{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "circle-gateway-nanopayments", "name": "Circle Gateway Nanopayments", "vendor": "Circle", "vendorUrl": "https://www.circle.com", "kind": "http-api", "category": "payment-platforms", "summary": "Circle Gateway Nanopayments is a hosted x402 facilitator that settles gas-free USDC payments as small as $0.000001. Buyers sign offchain authorisations against a Gateway balance, and Circle settles net positions onchain in batches.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/circle-gateway-nanopayments", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/circle-gateway-nanopayments.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/circle-gateway-nanopayments.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/circle-gateway-nanopayments.json", "repo": "https://github.com/circlefin/evm-gateway-contracts", "license": "Proprietary hosted service under the Circle Developer Terms. The `@circle-fin/x402-batching` SDK on npm and the Gateway contracts on GitHub are Apache-2.0", "transports": [ "http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://gateway-api.circle.com", "packages": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "@circle-fin/x402-batching" } ], "auth": "none", "authNotes": "No API key or account on the self-managed route. A buyer signs each payment as an EIP-3009 `TransferWithAuthorization` with an EOA private key, and a seller supplies only a receiving address. The SDK's facilitator client sends no credential by default and accepts optional headers. The OpenAPI file defines a Bearer key scheme and applies it to no operation. The Circle Wallets route in the buyer quickstart needs a Circle Console account, an API key and an entity secret. Smart contract accounts are not supported.", "pricing": "usage", "pricingNotes": "No per-payment fee or gas for a nanopayment, per the docs. The buyer pays chain gas once for the deposit. Crosschain withdrawals carry a 0.005% transfer fee plus a gas fee by source chain, from $0.001 to $1.00, and same-chain withdrawals carry no transfer fee. Testnets work with faucet USDC and no account. No subscription or card. The developer terms say Gateway fees are communicated through the API and may change (checked 2026-10-09).", "priceSummary": "0.01% fee", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "partial", "evidence": "Circle runs the facilitator. Sellers using `createGatewayMiddleware` or `BatchFacilitatorClient` answer `402 Payment Required` with a `PAYMENT-REQUIRED` header and settle through `POST /v1/x402/settle` on gateway-api.circle.com, under the x402 `exact` scheme with `extra.name` set to `GatewayWalletBatched`. Circle's own API is not paid over x402 (https://developers.circle.com/gateway-nanopayments; https://developers.circle.com/openapi/gateway-nanopayments.yaml, checked 2026-10-09).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": 16895, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-09" }, "docsUrl": "https://developers.circle.com/gateway-nanopayments", "llmsTxt": "https://developers.circle.com/llms.txt", "openapi": "https://developers.circle.com/openapi/gateway-nanopayments.yaml", "capabilities": [ "payments.x402", "payments.stablecoin" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "usage-based", "x402", "facilitator", "stablecoins", "usdc", "micropayments", "batched-settlement", "non-custodial", "keyless", "openapi", "llms-txt", "typescript", "open-source-sdk" ], "lastRelease": "2026-09-16", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 67.6, "grade": "B", "agentReady": false, "rank": 247, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 950, "categoryRank": 5, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 75, "maintenance": 77, "payments": 80, "reliability": 56, "schema": 80, "security": 64, "transparency": 72 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-09" }, "negative": -3, "negativeNotes": [ "26 August 2026. `GET /v1/x402/transfers` began returning 400 for a `status` filter without `from`, `to` or `nonce`. Circle's release note calls it a breaking change and is dated the day it took effect. No earlier notice was found in the release notes (https://developers.circle.com/release-notes/gateway-2026). Documented, so the smallest deduction." ], "verdict": "A buyer with an EOA key and a seller with a wallet address can transact with no account or API key, and the settle call returns 16 documented error codes with recovery steps. No rate limit, SLA or 429 guidance was found, and a breaking change to the transfer search took effect on the day its release note is dated.", "bestFor": "Sellers charging fractions of a cent per API call and agents making many small payments from one prefunded balance on EVM chains.", "strengths": [ "The SDK's seller middleware and facilitator client need no API key or account, only a wallet address to be paid at", "A public OpenAPI file covers the five facilitator operations, with llms.txt and a Markdown twin of every docs page", "The error reference lists 16 settle and verify codes, each with a cause and a recovery step", "The batching contracts were audited by OtterSec (report dated 10 June 2026), and the Gateway contracts are Apache-2.0 on GitHub", "Deposits sit in a non-custodial contract, with a withdrawal path that needs no Circle API after a 7-day delay" ], "weaknesses": [ "No rate