Usage-based pricing now available on x402 protocol for AI computation
A transition from fixed-rate pricing to dynamic cost models aims to facilitate AI agent operations including LLM inference, computational tasks and database queries.
The x402 protocol has received a significant upgrade from Coinbase, introducing usage-based pricing for AI agent compute requests and moving away from the previous fixed-price payment structure.
Through a Thursday announcement on X, the Coinbase Developer Platform revealed the launch of the "Upto" scheme, stating it would facilitate access to "variable-cost services" designed for agentic AI applications including large language model inference, computational operations and database queries.
"Up to this point, x402 has only been compatible with exact, fixed-price payment structures. While this approach proved effective for deterministic APIs, it prevented access to an entire class of services where pricing is determined by usage factors like token count, compute time, or query complexity," the Coinbase Developer Platform explained.
"Upto operates as an EVM implementation, offering support for all ERC20s, while CDP Facilitator enables completely gasless payments," the platform continued.
This development arrives as the x402 protocol gains increasing traction among numerous companies preparing for the anticipated adoption of agentic commerce, which experts predict will generate unprecedented levels of network demand and necessitate seamless payment systems and nearly instantaneous transaction processing to accommodate agentic AI requirements.
Flat-fee problem gets a fix
The newly introduced Upto scheme enables sellers to establish ceiling prices, while simultaneously allowing buyers to approve pricing up to a designated threshold.
For the server side, where expenses vary, the system will bill users exclusively for the actual resources consumed to fulfill the task, ensuring customers avoid overcharges and potentially pay amounts lower than the established maximum price point.
Under the former system, both straightforward and intricate requests carried identical price tags, leading to scenarios where users either paid excessive amounts or insufficient amounts for AI agent-performed tasks. This enhancement enables users to establish acceptable price ranges prior to task execution rather than attempting to estimate the cost an agent will incur to complete the work.
Created by Coinbase, the protocol's ownership was transferred to the nonprofit Linux Foundation earlier this month, with major technology corporations including Google, Microsoft and Amazon Web Services holding stakes in the protocol through the x402 Foundation.
Notwithstanding the enthusiasm surrounding x402, the network has experienced decreasing adoption metrics throughout 2026 following its peak performance in November, as indicated by Dune Analytics data. During the period from Nov. 4 to Nov. 10, the protocol processed 13.7 million transactions, marking its highest weekly volume to date.
Nevertheless, adoption has experienced a sharp downturn since that time, with weekly transaction counts falling beneath the 1 million threshold in early January and sustaining further declines throughout the first quarter. For the final week of March, x402 registered merely 112,708 transactions.