---
title: Keys, fees & founding keys
description: What OpenSwap costs (0.10% standard, 0.01% on stables), how to earn affiliate fees with your own free key, and the 100 founding keys.
order: 7
version: 0.1.0
---

# Keys, fees & founding keys

## What does OpenSwap cost?

The tool itself is free and open source. When a swap actually executes, two
kinds of cost apply:

- **Route fees** — network and protocol fees set by whoever executes the
  swap (Chainflip, THORChain, Maya, NEAR, Relay, and the rest). Every quote
  shows these before you commit, and if a provider doesn't price one, the
  CLI says *not priced* rather than pretending it's zero.
- **The platform fee** — 0.10% of the swap on the built-in community key.
  Stablecoin-to-stablecoin swaps are cheaper for everyone: 0.01%.

There are no subscriptions, no gas markups, and nothing hidden. Every route
shows its full cost up front.

## The built-in community key

`npx openswap@latest` works out of the box because a shared, intentionally public
community key ships inside the tool. It can fetch quotes and prepare swaps —
and nothing else. It can't move funds and can't see anything private.
Affiliate fees on community-key volume go to LeoDex, which is what pays for
the free tier.

## Get your own key (and keep the affiliate fees)

Here's the honest economics: every swap routes an affiliate fee to whoever's
API key was used. On the community key, that's LeoDex. **With your own key,
it's you.** If you're building a bot, an app, or just routing your own
serious volume, that fee belongs in your pocket.

Keys are free at [dash.leokit.dev](https://dash.leokit.dev) — sign in with
Google or GitHub, no sales call. Then store it securely:

```bash
openswap auth login
```

The key goes into your operating system's keychain, not a file. For CI and
bots, use the `OPENSWAP_API_KEY` environment variable instead.

## Founding keys: 0.01% for life

The first 100 people to claim a founding key swap at a **0.01% platform fee
forever** — one tenth of the standard rate, on everything, permanently.

Claim yours at [leokit.dev/cli](https://leokit.dev/cli#founding). It takes
an email address; the key appears on screen immediately. One key per email —
and if you ever lose it, submit the same email again and your key is shown
again. When the hundred are gone, they're gone.

## Fork it — seriously

OpenSwap is MIT licensed, and forks are welcomed on purpose: put your own
API key in a fork and **the affiliate fees on all its volume are yours.**
That's the deal — the platform fee funds the rails either way, and the
affiliate layer rewards whoever brings the users. The repo includes a brand
pipeline (one JSON file regenerates every logo and banner), so a rebranded
fork is an afternoon's work, not a design project. Two asks: keep the MIT
notice, and never commit a raw webhook or key to your fork.