## What is Lava?

Lava is a usage and monetization platform purpose-built for AI.  
We help teams manage AI costs, track customer usage, and launch flexible subscription and usage-based pricing plans.  
Whether you’re still building or ready to monetize, Lava gives you the tools to accelerate development and avoid maintaining custom usage and billing infrastructure.

### Managed vs unmanaged

Lava supports two ways to use the gateway: **managed** (Lava holds and bills provider usage for you) and **unmanaged** (bring your own key — you supply your own provider API key; Lava still meters usage and can apply service fees). Both work through the same proxy — just pass your secret key or a forward token in the `Authorization` header.

### Core Capabilities

- **AI gateway:** Access 225+ AI providers via Lava’s AI gateway. Easily switch between models while automatically tying into Lava’s usage analytics and billing capabilities.
- **Cost tracking:** Track costs incurred by model provider, product feature, and customers.
- **Usage-based pricing:** Price by API request, tokens, characters, or cost markups.
- **Subscriptions:** Charge recurring fees with included usage credits. Handle subscription cancellations, downgrades, and upgrades.
- **Overages:** Charge customers for usage exceeding included limits.
- **Prepaid credit bundles:** Offer prepaid credits with configurable exchange rates.

## Next Steps

[**Gateway Quickstart**  
Make your first request in 5 minutes with step-by-step guide](/content/docs/get-started/quickstart-track/index.html)

[**Monetize Quickstart**  
Configure pricing and embed checkout to start earning revenue](/content/docs/get-started/quickstart-charge/index.html)