How to set up a WaveSpeed API key
Updated October 5, 2026 · By Personifex
Generation runs on your own WaveSpeed account: you pay WaveSpeed directly at their prices, and we add no markup. Personifex runs every image and video on that key, so it is the one thing to set up before your first batch.
- It is pay as you go, not a second subscription. You top up what you want, when you want, with no monthly minimum.
- Every model has a published price, so you can check what you spent against your own WaveSpeed invoice rather than taking our word for it.
- If WaveSpeed reprices a model, your Personifex bill does not move.
- The account is yours. Revoke the key, change the model, or take the account elsewhere without asking us.
Four steps
- 1
Create a WaveSpeed account. Open it on WaveSpeed
- 2
Add credit on the Top Up page. A starter account runs 2 tasks at a time; the first top-up, whatever its size, lifts that to 300, which is what lets a batch use your plan's full concurrency. Open it on WaveSpeed
- 3
Open API Keys, click Generate and copy the key. WaveSpeed shows it only once. Open it on WaveSpeed
- 4
Paste the key into Personifex: on the WaveSpeed key step of onboarding, or later under Settings, API Keys. Only the workspace owner can save it. It saves when you leave the field, and Test shows Verified once it works. Testing checks that the key works, not that your balance covers a run.
Why the first top-up matters
WaveSpeed limits how many tasks an account runs at once, and how many it starts a minute, by account level. A new account sits at the bottom.
| Level | When | At once | Starts a minute |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bronze | Every new account | 2 | 5 |
| Silver | After any successful top-up under $1,000 | 300 | 500 |
Read from wavespeed.ai on October 5, 2026
Your plan runs up to 20, 50 or 100 generations at once. On a new account only two of them run and the rest wait, so a batch crawls. Any top-up, whatever its size, lifts the account to the next level, and larger top-ups unlock levels no plan needs.
What generation costs
At each model's default settings an image costs $0.027 to $0.15, and $0.045 on the default model with one reference photo. Higher resolutions and more reference photos cost more, and video is priced per second.
Every model's full price grid is on the model pages, and the cost calculator prices a whole batch before you sign up. For which model costs least for a given job, see the cheapest model for each job.
Top up on WaveSpeed's Top Up page whenever your balance runs low. Personifex never sees or holds your balance.