Update, 29 September 2026: AI is now included on every plan. No Anthropic key, no second bill. Our four-year-tested engine places every trade, and Claude watches your desk every 15 minutes and flags anything off. Because the AI now monitors instead of deciding each trade, it costs cents a day, so it's in the price. Members on the old AI-Included plans move to the standard price from their next bill.
What the AI actually costs to run
Nothing extra: it's included, within a monthly allowance per plan that the desk monitor doesn't come near. The rest of this page is kept for members who choose to run their own Anthropic key (Settings → AI key); if you do, your key is used instead of ours and you pay Anthropic directly.
The scan-frequency dial
In Settings you choose how often the AI reviews the market. Typical costs for a 4-pair account, after the July 2026 efficiency work (prompt caching + compact payloads). Your exact number varies with market activity and Anthropic's pricing:
| Setting | AI reviews the market | Typical / day | Typical / month |
| Responsive (default) | every 15 minutes | $1.50–2.00 | $45–60 |
| Balanced | every 30 minutes | $0.80–1.00 | $24–30 |
| Economy | every 60 minutes | $0.40–0.50 | $12–15 |
Slower scans mean the AI sees fewer moments of the market — fewer entry opportunities, not worse decisions. Starter accounts (2 pairs) run at roughly half these figures. The app shows the live cost of every decision in "Watch it think."
Don't want to manage a key at all? — AI Included
Every plan now has an AI Included option at checkout: we provision and manage a dedicated, spend-capped Anthropic allowance for you — no developer console, no second bill, one purchase. It carries a small service premium over raw AI cost (Starter +$36, Pro +$70, Elite +$170 per month, allowance included) because we handle the provisioning, billing and cap management. Bringing your own key remains the cheapest and most private path — the choice is yours on the checkout page.
The zero-API-cost mode
Velox also includes a deterministic rules engine — the strategy our public research program measured across four years of data. It makes decisions locally on your machine and never calls the API: $0/month, no Anthropic account needed. It trades a fixed playbook instead of AI judgment, and it is currently in live validation — it becomes selectable for everyone the moment it clears our release gates. Ask us for status any time: support@velox-trade.com.
Questions we get
Why don't you just include the AI cost in the subscription?
Because your key means your data goes straight from your PC to Anthropic — we never
proxy your account information, and we can't inflate your usage. Transparency costs
less, in every sense.
How do I set up and top up the key?
Create a key at console.anthropic.com → API keys (5 minutes, any card). Load $25:
at Balanced scanning that's about a month. The setup screen in Velox asks for the
key once and stores it only on your machine.
What happens if my key runs out of credit?
The bot fails safe: every scan returns HOLD (no trade) and your open positions keep
their stops and targets. Nothing is ever traded blind. Top up and it resumes on the
next scan.
Is $45–60/month worth it?
That's your call, and it's why the dial exists. It buys ~2,900 AI market reviews a
month. What it never buys: guaranteed profits — trading involves substantial risk
of loss.