an optional upgrade — Claude writes noticeably better than the free models, ElevenLabs sounds more natural than the free voices, and your own YouTube key gives search its own quota. You pay the vendors directly at their prices, with no markup from us. Each key takes about a minute.
Claude (Anthropic)
- What it does in the studio
- Optional: writes stronger scripts, hooks, titles and descriptions and deeper competitor analysis than the built-in free AI.
- Cost
- Pay as you go: add $5 or more in credit. A typical script costs a few cents.
Steps
- Open console.anthropic.com and sign up (email or Google).
- Go to Settings → Billing and add credit — $5 or more is enough to start.
- Open Settings → API keys (console.anthropic.com/settings/keys).
- Click Create key and give it a name, for example “outlier-shorts”.
- Copy the key right now — it is shown only once.
- Paste it into Settings → API keys on our site and click Save.
What the key looks like: Starts with sk-ant-
Closed the window before copying? No problem: delete that key in the console and create a new one.
ElevenLabs
- What it does in the studio
- Optional: more natural voices than the built-in free ones, with exact word timings for the subtitles.
- Cost
- There is a free tier, but commercial use (monetized channels) and enough credits need a paid plan — from about $5/mo.
Steps
- Open elevenlabs.io and sign up.
- Choose a plan on the pricing page — Starter or higher allows commercial use.
- Open elevenlabs.io/app/settings/api-keys.
- Click Create API key. If you restrict it, allow Text to Speech and Voices: Read.
- Copy the key.
- Paste it into Settings → API keys on our site and click Save.
What the key looks like: API key from ElevenLabs settings
The free plan doesn't allow commercial use, and its credits run out after a few videos.
YouTube Data API v3
- What it does in the studio
- Optional: your own search quota. Without it, competitor search runs on the site's shared key with a daily limit.
- Cost
- Free: 10,000 units a day, no card needed. That's plenty for daily research.
Steps
- Open console.cloud.google.com and sign in with your Google account.
- Create a project: New project → any name → Create.
- Go to APIs & Services → Library, search for YouTube Data API v3 and click Enable (direct link).
- Open APIs & Services → Credentials → Create credentials → API key.
- Recommended: click Restrict key, under API restrictions choose YouTube Data API v3 and save.
- Copy the key and paste it into Settings → API keys on our site.
What the key looks like: Google Cloud API key, starts with AIza
Check that the project selected at the top of the console is the one where you enabled the API.
Optional: image keys
Images are free by default: FLUX Schnell runs on a free GPU with no key and no watermark. Add one of these keys only if you want paid models or a bigger free limit:
- FLUX (Black Forest Labs)FLUX 1.1 Pro, Ultra, Kontext, Dev
- OpenAIGPT Image
- Google AI Studio (Gemini API)Imagen 4, Imagen 4 Fast, Nano Banana
- Stability AIStable Image Core, Ultra, SD 3.5 Large
- ReplicateOne key for FLUX, Recraft, Ideogram, Imagen, Seedream
- fal.aiFLUX Schnell, Dev and Pro at low prices
- Cloudflare Workers AIFree daily allowance for FLUX Schnell
- Hugging FaceOptional: raises the free FLUX Schnell daily GPU time
Keep your keys safe
- We store your keys encrypted and use them only for your own requests; after saving we show just the last 4 characters.
- Never share a key in chats, screenshots or videos — anyone who has it can spend your credit.
- You can delete a key on our site at any time, and revoke it in the vendor's console — then simply create a new one.
- Tip: set a monthly spend limit in the Claude console under Settings → Limits.
Troubleshooting
Claude: “Your credit balance is too low”
The account has no prepaid credit. Add credit in Settings → Billing, wait a minute and try again — the key itself doesn't need to change.
ElevenLabs: “quota exceeded”
This month's credits are used up. Upgrade your plan or wait for the monthly reset in your subscription. If you set a credit limit on the key, raise it in the key's settings.
YouTube: “quotaExceeded”
The 10,000 daily units are used up. The quota resets at midnight Pacific Time (US West Coast) — try again after that.
YouTube: “API key not valid”
Check that you copied the whole key (it starts with AIza), that YouTube Data API v3 is enabled in the same project, and that the key's API restrictions include YouTube Data API v3. A new key can take a few minutes to start working.
Still stuck? Write to us: support@outliershorts.com
Got your keys?
Paste them in Settings — we check each key with the vendor when you save it.