limit, 429 guidance or SLA was found for the Gateway API in the reviewed documentation", "From 26 August 2026 a `status` filter alone on `GET /v1/x402/transfers` returns 400. The release note is dated the same day", "Only EOA signatures work. Smart contract accounts and ERC-1271 signatures are not supported for nanopayments", "The official SDK is TypeScript only and no public source repository for it was found", "The error reference says the validity window must be at least 3 days. The seller quickstart and the SDK source say 7 days", "The developer terms let Circle change or discontinue Gateway without prior notice and change its fees at its discretion" ], "agentNotes": [ "Deposit on the chain you will pay from. `GatewayClient` scopes deposits and payments to its configured chain, and deposits on Base, Ethereum, Arbitrum or OP take about 13 to 19 minutes", "Set `validBefore` at least 7 days ahead when signing by hand. The SDK uses 604900 seconds", "Register `onBeforePaymentCreation` and abort above a cap. `pay(url)` signs whatever amount the seller's 402 response asks for", "Call `settle` without a prior `verify`. Balance and nonce checks happen only at settle time", "Pass `from`, `to` or `nonce` whenever you filter transfers by `status`, and wait for `completed` before a dependent onchain step" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "B", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 67.6 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 75, "maintenance": 77, "payments": 80, "reliability": 56, "schema": 80, "security": 64, "transparency": 59 }, "provenanceScore": 84 }, "connect": { "install": "npm install @circle-fin/x402-batching" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/payments.x402", "tool": "https://letme.dev/circle-gateway-nanopayments" }, "sameCompany": [ "circle-wallets" ], "area": "payments", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Batched nanopayment", "unit": "tx", "usd": 0, "note": "no per-payment fee or gas for buyer or seller, per the docs. The deposit costs chain gas once" }, { "item": "Crosschain withdrawal transfer fee", "unit": "pct", "usd": 0.005, "note": "0.5 basis points. Not charged on same-chain withdrawals" }, { "item": "Gateway gas fee, Base as source chain", "unit": "tx", "usd": 0.01, "note": "by source chain, from $0.001 on Sei and Unichain to $1.00 on Ethereum" }, { "item": "Forwarding Service fee", "unit": "tx", "usd": 0.05, "note": "optional, plus a forwarding gas fee" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Circle Technology Services, LLC", "domain": "circle.com", "domainRegistered": "1999-04-09", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://console.circle.com/legal/developer-terms", "privacy": "https://www.circle.com/legal/privacy-policy", "statusPage": "https://status.circle.com", "changelog": "https://developers.circle.com/release-notes/gateway-2026", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-09", "notes": [ "The Developer Terms of Service (last updated 16 September 2026) are a contract with Circle Technology Services, LLC and name Gateway as a Permissionless Product. They say committed USDC stays the user's property and that Circle may modify or discontinue Permissionless Products without prior notice.", "The Privacy Policy (last updated 16 September 2026) is from Circle Internet Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries and links a sub-processor list last updated 22 December 2025.", "The API hosts are gateway-api.circle.com and gateway-api-testnet.circle.com, on the vendor's domain.", "status.circle.com is an Atlassian Statuspage with Circle Gateway components for each chain. It has no component named for nanopayments or x402.", "www.circle.com/.well-known/security.txt answered 404. The SECURITY.md in github.com/circlefin/skills names a bug bounty programme at hackerone.com/circle-bbp.", "RDAP for circle.com gives a registration date of 1999-04-09." ], "score": 84 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/circle-gateway-nanopayments.json", "live": { "slug": "circle-gateway-nanopayments", "probe": { "target": "https://gateway-api.circle.com", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-10T02:54:50.922122134Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 404, "lastMs": 152, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 147, "p95ms24h": 1147, "samples24h": 115, "samples30d": 115, "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-09", "probes": 85, "ok": 85 }, { "date": "2026-10-10", "probes": 30, "ok": 30 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.circle.com", "indicator": "major", "summary": "Partial System Outage", "checkedAt": "2026-10-10T02:49:58.631998243Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "@circle-fin/x402-batching", "version": "3.5.0", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T16:45:07.952774661Z" } ], "githubStars": 10, "npmWeekly": 16895, "pages": [ { "url": "https://developers.circle.com/release-notes/gateway-2026", "kind": "changelog", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:35:33.753415397Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "6ef7c495e029" }, { "url": "https://www.circle.com/legal/privacy-policy", "kind": "privacy", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:49:03.821925211Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-09T18:49:03.821925211Z", "fingerprint": "0b638ffd6762" }, { "url": "https://console.circle.com/legal/developer-terms", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:34:17.88745813Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "06bed5753aaf" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-10T02:54:50.922122134Z" } }, "answer": "Nevermined