Requiring an OpenAI API key at signup is crushing conversion for an AI writing app
Warm-Reaction-456 · reddit · 2026-07-24
A founder nearly rebuilt his AI writing tool after traffic kept rising but revenue did not.
The real bottleneck turned out to be a signup step asking new users to paste their OpenAI API key. Session replays showed users repeatedly dropping off there, because the gate both added friction and filtered for the exact audience least willing to trust a young startup with their key.
The fix was simple:
- offer free credits
- cap usage to control costs
- treat the API bill as customer acquisition cost, not a user burden
Activation improved within weeks, and the team also floated a neutral key-vault approach so founders would never handle customer keys directly.
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