diff --git a/async-openai/Cargo.toml b/async-openai/Cargo.toml
index c3707e69..1a6e1bcd 100644
--- a/async-openai/Cargo.toml
+++ b/async-openai/Cargo.toml
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ native-tls-vendored = ["reqwest/native-tls-vendored"]
 realtime = ["dep:tokio-tungstenite"]
 # Bring your own types
 byot = []
+# Deserialize error responses yourself
+string-errors = []
 
 [dependencies]
 async-openai-macros = { path = "../async-openai-macros", version = "0.1.0" }
@@ -59,6 +61,10 @@ serde_json = "1.0"
 name = "bring-your-own-type"
 required-features = ["byot"]
 
+[[test]]
+name = "string-errors"
+required-features = ["string-errors", "byot"]
+
 [package.metadata.docs.rs]
 all-features = true
 rustdoc-args = ["--cfg", "docsrs"]
diff --git a/async-openai/README.md b/async-openai/README.md
index 9b1fdcab..a93151db 100644
--- a/async-openai/README.md
+++ b/async-openai/README.md
@@ -145,6 +145,13 @@ This can be useful in many scenarios:
 Visit [examples/bring-your-own-type](https://github.com/64bit/async-openai/tree/main/examples/bring-your-own-type)
 directory to learn more.
 
+## String Errors
+
+Enable the `string-errors` feature to receive API errors as raw strings instead of parsed structs. This can be useful
+in scenarios where providers expose errors in different formats.
+
+See [examples/string-errors](https://github.com/64bit/async-openai/tree/main/examples/string-errors) for usage.
+
 ## Dynamic Dispatch for Different Providers
 
 For any struct that implements `Config` trait, you can wrap it in a smart pointer and cast the pointer to `dyn Config`
diff --git a/async-openai/src/client.rs b/async-openai/src/client.rs
index d73a2329..53737f91 100644
--- a/async-openai/src/client.rs
+++ b/async-openai/src/client.rs
@@ -6,9 +6,12 @@ use reqwest::{multipart::Form, Response};
 use reqwest_eventsource::{Error as EventSourceError, Event, EventSource, RequestBuilderExt};
 use serde::{de::DeserializeOwned, Serialize};
 
+#[cfg(not(feature = "string-errors"))]
+use crate::error::{ApiError, WrappedError};
+
 use crate::{
     config::{Config, OpenAIConfig},
-    error::{map_deserialization_error, ApiError, OpenAIError, StreamError, WrappedError},
+    error::{map_deserialization_error, OpenAIError, StreamError},
     file::Files,
     image::Images,
     moderation::Moderations,
@@ -366,6 +369,7 @@ impl<C: Config> Client<C> {
                 Ok(bytes) => Ok(bytes),
                 Err(e) => {
                     match e {
+                        #[cfg(not(feature = "string-errors"))]
                         OpenAIError::ApiError(api_error) => {
                             if status.is_server_error() {
                                 Err(backoff::Error::Transient {
@@ -385,6 +389,17 @@ impl<C: Config> Client<C> {
                                 Err(backoff::Error::Permanent(OpenAIError::ApiError(api_error)))
                             }
                         }
+                        #[cfg(feature = "string-errors")]
+                        OpenAIError::ApiError(api_error) => {
+                            if status.is_server_error() {
+                                Err(backoff::Error::Transient {
+                                    err: OpenAIError::ApiError(api_error),
+                                    retry_after: None,
+                                })
+                            } else {
+                                Err(backoff::Error::Permanent(OpenAIError::ApiError(api_error)))
+                            }
+                        }
                         _ => Err(backoff::Error::Permanent(e)),
                     }
                 }
@@ -483,6 +498,7 @@ async fn read_response(response: Response) -> Result<Bytes, OpenAIError> {
     let status = response.status();
     let bytes = response.bytes().await.map_err(OpenAIError::Reqwest)?;
 
+    #[cfg(not(feature = "string-errors"))]
     if status.is_server_error() {
         // OpenAI does not guarantee server errors are returned as JSON so we cannot deserialize them.
         let message: String = String::from_utf8_lossy(&bytes).into_owned();
@@ -497,10 +513,18 @@ async fn read_response(response: Response) -> Result<Bytes, OpenAIError> {
 
     // Deserialize response body from either error object or actual response object
     if !status.is_success() {
-        let wrapped_error: WrappedError = serde_json::from_slice(bytes.as_ref())
-            .map_err(|e| map_deserialization_error(e, bytes.as_ref()))?;
+        #[cfg(not(feature = "string-errors"))]
+        {
+            let wrapped_error: WrappedError = serde_json::from_slice(bytes.as_ref())
+                .map_err(|e| map_deserialization_error(e, bytes.as_ref()))?;
+            return Err(OpenAIError::ApiError(wrapped_error.error));
+        }
 
