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Compare · Agent payments

Limitr vs x402.

x402 moves money for one request. Limitr decides what each buyer may use across all of them, meters it, and bills it. They work at different layers.

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The short answer
x402

An open HTTP protocol for agents to pay per request in stablecoins.

Limitr

Decides every call in your app, with prices, costs, limits, and contract terms, then bills it.

Side by side

What happens when…

The moments that decide it, answered from each product's own docs and pricing.

When…x402Limitr
An agent wants to buy from your appThe server answers 402 with terms, and the client pays in stablecoins and retries.With Limitr Network, it signs a voucher for a plan, an amount, and a time. Spend lands on its Cloud invoice, and you're paid through Stripe.
It needs a plan, not one paymentNot part of the protocol. Each request carries its price.Plans, caps, and budgets per buyer, in your policy.
You want a cap per buyerUp to your server.A cap in the voucher and in your policy. The provider never serves more than it was paid for.
Who governs itThe x402 Foundation, under the Linux Foundation.Open-source engine and protocol (Apache 2.0), with Cloud as an optional operator.

Checked November 10, 2026. Sources: What is x402 (Decrypt) · x402 Foundation (Decrypt) · Limitr Network. Something out of date? Tell us.

Architecture

Where the decision happens.

The difference most comparisons skip: where a call is allowed, priced, and capped, and when.

x402
At payment, per request

A server answers 402 with terms, and the client pays and retries. Plans, caps, and metering are up to your server.

Agent
per request
402 + paymentstablecoins
retry
Your appplans up to you
Limitr
Inside your app, before the call

The engine runs natively in your process and decides every call in about a millisecond: allowed, priced at your cost and your price, and held to the contract. Usage goes to Limitr Cloud in the background.

Your appLimitr engine inside
decided first
Model or APIthe cost
in the background
Limitr Cloudledger and invoices

Proof

Don't take our word for it.

Bring last month's usage. We'll replay it through Limitr Analyst and show your margin per account, and what Limitr would have stopped.

100,000+users metered for The Regis Company's Fortune 500 contract971 of 1,000attack calls stopped inside the app in our abuse demo, on a real policy0network calls to decide a request. It keeps deciding when the network doesn't.Apache 2.0Read exactly what decides your calls.
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The gap

What you'd still build on x402.

Teams pair x402 with code of their own. With Limitr, that part is the product.

With x402, you still build
With Limitr, you get
Plans and caps per paying buyer
Plans and caps per buyer, in your policy
Metering and margin per buyer
Margin per buyer, like any customer
Invoices for buyers without wallets
Voucher spend on a Cloud invoice

Use x402 when you want account-free, per-request payment in stablecoins.

Using both

Take x402 payments, keep your plans.

Treat each paying wallet as a customer in your policy, so its limits, caps, and margin apply like anyone else’s.

x402
  • Settles the payment
  • No account or card needed
Limitr
  • What the payer may use
  • Metering and margin per payer

Common questions

Limitr vs x402, answered.

No. Network buyers pay with signed vouchers against a Limitr Cloud invoice, and providers are paid through Stripe.

Coinbase introduced it in 2025. Since 2026 the x402 Foundation, under the Linux Foundation, stewards the protocol.

x402: at payment, per request. A server answers 402 with terms, and the client pays and retries. Plans, caps, and metering are up to your server. Limitr: inside your app, before the call. The engine runs natively in your process and decides every call in about a millisecond: allowed, priced at your cost and your price, and held to the contract. Usage goes to Limitr Cloud in the background.

See it on your own pricing.

npm i @formata/limitr
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