Short answer: the BlenderGPT app does not need an API key. Generation runs in the cloud and is billed through the plans — a permanent free tier plus paid Hobby and Pro — so there is nothing to paste into a settings field. If a tutorial tells you to supply your own OpenAI key, it is describing the original open-source BlenderGPT script from 2023, a different (and older) piece of software by the same developer.
Why “blender gpt api key” is such a common search
The confusion is historical, and it is fair. The name BlenderGPT first appeared on an open-source GitHub script that let you drive Blender with GPT — and that script required your own OpenAI API key, paid per token on your own OpenAI account. Thousands of people installed it, wrote guides about it, and those guides still rank in search results today. The modern BlenderGPT app relaunched in November 2024 as a cloud product by the original script’s creator, and it replaced the bring-your-own-key model entirely.
How to tell which one you are looking at
A quick sorting test, in order of reliability:
- Where did you get it? The app’s add-on comes from the official site as blendergpt_addon_v2.2.0.zip. The script comes from GitHub as source code.
- Does it ask for a key? The app asks you to sign in to an account. The script asks for an OpenAI API key string.
- What does Blender require? The app’s add-on needs Blender 4.2.0 or newer. The old script predates that requirement.
If you installed the script by mistake, remove it in Preferences → Add-ons, then follow the download guide to install the current add-on.
Cost logic: plan billing vs. pay-per-token
The bring-your-own-key script bills through OpenAI: unpredictable per-request token costs, no bundled 3D generation pipeline, and you maintain the key security yourself. The app flips that into flat plan pricing — a Hobby or Pro subscription with a bundled monthly credit allowance, and the full text-to-3D (roughly 20 seconds per model), auto-rigging, and asset pipeline included. For anyone generating more than a handful of models a month, flat pricing is simply easier to reason about; the pricing page lays out both billing tracks.
Security footnote
Because there is no key, there is nothing to leak: the add-on’s only permission is a single network connection to the BlenderGPT service, declared in its manifest. You never handle API credentials, and revoking access is as simple as signing out or disabling the add-on.
Still seeing a key prompt after installing from the official endpoint? Something else is wrong — run through the troubleshooting guide before you change any settings.