The keys you actually need
The smallest set of free keys that makes Larvabot useful, what each extra key adds, and the order to add them in.
Larvabot supports a lot of services, but you don't need most of them. Here's what each level of setup unlocks, so you can stop whenever you have enough.
The larva at the top of Settings keeps score. It shows how "fed" your setup is, from a grumpy 0% to a delighted 100%, and lists the next few things that would help most, each linking to the tab where you add it.
#Level 1: find and draft (two keys)
| You add | It unlocks |
|---|---|
| One AI key: Gemini | Site analysis, lead scoring, email and reply drafts |
| One search key: Tavily | Finding leads, directories, and Reddit threads through search |
On Scale, search works before you add a key
The Scale plan includes Larvabot's own search server (1,500 searches a month), so leads start arriving right away. On Launch, add a free search key like Tavily; it only takes a couple of minutes.
With just these, Larvabot finds leads, researches them and writes drafts. You can copy drafts into your own email client if you like, but you can't send from Larvabot yet.
#Level 2: send and hear back (email)
| You add | It unlocks |
|---|---|
| SMTP sending: Brevo | Sending approved emails and follow-ups from your own address |
| IMAP inbox: Gmail | Follow-ups stop on reply, bounces are caught, F5Bot alerts are read |
| DNS set up for your domain: Cloudflare | Replies to hello@yourdomain forwarded to your inbox, and good deliverability |
This is the level most people should aim for on day one.
#Level 3: more reliable (backups)
Free tiers get busy. A second provider in each chain means jobs keep running.
- A second AI: Groq is the best backup. OpenRouter and Workers AI are good thirds.
- More search: Linkup and Exa have generous monthly credits. If you run a server, your own SearXNG is unlimited.
- Contact finders: Prospeo, Tomba and Hunter find emails when a page doesn't show one.
#Level 4: more conversations (optional sources)
Hacker News, Stack Exchange and Lemmy work with no key. These add more places to look:
- F5Bot: real-time Reddit and Hacker News alerts through your inbox (needs IMAP)
- YouTube: comments under tutorials and reviews
- Bluesky: posts asking for recommendations
- GitHub: issues and discussions, for developer tools
- Ahrefs Firehose: new forum threads and Q&A pages as they're crawled (paid per match, $5 welcome credit)
- Telegram groups: groups you've already joined, read-only
#Level 5: nice to have
- Telegram alerts: a ping on your phone for really good threads
- Custom AI: your own model server, if you run one
Adding keys never costs money
More providers make Larvabot more reliable, not more expensive. Each one has a hard cap under its free limit, and jobs only move down the chain when the one above is busy or used up. How the quota guard works
#Checking what's set up
Jobs & providers lists every service by job, in the order it's tried, with an on or off badge. AI providers show their quality-check result instead. It's the quickest way to see what Larvabot can currently use.