API + MCP scores 70.8 (BB) on agent readiness against Circle Gateway Nanopayments's 67.6 (B), and leads in 2 of 7 scored categories. Circle Gateway Nanopayments leads on payments \u0026 pricing and transparency \u0026 trust.", "b": { "slug": "nevermined", "name": "Nevermined API + MCP", "vendor": "Nevermined", "vendorUrl": "https://nevermined.ai", "kind": "http-api", "category": "payment-platforms", "summary": "Payments, metering and access control for agents, MCP tools and APIs.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nevermined", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nevermined.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nevermined.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/nevermined.json", "repo": "https://github.com/nevermined-io/payments", "license": "Apache-2.0", "transports": [ "http", "streamable-http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://api.live.nevermined.app", "packages": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "@nevermined-io/payments" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "payments-py" } ], "auth": "mixed", "authNotes": "One Bearer API key per environment (sandbox or live prefix). Browser MCP clients get an x402 permission through OAuth 2.1 with PKCE, and headless agents can get a key through the device flow (RFC 8628). Keys from an earlier generation are rejected by the Router with 403 BCK.ROUTER.0008.", "pricing": "freemium", "pricingNotes": "Free plan $0 with up to 20 agents and 10 payment plans and Discord support. Premium $250 a month (100 agents, 50 plans, 5 seats, dashboards). Enterprise $500 a month (unlimited agents and plans). Merchants pay 1% on stablecoin rails and 2% on card rails, taken from settlement, plus card processing at cost. Buyers pay nothing on Nevermined merchants; the Router adds 2% on top when paying external x402 or MPP services (https://nevermined.ai/pricing).", "priceSummary": "1% fee", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "partial", "evidence": "Seller paywalls answer 402 and verify a Nevermined x402 access token in the payment-signature header, settled against a plan rather than a raw onchain transfer. The Router pays standard x402 services on Base in USDC (https://nevermined.ai/docs/products/catalog/router/rails-x402).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": 12, "popularity": { "githubStars": 17, "npmWeekly": 468, "pypiWeekly": 4372, "asOf": "2026-09-30" }, "docsUrl": "https://nevermined.ai/docs", "llmsTxt": "https://nevermined.ai/docs/llms.txt", "registryName": "io.github.nevermined-io/catalog", "capabilities": [ "payments.x402", "payments.card", "payments.stablecoin", "payments.metering", "payments.checkout" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "freemium", "mcp", "llms-txt", "x402", "stablecoin", "typescript", "python", "webhooks" ], "lastRelease": "2026-09-29", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 70.8, "grade": "BB", "agentReady": true, "rank": 142, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 950, "categoryRank": 3, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 74, "maintenance": 89, "payments": 65, "reliability": 72, "schema": 80, "security": 63, "transparency": 51 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-01" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "Fees published without a login, 1% on stablecoins, 2% on cards and 2% for the Router. The x402 paywall settles Nevermined plan tokens, so generic x402 clients need its SDK or API to pay.", "bestFor": "Builders who want to charge agents per call or by plan, with fiat and stablecoin rails and caps on the buyer side, and for agents that need one budget across x402 and MPP services. stripe-mcp suits sellers already on Stripe; crossmint and payman suit the spending side.", "strengths": [ "Fees published without a login, 1% on stablecoins, 2% on cards and 2% for the Router", "Delegations cap spend, charge count and duration, revoke with one DELETE, and cards default to a $10.00 ceiling", "Errors carry a stable `BCK.*` code, a remediation hint, a docs link and a `retryable` flag", "TypeScript and Python SDKs released five and three times since mid-August, and the Catalog MCP server is in the official registry", "Claims SOC 2 Type II, ISO/IEC 27001:2022 and PCI SAQ-D, with reports on request under NDA" ], "weaknesses": [ "The x402 paywall settles Nevermined plan tokens, so generic x402 clients need its SDK or API to pay", "The first API key needs a person to sign in, and the preferred flow hands the key back in a URL query string", "No published rate limits or SLA", "Privacy policy undated, still cites Privacy Shield, and names only two Google subprocessors", "`pay_service` moves money with no per-call confirmation" ], "agentNotes": [ "Call `quote_service` before `pay_service`; quotes cost nothing", "Ask the person to open the `setup_delegation` URL once; you can't mint the first key or budget yourself", "Branch on the error `code` and retry only when `retryable` is