Metered billing
Charging based on measured usage, such as per request, drawn from a prepaid balance, so a buyer pays only for what it actually consumes.
Metered billing prices a service by actual usage rather than a fixed recurring fee. Each unit of consumption, here a single API request, is measured and charged, so the bill tracks what was used. It is the natural counterpart to a prepaid balance: the buyer funds an amount up front, and each metered event draws against it until it runs low and is topped up again.
For autonomous agents this model fits where subscriptions do not. An agent's usage is spiky and decided at run time, so committing to a monthly tier in advance is awkward and usually wasteful. Metering against a prepaid balance lets the agent pay in proportion to what it does, across many providers, without negotiating a plan for each.
Proxygate meters every call. A buyer funds one prepaid USDC balance, and each request reserves and then settles the exact per-request price against it, returning a signed receipt. Pricing is visible before the call, so the agent can decide whether a request is worth making, and funding and withdrawal both run over the x402 rail into and out of the same balance.
Related concepts
Metered billing: frequently asked questions
Metered billing charges based on measured usage, such as per request, rather than a fixed recurring fee. It pairs naturally with a prepaid balance: the buyer funds an amount up front, and each metered event draws against it.
Agent usage is spiky and decided at run time, so a fixed subscription tier is awkward and often wasteful. Metering against a prepaid balance lets an agent pay in proportion to what it does, across many providers, with no plan to negotiate.
A buyer funds one prepaid USDC balance, and each request reserves and settles the exact per-request price against it, returning a signed receipt. Pricing is shown before the call, and funding and withdrawal run over the x402 rail.