Billing

Two payment rails. Same endpoint, same providers, same pricing.

	Stripe Card	Tempo Session (MPP)
Auth header	`Bearer sk-...`	`Payment <credential>`
Account required	Yes	No
Payment timing	Post-pay (card charged at $1 threshold)	Inline (per-token as you stream)
Credit risk	Platform absorbs bad debt	None — prefunded channel
Best for	Dashboard users, apps	Autonomous agents

Stripe Card

Add a card on signup. Verified with $1 hold-then-void.
Make requests. Usage accumulates in the background.
Card charged automatically when unbilled usage crosses $1.
Card declines → suspended immediately. Update card to resume.

Credit Limits

Grows automatically as you pay. New accounts start at $1, +$0.10 per $1 paid, cap $100.

Total Paid	Credit Limit
$0 (new)	$1.00
$50	$6.00
$990+	$100.00 (cap)

Tempo Session (MPP)

Pay per token via the Machine Payments Protocol. No signup, no card, no API key. Your agent pays as it consumes.

Request without auth. Server returns 402 with a payment challenge.
Open a Tempo session — deposit USDC into an on-chain escrow.
Retry with credential. Server verifies and starts streaming.
Sign vouchers as tokens stream. Each voucher authorises cumulative spend.
Session settles on-chain. Unused deposit refunded.

See the MPP guide for the full protocol flow.

What You Pay

Cost = tokens × per-token rate. The 5% platform fee is deducted from the provider, not from you. Both rails use the same pricing.

Tempo Earnings (Providers)

Tempo-rail providers can check unsettled earnings and settlement history via GET /v1/billing/tempo-earnings:

{
  "unsettled_mills": 1240,          // earnings pending settlement (1 mill = $0.001)
  "last_settlement_at": 1710940200, // Unix timestamp of last settlement
  "last_settlement_mills": 4500,    // amount of last settlement
  "last_settlement_tx": "0xef01…"   // on-chain transaction hash
}

Non-Tempo users receive a zeroed response (no error). Settlement occurs every 15 minutes for providers with ≥ $0.10 in unsettled earnings.

Endpoint Reference

GET/v1/billingSession

Billing status.

GET/v1/ledgerSession

Transaction ledger.

POST/v1/billing/setup-intentSession

Create Stripe SetupIntent.

POST/v1/billing/payment-methodSession

Attach payment method.

Parameters

Name	Type	Req	Description
payment_method_id	string	Yes	Stripe PM ID.

DELETE/v1/billing/payment-methodSession

Remove payment method.

POST/v1/billing/retrySession

Retry failed charge.

GET/v1/billing/tempo-earningsSession

Unsettled Tempo earnings and last settlement info. Returns zeroed response for non-Tempo users.

Response

{
  "unsettled_mills": 1240,
  "last_settlement_at": 1710940200,
  "last_settlement_mills": 4500,
  "last_settlement_tx": "0xef01..."
}