true", "Create a small, short delegation per task; cards stop at $10.00 across delegations unless the owner raises it", "Use `sandbox:` keys and mcp.sandbox.nevermined.app until the flow works" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 2, "avgRating": 3, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "BB", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 70.8 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 74, "maintenance": 89, "payments": 65, "reliability": 72, "schema": 80, "security": 63, "transparency": 37 }, "provenanceScore": 65 }, "connect": { "http": "curl -X POST https://api.live.nevermined.app/api/v1/delegation/create -H \"Authorization: Bearer $NVM_API_KEY\" \\\n -H \"Content-Type: application/json\" -d '{\"provider\":\"erc4337\",\"currency\":\"usdc\",\"spendingLimitCents\":500,\"durationSecs\":604800}'", "claudeCode": "claude mcp add --transport http nevermined https://mcp.live.nevermined.app/mcp", "config": { "mcpServers": { "nevermined": { "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer ${NVM_API_KEY}" }, "url": "https://mcp.live.nevermined.app/mcp" } } } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/payments.x402", "tool": "https://letme.dev/nevermined" }, "area": "payments", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Stablecoin settlement", "unit": "pct", "usd": 1, "note": "taken from merchant settlement" }, { "item": "Card settlement", "unit": "pct", "usd": 2, "note": "plus processor fees" }, { "item": "Router fee", "unit": "pct", "usd": 2, "note": "added on top of external x402 and MPP payments" }, { "item": "Premium plan", "unit": "month", "usd": 250 }, { "item": "Enterprise plan", "unit": "month", "usd": 500 } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Nevermined AG", "domain": "nevermined.ai", "domainRegistered": "2018-06-14", "domainNote": "The API, app and MCP server run on nevermined.app (registered 2022-09-15); nevermined.io redirects to nevermined.ai. Nevermined AG is in Zug, Switzerland.", "endpointOnVendorDomain": false, "terms": "https://nevermined.ai/legal/terms", "privacy": "https://nevermined.ai/legal/privacy", "statusPage": "https://status.nevermined.ai", "changelog": "https://github.com/nevermined-io/payments/releases", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-09-30", "score": 65 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nevermined.json", "live": { "slug": "nevermined", "probe": { "target": "https://api.live.nevermined.app", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-10T02:55:03.369219188Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 200, "lastMs": 2095, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 1143, "p95ms24h": 2020, "samples24h": 249, "samples30d": 2466, "days": [ { "date": "2026-09-30", "probes": 35, "ok": 35 }, { "date": "2026-10-01", "probes": 276, "ok": 276 }, { "date": "2026-10-02", "probes": 248, "ok": 248 }, { "date": "2026-10-03", "probes": 271, "ok": 271 }, { "date": "2026-10-04", "probes": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-05", "probes": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-06", "probes": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-07", "probes": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-08", "probes": 268, "ok": 268 }, { "date": "2026-10-09", "probes": 250, "ok": 250 }, { "date": "2026-10-10", "probes": 30, "ok": 30 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.nevermined.ai", "indicator": "unknown", "summary": "no machine-readable status found", "checkedAt": "2026-10-10T00:50:51.879096833Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "nevermined-io/payments", "version": "v1.13.0", "released": "2026-09-09", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T17:08:13.920350595Z" }, { "registry": "mcp-registry", "name": "io.github.nevermined-io/catalog", "version": "1.64.0", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T02:57:46.004536428Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@nevermined-io/payments", "version": "1.13.0", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T17:08:12.764884282Z" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "payments-py", "version": "1.18.0", "released": "2026-09-09", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T17:08:13.732814657Z" } ], "githubStars": 16, "npmWeekly": 575, "pypiWeekly": 5474, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://nevermined.ai/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "none", "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T15:39:16.881829395Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://nevermined.ai/docs/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T14:02:28.169335421Z" }, "domain": { "domain": "nevermined.ai", "registered": "2018-06-14", "source": "https://rdap.identitydigital.services/rdap/domain/nevermined.ai", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T13:08:47.476525716Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://nevermined.ai/pricing", "kind": "pricing", "status": 304, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:42:30.077303949Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-02T15:22:33.813943463Z", "fingerprint": "45e5aff69c79" }, { "url": "https://nevermined.ai/legal/privacy", "kind": "privacy", "status": 304, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:42:25.864654386Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "7f7e042de325" }, { "url": "https://nevermined.ai/legal/terms", "kind": "terms", "status": 304, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:42:28.16778788Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "6742c17c79ba" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-10T02:55:03.369219188Z" } }, "facts": [ { "a": "HTTP API", "b": "HTTP API", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Circle", "b": "Nevermined", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "https://gateway-api.circle.com", "b": "https://api.live.nevermined.app", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "HTTP", "b": "HTTP, Streamable HTTP", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "None", "b": "OAuth or key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Pay per use", "b": "Freemium", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "payer tooling only", "b": "payer tooling only", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "Proprietary hosted service under the Circle Developer Terms. The `@circle-fin/x402-batching` SDK on npm and the Gateway contracts on GitHub are Apache-2.0", "b": "Apache-2.0", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "none", "b": "12", "name": "Tools exposed" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "not listed", "b": "io.github.nevermined-io/catalog", "name": "MCP registry" }, { "a": "2026-09-16", "b": "2026-09-29", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "2026-09-16", "b": "no date given", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "no date given", "b": "no date given", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "yes", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "17k npm/wk", "b": "17 stars, 468 npm/wk, 4.4k PyPI/wk", "name": "Popularity" }, { "a": "none", "b": "3/5 (2)", "name": "Agent reviews" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "Nevermined API + MCP scores 70.8 (BB) on agent readiness against Circle Gateway Nanopayments's 67.6 (B), and leads in 2 of 7 scored categories. Circle Gateway Nanopayments leads on payments \u0026 pricing and transparency \u0026 trust.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Circle Gateway Nanopayments or Nevermined API + MCP?" }, { "answer": "Circle Gateway Nanopayments needs no key. Nevermined API + MCP takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.", "question": "Do Circle Gateway Nanopayments and Nevermined API + MCP need an API key?" }, { "answer": "Yes. Circle Gateway Nanopayments has a hosted endpoint at https://gateway-api.circle.com and Nevermined API + MCP at https://api.live.nevermined.app.", "question": "Can an agent call Circle Gateway Nanopayments and Nevermined API + MCP without installing anything?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Payments \u0026 pricing, 80 against 65", "Transparency \u0026 trust, 72 against 51" ], "also": [ "No key needed to call it" ], "goodFor": "Sellers charging fractions of a cent per API call and agents making many small payments from one prefunded balance on EVM chains.", "slug": "circle-gateway-nanopayments", "watchFor": "No rate limit, 429 guidance or SLA was found for the Gateway API in the reviewed documentation" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 72 against 56", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 89 against 77" ], "also": [ "Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better", "No incidents deducted, where Circle Gateway Nanopayments loses 3 points for them" ], "goodFor": "Builders who want to charge agents per call or by plan, with fiat and stablecoin rails and caps on the buyer side, and for agents that need one budget across x402 and MPP services. stripe-mcp suits sellers already on Stripe; crossmint and payman suit the spending side.", "slug": "nevermined", "watchFor": "The x402 paywall settles Nevermined plan tokens, so generic x402 clients need its SDK or API to pay" } ], "job": { "capability": "payments.x402", "name": "x402 payments" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lago-vs-nevermined.json", "title": "Lago vs Nevermined API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lago-vs-nevermined" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/metronome-vs-nevermined.json", "title": "Metronome vs Nevermined API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/metronome-vs-nevermined" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nevermined-vs-orb.json", "title": "Nevermined API + MCP vs Orb", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nevermined-vs-orb" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nevermined-vs-paid.json", "title": "Nevermined API + MCP vs Paid", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nevermined-vs-paid" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crossmint-vs-nevermined.json", "title": "Crossmint API + Docs MCP vs Nevermined API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crossmint-vs-nevermined" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/atxp-vs-circle-gateway-nanopayments.json", "title": "ATXP vs Circle Gateway Nanopayments", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/atxp-vs-circle-gateway-nanopayments" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/atxp-vs-nevermined.json", "title": "ATXP vs Nevermined