-        return Err(OpenAIError::ApiError(wrapped_error.error));
+        #[cfg(feature = "string-errors")]
+        {
+            let message: String = String::from_utf8_lossy(&bytes).into_owned();
+            return Err(OpenAIError::ApiError(crate::error::RawApiError(message)));
+        }
     }
 
     Ok(bytes)
diff --git a/async-openai/src/error.rs b/async-openai/src/error.rs
index 288d198b..e435b8df 100644
--- a/async-openai/src/error.rs
+++ b/async-openai/src/error.rs
@@ -2,14 +2,42 @@
 
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 
+/// Raw API error string from providers with custom error formats
+///
+/// Only available with the `string-errors` feature.
+#[cfg(feature = "string-errors")]
+#[derive(Debug, Clone)]
+pub struct RawApiError(pub String);
+
+#[cfg(feature = "string-errors")]
+impl std::fmt::Display for RawApiError {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
+        write!(f, "{}", self.0)
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(feature = "string-errors")]
+impl RawApiError {
+    /// Parse the raw error string into a custom type
+    pub fn parse<T: serde::de::DeserializeOwned>(&self) -> Result<T, serde_json::Error> {
+        serde_json::from_str(&self.0)
+    }
+}
+
 #[derive(Debug, thiserror::Error)]
 pub enum OpenAIError {
     /// Underlying error from reqwest library after an API call was made
     #[error("http error: {0}")]
     Reqwest(#[from] reqwest::Error),
     /// OpenAI returns error object with details of API call failure
+    #[cfg(not(feature = "string-errors"))]
     #[error("{0}")]
     ApiError(ApiError),
+    /// Some OpenAI compatible services return error messages in diverge in error formats.
+    /// This feature leaves deserialization to the user, not even assuming json.
+    #[cfg(feature = "string-errors")]
+    #[error("{0}")]
+    ApiError(RawApiError),
     /// Error when a response cannot be deserialized into a Rust type
     #[error("failed to deserialize api response: error:{0} content:{1}")]
     JSONDeserialize(serde_json::Error, String),
diff --git a/async-openai/tests/string-errors.rs b/async-openai/tests/string-errors.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4819005a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/async-openai/tests/string-errors.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+#![allow(dead_code)]
+//! The purpose of this test to make sure that with the string-errors feature enabled, the error is returned as a string.
+//! Enabling the byot feature allows for a simpler test, as the body can be written as an empty json value.
+
+use async_openai::{error::OpenAIError, Client};
+use serde_json::{json, Value};
+
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn test_byot_errors() {
+    let client = Client::new();
+
+    let _r: Result<Value, OpenAIError> = client.chat().create_byot(json!({})).await;
+
+    match _r.unwrap_err() {
+        OpenAIError::ApiError(raw_error) => {
+            let _value: Value = raw_error.parse().unwrap();
+        }
+        _ => {}
+    };
+}
diff --git a/examples/string-errors/Cargo.toml b/examples/string-errors/Cargo.toml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f984bf8d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/string-errors/Cargo.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+[package]
+name = "string-errors"
+version = "0.1.0"
+edition = "2021"
+
+[dependencies]
+async-openai = { path = "../../async-openai", features = ["string-errors", "byot"] }
+tokio = { version = "1.43.0", features = ["full"] }
+serde = { version = "1.0", features = ["derive"] }
+serde_json = "1.0"
diff --git a/examples/string-errors/README.md b/examples/string-errors/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7c09301a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/string-errors/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# String Errors Example
+
+This example demonstrates how to use the `string-errors` feature to handle API errors from providers that use different error formats than OpenAI.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/examples/string-errors/src/main.rs b/examples/string-errors/src/main.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0ad07698
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/string-errors/src/main.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+//! This example demonstrates how errors from OpenRouter can be parsed by the library consumer.
+//! It uses the `string-errors` feature to receive API errors as raw strings instead of parsed structs.
+
+use async_openai::{config::OpenAIConfig, error::OpenAIError, Client};
+use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
+use serde_json::json;
+
+#[derive(Debug, Deserialize, Serialize)]
+struct OpenRouterError {
+    code: i32,
+    message: String,
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug, Deserialize)]
+struct ErrorWrapper {
+    error: OpenRouterError,
+}
+
+#[tokio::main]
+async fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
+    let config = OpenAIConfig::new().with_api_base("https://openrouter.ai/api/v1");
+    let client = Client::with_config(config);
+
+    let result: Result<serde_json::Value, OpenAIError> = client
+        .chat()
+        .create_byot(json!({
+            "model": "invalid-model",
+            "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}]
+        }))
+        .await;
+
+    match result.unwrap_err() {
+        OpenAIError::ApiError(raw_error) => {
+            let error: ErrorWrapper = raw_error.parse().unwrap();
+            println!("Code: {}", error.error.code);
+            println!("Message: {}", error.error.message);
+        }
+        _ => panic!("Expected OpenAIError::ApiError"),
+    }
+
+    Ok(())
+}