Bring Your Own Key (BYOK)

Connect your own voice provider API keys to use your personal voices, usage limits, and pricing

What is BYOK?

Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) lets you connect your own voice provider API key to Thoughtly. Instead of using shared platform credentials, your agents use your provider account directly. This gives you:

Your own usage limits

Rate limits and quotas come from your provider plan, so you are never constrained by shared platform limits.

Negotiated pricing

Volume discounts or custom pricing you have arranged with your provider apply automatically.

Voice cloning

Clone custom voices stored directly in your provider account for full ownership and portability.

Full catalog access

Your private, cloned, and generated voices appear alongside the full public catalog.

ElevenLabs

Connect your key

A paid ElevenLabs plan (Starter or above) is required. Free ElevenLabs API keys cannot be connected because the validation step rejects them. You can find your API key in your ElevenLabs dashboard under Profile + API key.

1. Open the Integrations page

   Go to Settings > Integrations in the Thoughtly dashboard. Look for the ElevenLabs card.

2. Enter your API key

   Click Connect on the ElevenLabs card and paste your API key. Thoughtly validates the key against your ElevenLabs account before proceeding.

3. Automatic voice import

   Once validated, Thoughtly automatically imports your cloned and generated voices from ElevenLabs into your workspace voice library. These voices appear in the Saved tab tagged with Your ElevenLabs.

After connecting, the ElevenLabs card on the Integrations page shows Connected.

Review your subscription

Once connected, you can view your ElevenLabs subscription details directly in Thoughtly. The subscription screen shows:

• Plan tier and billing period
• Character usage: how many characters you have used out of your monthly quota, and when it resets
• Voice slots: how many custom voice slots you have used and how many are available
• Features: which capabilities your plan includes, such as Instant Voice Cloning and Professional Voice Cloning

Use this screen to monitor your usage and confirm your plan supports the features you need.

What changes after connecting

Once your ElevenLabs key is active:

• A Your ElevenLabs badge appears in the Voice Selector header, confirming BYOK is active.
• The Saved tab shows only voices linked to your ElevenLabs account. Built-in default voices (like Tessa, James, Lisa) are hidden.
• The Explore tab shows the full voice catalog. When you save or assign a voice, it is linked to your credentials automatically.
• Voice cloning creates clones in your ElevenLabs account rather than using Thoughtly’s shared account.
• Cartesia voices remain available regardless of BYOK status.

If the Saved tab is empty after connecting, your ElevenLabs account may not have any cloned or generated voices yet. Use the Explore tab to save voices, or clone a new voice.

Concurrency

Your ElevenLabs plan determines how many simultaneous voice requests your agents can make. If your agents exceed this limit, calls may experience delays or fall back to a default voice.

Plan	Concurrent requests
Starter	3
Creator	5
Pro	10
Scale	15
Business	15

Concurrency is managed entirely by ElevenLabs based on your plan. If you need higher limits, upgrade your ElevenLabs plan or contact ElevenLabs about enterprise options.

Managing your key

Your ElevenLabs API key is managed on the Integrations page.

Rotating your key: disconnect the current key and reconnect with the new one. Thoughtly re-imports your voices automatically on reconnect.

Disconnecting: go to Settings > Integrations and remove the ElevenLabs connection.

Disconnecting removes all BYOK-linked voices from your workspace library. Agents that were using those voices fall back to the default voice. Cartesia voices are not affected.

A small number of enterprise workspaces operate without BYOK and instead use Thoughtly-managed voice credentials. If your Saved tab shows built-in default voices rather than your own ElevenLabs library, contact your account manager for setup assistance.

Workspace-Level Library

Saved voices belong to the workspace, not individual users:

• All team members can access saved voices across their agents
• Voice selections persist across sessions
• No per-user sharing limitations

Premium Voices

Some voices consume more Credits per minute. These are badged with a multiplier like 2x cost or 3x cost in both the Saved and Explore tabs. Use premium voices for high-value interactions and standard voices for volume.

Troubleshooting

Provider card not showing on the Integrations page

• BYOK is rolled out gradually. If you don’t see the card for your provider, contact your account manager to enable it for your workspace.

API key rejected during connection

• Verify the key is copied correctly with no extra spaces.
• Confirm the key is active in your provider’s dashboard.
• Check that your subscription with the provider has not expired.

Cloned voices missing after connecting

• Only cloned and generated voices are imported automatically. Standard library voices must be saved manually from the Explore tab.
• If you recently created voices in your provider account, disconnect and reconnect to re-import.

Voice not appearing in the Saved tab

• Did you save it? In the Explore tab, click the Bookmark icon or click the voice row to save + assign. Just pressing Play does not save.
• Check your key: Your Saved tab shows voices linked to your BYOK credentials. Confirm your API key is active on the Integrations page.
• Refresh: Close and reopen the Voice Selector panel, or refresh the Agent Builder page.
• Vendor removal: The voice may have been removed by Cartesia or ElevenLabs.

Voice sounds different in production than preview

• Previews use sample text; real calls use your agent prompts, which may sound different.
• Tune Presence settings (sensitivity, endpointing) to optimize real-call behavior.
• Always test with Call Me before deploying.

Explore tab shows 'Failed to load voices'

• Check your internet connection. The voice catalog may be temporarily unreachable.
• Try refreshing the Agent Builder page.
• If the problem persists, check the Platform Status page.

Mispronouncing names or terms

• Add phonetic spellings to your agent prompts (e.g. “Thoughtly” → “Thought-lee”).
• Create pronunciation entries in your Genius knowledge base.
• Consider Voice Cloning for specialized terminology.

Voice sounds unnatural or robotic

• Rewrite prompts conversationally. Use contractions, short sentences, and natural phrasing.
• Add punctuation for pacing: commas for short pauses, periods for longer breaks.
• Try a different voice from the Explore tab.

Wrong language or accent

• Confirm the agent’s Language setting matches the voice’s language.
• Use the Language filter chip in the Explore tab to find voices in the correct locale.
• See Voice Optimization for accent-matching strategies.

Still stuck?

If none of the above resolves your issue:

1. Note your Team ID (found in workspace settings)
2. Describe the exact steps you took and what you expected to happen
3. Contact support with this information