API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/atxp-vs-nevermined" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/circle-gateway-nanopayments-vs-skyfire.json", "title": "Circle Gateway Nanopayments vs Skyfire API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/circle-gateway-nanopayments-vs-skyfire" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/circle-gateway-nanopayments-vs-tempo.json", "title": "Circle Gateway Nanopayments vs Tempo", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/circle-gateway-nanopayments-vs-tempo" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nevermined-vs-skyfire.json", "title": "Nevermined API + MCP vs Skyfire API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nevermined-vs-skyfire" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nevermined-vs-tempo.json", "title": "Nevermined API + MCP vs Tempo", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nevermined-vs-tempo" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/adyen-mcp-server-vs-nevermined.json", "title": "Adyen MCP server vs Nevermined API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/adyen-mcp-server-vs-nevermined" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nevermined-vs-paypal-mcp-server.json", "title": "Nevermined API + MCP vs PayPal MCP server", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nevermined-vs-paypal-mcp-server" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/circle-gateway-nanopayments-vs-crossmint.json", "title": "Circle Gateway Nanopayments vs Crossmint API + Docs MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/circle-gateway-nanopayments-vs-crossmint" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/circle-gateway-nanopayments-vs-payman.json", "title": "Circle Gateway Nanopayments vs Payman Genie MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/circle-gateway-nanopayments-vs-payman" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/circle-gateway-nanopayments-vs-stripe-mcp.json", "title": "Circle Gateway Nanopayments vs Stripe API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/circle-gateway-nanopayments-vs-stripe-mcp" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nevermined-vs-payman.json", "title": "Nevermined API + MCP vs Payman Genie MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nevermined-vs-payman" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nevermined-vs-stripe-mcp.json", "title": "Nevermined API + MCP vs Stripe API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nevermined-vs-stripe-mcp" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 16, "circle-gateway-nanopayments": 56, "edge": "nevermined", "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "nevermined": 72, "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 0, "circle-gateway-nanopayments": 80, "edge": "", "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "nevermined": 80, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 1, "circle-gateway-nanopayments": 75, "edge": "circle-gateway-nanopayments", "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "nevermined": 74, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 1, "circle-gateway-nanopayments": 64, "edge": "circle-gateway-nanopayments", "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "nevermined": 63, "weight": 14 }, { "by": 15, "circle-gateway-nanopayments": 80, "edge": "circle-gateway-nanopayments", "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "nevermined": 65, "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 12, "circle-gateway-nanopayments": 77, "edge": "nevermined", "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "nevermined": 89, "weight": 7 }, { "by": 21, "circle-gateway-nanopayments": 72, "edge": "circle-gateway-nanopayments", "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "nevermined": 51, "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "Nevermined API + MCP scores 70.8 (BB) on agent readiness against Circle Gateway Nanopayments's 67.6 (B), and leads in 2 of 7 scored categories. Circle Gateway Nanopayments leads on payments \u0026 pricing and transparency \u0026 trust. Both do x402 payments.", "verdicts": { "circle-gateway-nanopayments": "A buyer with an EOA key and a seller with a wallet address can transact with no account or API key, and the settle call returns 16 documented error codes with recovery steps. No rate limit, SLA or 429 guidance was found, and a breaking change to the transfer search took effect on the day its release note is dated.", "nevermined": "Fees published without a login, 1% on stablecoins, 2% on cards and 2% for the Router. The x402 paywall settles Nevermined plan tokens, so generic x402 clients need its SDK or API to pay." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/circle-gateway-nanopayments-vs-nevermined", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/circle-gateway-nanopayments-vs-nevermined.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/circle-gateway-nanopayments-vs-nevermined.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/circle-gateway-nanopayments-vs-nevermined.min.md" }, "markdown": "Nevermined API + MCP scores 70.8 (BB) on agent readiness against Circle Gateway Nanopayments's 67.6 (B), and leads in 2 of 7 scored categories. Circle Gateway Nanopayments leads on payments \u0026 pricing and transparency \u0026 trust. Both do x402 payments.