Having tracked Cloudflare’s product rollouts for several years, I was excited to see the company launch two AI payment services in beta on September 30. The Monetization Gateway lets sellers bill AI agents for every call to an API, MCP tool, dataset, or website, while Pay Per Use pays publishers when an AI firm reports that it has consumed their content.
Monetization Gateway Charges Per Request
The Gateway bills each AI agent per request, and the seller determines the price. It targets resources that are consumed with every call—think APIs, tools, or datasets.
It relies on the x402 protocol and the HTTP 402 status code. When an agent tries to reach a protected endpoint, it first receives the payment terms, signs an authorization, and then retries the request. Payment is settled within the same request and verified before the origin server replies.
Every rule defines the domain, URL, price, and audience—either all users or only verified bots recognized by Cloudflare’s BotBase.
Fixed pricing means that identical requests cost the same amount. Variable pricing caps the charge, and the seller’s origin reports the exact amount paid, ranging from a fraction of a cent to $100.
Payments flow through USDC on the Base blockchain, facilitated by Coinbase’s x402 service. Cloudflare says it will soon support additional payment options.
Who Can Use The Gateway Now
The Gateway remains in closed beta, and only U.S.-based buyers and sellers may apply. Sellers must have a credit card on file, a verified email, and an account older than 60 days. Their Cloudflare zone also needs to be proxied through the network, be at least 30 days old, and pass security checks. Access is requested from the dashboard.
Four Uses Cloudflare Says Are Live
Cloudflare highlights four active use cases, including its own AI Gateway.
Ceramic.ai offers a web‑search API for agents, charging a flat rate per search and eliminating the need for an API key. Originally introduced as a Pay Per Use partner, Ceramic pays content sites each time its material appears in search results, and it now acts as a seller within the Gateway.
AI Gateway lets U.S. users pay per inference request across four publicly available models, according to its documentation. Stocktwits bills agents for each market‑signal request through a dedicated route.
API2PDF provides a PDF‑generation service whose price varies with compute and bandwidth usage. Cloudflare notes that prompting users for a credit card after the first month led to a drop of more than half in conversion rates.
Pay Per Use Pays After Retrieval
The Pay Per Use announcement distinguishes itself from Pay Per Crawl, which charges for access. Pay Per Use compensates publishers for the outcome—such as a cited answer in an AI search.
The post explains the division of responsibilities: AI companies define the usage scenario and set the price; publishers choose which offers to accept and can view how often their content is used and the earnings generated. Cloudflare manages enrollment, tracks usage, handles billing, and distributes payments each month.
Program terms outline how the AI company may use the content, including any limits on training. The buyer records each use with a timestamp, source URL, and event ID. Although usage is self‑reported, the rules demand full and accurate reporting, and Cloudflare verifies that each report corresponds to an enrolled publisher before billing the buyer and paying the publisher.
During the beta, the company says it’s working directly with each buyer and with publishers who opt in, without naming the buyers.
Where This Leaves The Sept. 18 Comparison
In my September 18 comparison, I examined Pay Per Crawl alongside Google’s AI contribution pilot and Microsoft’s Publisher Content Marketplace. With the Gateway now available, Cloudflare offers three distinct payment events.
Pay Per Crawl bills a crawler for each successful, paid retrieval, using the rate set by the site owner. The Gateway charges per request, with pricing set by the seller. Pay Per Use disburses payment for each reported use, at the price defined by the AI company.
Why This Matters
For Cloudflare publishers, Pay Per Use means the AI company sets both the usage scenario and the price. Publishers decide whether to accept the offer, and the earnings data—drawn from the buyer’s reports—determine payouts.
A U.S. company offering an API, MCP tool, or dataset can set its per‑request price once it gains entry to the Gateway’s closed beta.
Neither the Gateway nor the Pay Per Use announcement discloses actual transaction volumes or payout figures.
Looking Ahead
Cloudflare says the Pay Per Use beta will help it refine how publishers can counter a buyer’s price and charge based on the specific use case.
Keep an eye on whether Cloudflare reveals the AI companies participating in Pay Per Use. For the Gateway, the firm notes that support for new geographic regions is “on the way.”
Featured Image: Samuel Boivin/Shutterstock
Image Credit: www.searchenginejournal.com
