HTTP payments without logins, subscriptions, or checkout pages (x402 idea)

There’s an interesting proposal floating around called x402 that tries to solve something the web never really figured out: native payments.

HTTP has had a 402 Payment Required status code since the early days, but it was basically useless because payments were slow, expensive, and required user interaction. That’s changed.

The x402 idea in simple terms:

1.You request a paid resource (API call, data, inference, compute)
2.Server responds with HTTP 402 + “this costs X”
3.Client signs a payment authorization
4.Server verifies it and immediately returns the response

No accounts. No API keys. No subscriptions. No checkout flow.
From the client’s POV, it’s just another HTTP round trip.

Why this actually matters now:

1. Micropayments finally work (stablecoins + cheap settlement)
2. Pay-per-request APIs instead of SaaS lock-ins
3. AI agents can pay autonomously without human approval
4. Stateless pricing great for public APIs and open services

This feels especially relevant as more software stops being “apps” and starts being agents calling other agents. In that world, billing systems and monthly plans make zero sense.

Still early, obviously, but this is one of those ideas that clicks immediately once you see it:
👉 payments become infrastructure, not UX.

Here’s the blog that explains it well:
https://oasis.net/blog/x402-https-internet-native-payments