<!-- Markdown version of https://writrex.com/docs-ai-providers/ — last updated 2026-09-19 -->

# AI providers

Writrex connects directly to the provider you choose, using your own API key. You pay the provider for usage; Writrex adds no markup and no per-word charge.

## Overview

| Provider | Good for | Plan |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Google Gemini | Balanced quality, speed and cost. The recommended starting point. | All plans |
| OpenAI | Strong long-form and detailed FAQ output. | Starter+ |
| Anthropic Claude | Natural, human-sounding copy for client-facing pages. | Starter+ |
| Perplexity | Web-grounded research before writing. | Starter+ |

Configure providers in *Writrex → Settings → AI Provider Configuration* and *Additional AI Providers*. Typical generation cost is a few cents per page, depending on the model and page length.

## Live model discovery

Writrex doesn't hard-code a model list. After you save a key, it asks the provider which text models that key can use and lets you pick one. Use the *Refresh models* buttons to fetch the latest list.

- **Gemini, OpenAI and Claude** — models are discovered live and cached for a few hours.

- **Perplexity** — choose a model such as `sonar-pro` in Settings.

- If discovery fails, Writrex falls back to a built-in list so generation keeps working.

**Availability depends on your account.** Some models need billing enabled or aren't available in every region. If a model doesn't appear, check the provider console.

## Getting an API key

### Google Gemini

1. Open Google AI Studio and sign in.
2. Choose *Get API key → Create API key*.
3. Paste it into *Settings → Gemini API key* and save.

### OpenAI

1. Open the OpenAI platform and create a secret key. It is shown only once.
2. Add billing credit — OpenAI needs a funded account.
3. Paste it into *Settings → OpenAI API key*.

### Anthropic Claude

1. Open the Anthropic console and create a key.
2. Top up billing credit.
3. Paste it into *Settings → Anthropic API key*.

### Perplexity

1. Open Perplexity → Settings → API and generate a key.
2. Paste it into *Settings → Perplexity API key*.

## Primary and fallback provider

Choose a **primary provider** for pages, blogs, WooCommerce, templates, editor buttons and SEO suggestions. Enable **AI fallback** and pick a different provider so a failed request or outage doesn't stop a campaign. The fallback only runs on failure.

## Research-first generation

With *Perplexity research* enabled, Writrex sends a research query first, then hands the findings to your writer model to turn into finished copy. This helps location pages where current local facts improve quality. It requires a Perplexity key. The *Structured brief* option in the generation form adds a research brief that's stored with the page and shown in its *Research Brief* panel.

## Temperature

Lower values are safer and more predictable; higher values add variation. In Pages Automator, the *Writing temperature* (recommended 0.75–0.9) and *Refinement temperature* (recommended 0.45–0.65) can be set per generation.