Q: Future AI pricing and BYOK option for Microthemer AI Assistant (currently in beta)?
Hi Sebastian,
first of all, thank you for building such an excellent tool – Microthemer is already proving extremely helpful in my workflow. I recently purchased the lifetime license and noticed that the new AI Assistant feature is currently in open beta and free to use.
I’d like to ask a quick question about the future roadmap of this AI feature:
Will there be a pricing model for the AI Assistant once the beta phase ends?
Will there be an option to bring your own key (BYOK), for example via OpenAI, Claude, or other providers?
I’m asking because I really enjoy working with Microthemer and might want to use it on more websites. Knowing your plans for the AI feature will help me decide whether to invest in additional LTDs.
Thanks again for your great work – and for any info you can share!
Best regards from Germany,
Chris
Sebastian_Microthemer
Apr 20, 2025A: Hey Chris,
Thanks for your question and kind words. I'm really glad to hear that Microthemer has proved useful.
The AI feature is coming out of beta pretty soon. I will keep it free for a little while I collect feedback. After that, it will be a (cheap) top-up system rather than bring your own key (BYOK). There are 3 main reasons for this:
* BYOK is considered insecure. The key is stored in your WordPress database and could be costly to you in the case of a site hack. I know that BYOK is fairly commonplace, but it is advised against by AI providers on these grounds.
* I'm providing training data to the models, to improve compatibility with Microthemer. This precludes BYOK using a standard AI model.
* I want AI usage to be a revenue stream. This will fund further development of AI features.
Top-ups will start from $5. Higher value top-ups will have bulk discounts. My aim is for both casual and power users to be happy with my pricing model.
I hope that helps. Please let me know if you have any further questions.
Cheers,
Sebastian
Jikishin
Verified purchaser
Hi Sebastian,
thank you for the clear answer! That sounds very interesting - and of course I understand that AI usage should benefit Microthemer.
To understand everything even better: Are the top-ups more like a recurring credit or one-time purchases where only the token consumption counts? And will there be a time limit for using the purchased tokens?
Thank you and all the Best,
Chris
You're welcome Chris.
Most will be one-time credit purchases expiring after 1 year ($5-49 top-ups) or 2 years ($50+ top-ups). I may also add a monthly plan later, if it's requested by customers.
Cheers,
Sebastian