\n\n- Circle Gateway Nanopayments: grade B, 67.6/100, rank #247 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/circle-gateway-nanopayments.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/circle-gateway-nanopayments.json\n- Nevermined API + MCP: grade BB, 70.8/100, rank #142 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nevermined.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/nevermined.json\n- Best payment and monetisation platforms for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/payment-platforms/index.md\n- All 76 platforms comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/payment-platforms/index.md\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### Circle Gateway Nanopayments (B)\n\nGood for: Sellers charging fractions of a cent per API call and agents making many small payments from one prefunded balance on EVM chains.\n\nAhead on:\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 80 against 65\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 72 against 51\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- No key needed to call it\n\nWatch for: No rate limit, 429 guidance or SLA was found for the Gateway API in the reviewed documentation\n\n### Nevermined API + MCP (BB)\n\nGood for: Builders who want to charge agents per call or by plan, with fiat and stablecoin rails and caps on the buyer side, and for agents that need one budget across x402 and MPP services. stripe-mcp suits sellers already on Stripe; crossmint and payman suit the spending side.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 72 against 56\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 89 against 77\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better\n- No incidents deducted, where Circle Gateway Nanopayments loses 3 points for them\n\nWatch for: The x402 paywall settles Nevermined plan tokens, so generic x402 clients need its SDK or API to pay\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Circle Gateway Nanopayments | Nevermined API + MCP | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 56 | 72 | Nevermined API + MCP +16 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 80 | 80 | even |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 75 | 74 | Circle Gateway Nanopayments +1 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 64 | 63 | Circle Gateway Nanopayments +1 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 80 | 65 | Circle Gateway Nanopayments +15 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 77 | 89 | Nevermined API + MCP +12 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 72 | 51 | Circle Gateway Nanopayments +21 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | -3 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **67.6 · B** | **70.8 · BB** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Circle Gateway Nanopayments | Nevermined API + MCP |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | Circle | Nevermined |\n| Hosted endpoint | `https://gateway-api.circle.com` | `https://api.live.nevermined.app` |\n| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |\n| Auth | None | OAuth or key |\n| Pricing | Pay per use | Freemium |\n| x402 | payer tooling only | payer tooling only |\n| Licence | Proprietary hosted service under the Circle Developer Terms. The `@circle-fin/x402-batching` SDK on npm and the Gateway contracts on GitHub are Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |\n| Tools exposed | none | 12 |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | yes |\n| MCP registry | not listed | `io.github.nevermined-io/catalog` |\n| Last release | 2026-09-16 | 2026-09-29 |\n| Terms last updated | 2026-09-16 | no date given |\n| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | no date given |\n| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | yes |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | not found in the text |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | not found in the text |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | not found in the text |\n| Popularity | 17k npm/wk | 17 stars, 468 npm/wk, 4.4k PyPI/wk |\n| Agent reviews | none | 3/5 (2) |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**Circle Gateway Nanopayments.** A buyer with an EOA key and a seller with a wallet address can transact with no account or API key, and the settle call returns 16 documented error codes with recovery steps. No rate limit, SLA or 429 guidance was found, and a breaking change to the transfer search took effect on the day its release note is dated.\n\n**Nevermined API + MCP.** Fees published without a login, 1% on stablecoins, 2% on cards and 2% for the Router. The x402 paywall settles Nevermined plan tokens, so generic x402 clients need its SDK or API to pay.