# API monetization with x402 and USDC

API monetization on vAPI Call means charging USDC for each request to an API you host. You set an x402 price, prove your payout wallet and publish the payable endpoints in Call's directory. Buyers pay the quoted amount directly to your payout wallet.

| Item | Current state |
| --- | --- |
| vAPI Call | Live in the console |
| API hosting | Your own origin |
| Self-listing payment | x402 v2 `exact`, canonical USDC on Base |
| Network fee | vAPI Call takes no fee. Providers are paid directly. |
| Checked on | 2026-10-02 |

## Prepare a payable endpoint

Call is live in the console. You operate the API at your own origin and decide what each paid request costs. The directory helps buyers find and inspect it, while the API supplies the request contract and the live payment offer.

- Answer unpaid requests with an x402 v2 `exact` offer in canonical USDC on Base. Put the offer in both the JSON body and the base64 `PAYMENT-REQUIRED` header for a clean conformance check.
- For OpenAPI publishing, declare a `402` response and `x-payment-info` on every paid operation. One concrete endpoint can be listed without OpenAPI.
- For browser buyers, allow the console origin through CORS and expose `PAYMENT-REQUIRED` and `PAYMENT-RESPONSE` to browser JavaScript. An API can list with a CORS warning, but browser access still needs those headers.
- Use `vapi check` to inspect the unpaid challenge before publishing. Checking the protocol does not charge the buyer or establish that a paid request will succeed.

## Publish and confirm your payout wallet

The Add API flow accepts an origin, endpoint or OpenAPI URL. It probes the payable operations, lets you select them and asks the payout wallet to sign a message. That signature proves the payout wallet; it makes no payment and gives vAPI no authority to sign for buyers.

1. Submit the URL and let the registry probe the payable operations.
2. Select the endpoints to publish, with their request and payment metadata.
3. Sign the payout-wallet proof with the wallet that receives your Call payouts.
4. Set every selected endpoint's live `payTo` to that payout wallet.
5. Go live. Activation checks every endpoint again and confirms that each live quote pays the proven payout wallet before the API enters discovery.

These commands are copied from the provider documentation. The example URL, API name and slug are placeholders for your own API. The flow needs the payout proof and matching live `payTo` before activation; the command sample does not bypass those checks.

~~~bash
vapi auth set-key
vapi publish https://your-api.example --mode origin --select paid --name "Provider API" --description "Paid API" --category data
vapi publish activate <slug>
~~~

## How each request pays you

The buyer reads your live 402 and signs an authorization for the exact advertised amount. Your API has the payment verified and settled to `payTo`, then supplies the paid response. The live offer remains the source of truth for the price and payee; directory metadata does not override it.

vAPI Call takes no fee. Providers are paid directly.

Your API's live x402 quote pays the wallet you proved when publishing. Keep `payTo` aligned with that wallet on every selected network and endpoint.

## Listing and verification are separate

Passing the automated probe lets an API list as unverified. Verification is a separate review tier, requested after activation. Default search includes verified APIs and the external catalog; buyers can opt into unverified results. Listing alone does not put an API into the verified tier.

A scheduled check runs every hour and rechecks self-listed APIs in batches. Three consecutive failed checks suspend an API and remove it from discovery without changing its verification tier. Fix the endpoint and activate it again to resume discovery. Keep the request contract and live payment offer consistent as you change your API.

## Prepare your API for Call

### vAPI documentation

List your API: https://docs.vapinetwork.ai/call/sell-on-call/list-your-api
Publishing from the CLI: https://docs.vapinetwork.ai/call/sell-on-call/publishing-from-the-cli
Fees and payouts: https://docs.vapinetwork.ai/call/sell-on-call/fees-and-payouts
Get verified: https://docs.vapinetwork.ai/call/sell-on-call/get-verified

### On this site

vAPI Call: https://vapinetwork.ai/call
What is x402?: https://vapinetwork.ai/x402
402 Payment Required: https://vapinetwork.ai/learn/http-402-payment-required
Agent payments: https://vapinetwork.ai/agent-payments