agents are buying & selling for people, machine to machine
Welcome to the Agent Economy
AI agents now pay each other for real services. It's growing every week. But almost none of the numbers you'll read about it can be checked.
That's what we're here for. Plain explanations, one bite at a time. Market data published only when you can recompute it yourself. Every claim comes with a receipt.
open ledger — site status
Which rails can agents pay over?
This site covers four payment rails as peers: AP2 & UCP, Stripe machine payments, Verifiable Intent & Agent Pay, and x402. Same template, same depth — described, never ranked.
- AP2 & UCP
A Google-backed pair: AP2 authorizes agent spending through signed mandates; UCP carries the wider shopping flow — discovery, offers, checkout.
- Stripe machine payments
Stripe’s rails for software buyers: agents pay in stablecoins or by card, through payment credentials scoped to a single agent.
- Verifiable Intent & Agent Pay
Mastercard’s card-network approach: provable buyer authorization (Verifiable Intent) paired with a program for agent-initiated payments (Agent Pay).
- x402
An open protocol that revives the web’s dormant 402 status code so services can charge machines per request. Stewarded by the x402 Foundation.
All four side by side, every cell cited: the comparison matrix.
Why should you believe the numbers?
You shouldn’t take our word for any number — you should be able to check it. Every number this site publishes carries a receipt: a source, an as-of date, and a way to recompute it yourself. See it live in the verified-revenue rankings, and read how we verify.