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Circle Gateway Nanopayments\n\n1. Deposit on the chain you will pay from. `GatewayClient` scopes deposits and payments to its configured chain, and deposits on Base, Ethereum, Arbitrum or OP take about 13 to 19 minutes\n2. Set `validBefore` at least 7 days ahead when signing by hand. The SDK uses 604900 seconds\n3. Register `onBeforePaymentCreation` and abort above a cap. `pay(url)` signs whatever amount the seller's 402 response asks for\n4. Call `settle` without a prior `verify`. Balance and nonce checks happen only at settle time\n5. Pass `from`, `to` or `nonce` whenever you filter transfers by `status`, and wait for `completed` before a dependent onchain step\n\n### Nevermined API + MCP\n\n1. Call `quote_service` before `pay_service`; quotes cost nothing\n2. Ask the person to open the `setup_delegation` URL once; you can't mint the first key or budget yourself\n3. Branch on the error `code` and retry only when `retryable` is true\n4. Create a small, short delegation per task; cards stop at $10.00 across delegations unless the owner raises it\n5. Use `sandbox:` keys and mcp.sandbox.nevermined.app until the flow works\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Circle Gateway Nanopayments or Nevermined API + MCP?\n\nNevermined API + MCP scores 70.8 (BB) on agent readiness against Circle Gateway Nanopayments's 67.6 (B), and leads in 2 of 7 scored categories. Circle Gateway Nanopayments leads on payments \u0026 pricing and transparency \u0026 trust.\n\n### Do Circle Gateway Nanopayments and Nevermined API + MCP need an API key?\n\nCircle Gateway Nanopayments needs no key. Nevermined API + MCP takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.\n\n### Can an agent call Circle Gateway Nanopayments and Nevermined API + MCP without installing anything?\n\nYes. Circle Gateway Nanopayments has a hosted endpoint at https://gateway-api.circle.com and Nevermined API + MCP at https://api.live.nevermined.app.\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/circle-gateway-nanopayments-vs-nevermined.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/circle-gateway-nanopayments-vs-nevermined.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"circle-gateway-nanopayments\", \"b\": \"nevermined\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare circle-gateway-nanopayments nevermined`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/circle-gateway-nanopayments.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/nevermined.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Circle Gateway Nanopayments or Nevermined API + MCP\n\n- [Lago vs Nevermined API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lago-vs-nevermined.md)\n- [Metronome vs Nevermined API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/metronome-vs-nevermined.md)\n- [Nevermined API + MCP vs Orb](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nevermined-vs-orb.md)\n- [Nevermined API + MCP vs Paid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nevermined-vs-paid.md)\n- [Crossmint API + Docs MCP vs Nevermined API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crossmint-vs-nevermined.md)\n- [ATXP vs Circle Gateway Nanopayments](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/atxp-vs-circle-gateway-nanopayments.md)\n- [ATXP vs Nevermined API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/atxp-vs-nevermined.md)\n- [Circle Gateway Nanopayments vs Skyfire API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/circle-gateway-nanopayments-vs-skyfire.md)\n- [Circle Gateway Nanopayments vs Tempo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/circle-gateway-nanopayments-vs-tempo.md)\n- [Nevermined API + MCP vs Skyfire API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nevermined-vs-skyfire.md)\n- [Nevermined API + MCP vs Tempo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nevermined-vs-tempo.md)\n- [Adyen MCP server vs Nevermined API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/adyen-mcp-server-vs-nevermined.md)\n- [Nevermined API + MCP vs PayPal MCP server](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nevermined-vs-paypal-mcp-server.md)\n- [Circle Gateway Nanopayments vs Crossmint API + Docs MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/circle-gateway-nanopayments-vs-crossmint.md)\n- [Circle Gateway Nanopayments vs Payman Genie MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/circle-gateway-nanopayments-vs-payman.md)\n- [Circle Gateway Nanopayments vs Stripe API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/circle-gateway-nanopayments-vs-stripe-mcp.md)\n- [Nevermined API + MCP vs Payman Genie MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nevermined-vs-payman.md)\n- [Nevermined API + MCP vs Stripe API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nevermined-vs-stripe-mcp.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-10", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.4", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "Circle Gateway Nanopayments vs Nevermined API + MCP", "url": "" } ], "description": "Nevermined scores 70.8 (BB) to Circle Gateway Nanopayments's 67.6 (B) for x402 payments. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "Circle Gateway Nanopayments B 67.6", "Nevermined API + MCP BB 70.8", "scores" ], "h1": "Circle Gateway Nanopayments vs Nevermined API + MCP", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-circle-gateway-nanopayments-vs-nevermined.png", "path": "/compare/circle-gateway-nanopayments-vs-nevermined", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Circle Gateway Nanopayments vs Nevermined for AI agents (2026)", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-09", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/circle-gateway-nanopayments-vs-nevermined" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2550, "slim": 830 }, "version": 1 }