# Metronome vs Paid

> Metronome scores 69.7 (B) to Paid's 55.1 (C) for usage billing. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/metronome-vs-paid
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/metronome-vs-paid.md (~2,300 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/metronome-vs-paid.min.md (~680 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/metronome-vs-paid.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-09

Metronome scores 69.7 (B) on agent readiness against Paid's 55.1 (C), and leads in every scored category. Both do usage billing.

- Metronome: grade B, 69.7/100, rank #173 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/metronome.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/metronome.json
- Paid: grade C, 55.1/100, rank #669 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/paid.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/paid.json
- Best payment and monetisation platforms for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/payment-platforms/index.md
- All 76 platforms comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/payment-platforms/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Metronome (B)

Good for: A company that meters usage and bills on contracts, credits and commits, with invoices delivered through Stripe, NetSuite or cloud marketplaces.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 68 against 35
- Schema & documentation, 88 against 64
- Agent ergonomics, 75 against 70
- Payments & pricing, 39 against 30
- Maintenance & community, 82 against 77
- Transparency & trust, 65 against 51

Watch for: Errors are a single `message` string with no machine-readable code, and the API description documents a 4xx response on 87 of 142 operations

### Paid (C)

Good for: A team selling an AI agent that needs usage metering, credit balances, cost and margin tracking and invoicing in one service, with Stripe as the payment rail.

Also in its favour:
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: The docs index advertises an OpenAPI 3.1 file at two addresses, and both returned 404 on 9 October 2026


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Metronome | Paid | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 68 | 35 | Metronome +33 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 88 | 64 | Metronome +24 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 75 | 70 | Metronome +5 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 68 | 65 | Metronome +3 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 39 | 30 | Metronome +9 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 82 | 77 | Metronome +5 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 65 | 51 | Metronome +14 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **69.7 · B** | **55.1 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Metronome | Paid |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Metronome (Stripe) | Agent Paid Limited |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.metronome.com` | `https://api.agentpaid.io/api/v2` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under the Stripe Services Agreement. The SDKs on GitHub are Apache-2.0 | Proprietary service under Paid's Master Subscription Agreement. The Node and Python SDKs on GitHub are MIT |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-09-29 | 2026-09-15 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-09-28 | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-04-28 | no date given |
| Customer content may train models | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 7 stars, 363k npm/wk | 24k npm/wk |

## Verdicts

**Metronome.** Metronome's API carries an `Idempotency-Key` on every POST, a public OpenAPI description of 142 operations, and agentic tokens whose writes wait for a person's approval. Prices for the Startup plan are public. Errors return only a `message` string, token scopes are set through support, and the status feed lists 13 incidents since 22 July 2026.

**Paid.** Paid suits a builder who wants usage metering, credits and invoicing behind one API, with restricted and customer-bound keys, OAuth on the MCP server and a free plan that needs no card. No status page, SLA figure, API changelog or rate-limit numbers were found, both advertised OpenAPI links returned 404, and card payments need the builder's own Stripe account.

## Before you call either

### Metronome

1. Send an `Idempotency-Key` header on every POST and reuse it on retry. A cached error is returned for the same key, so use a new key after fixing the cause
2. Give each usage event a stable `transaction_id`. Metronome ignores repeats for 34 days and accepts at most 100 events per `/v1/ingest` call
3. On 429 read `X-Metronome-Rate-Limit-Type` (`client` or `customer`) and back off. Unlisted endpoints default to 8 requests a second
4. With an agentic token, expect `403 AgenticMutationBlocked` on writes. Post the original method, path and body to `/v1/approval_requests` and show the person the `approval_url`
5. Use a sandbox token for testing. The token alone decides whether a call reaches sandbox or production data

### Paid

1. Call `https://api.agentpaid.io/api/v2` with `Authorization: Bearer <key>`. A person creates the first key at app.paid.ai. No programmatic signup was found
2. Give every signal a stable `idempotencyKey` and resend the same key on retry. Signals without one are not deduplicated
3. Send at most 500 signals a request. A 429 rejects the whole batch, so wait for `Retry-After` and resend it all
4. Read the `code` field on a 429. `CONCURRENCY_LIMIT_EXCEEDED` carries no `Retry-After` and clears when an analytics query finishes
5. Install the Python SDK as `paid-python`, the name in its README and `pyproject.toml`. The quickstart's `pip install paid` names a package we could not check

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Metronome or Paid?

Metronome scores 69.7 (B) on agent readiness against Paid's 55.1 (C), and leads in every scored category.

### Do Metronome and Paid need an API key?

Metronome needs an API key. Paid takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call Metronome and Paid without installing anything?

Yes. Metronome has a hosted endpoint at https://api.metronome.com and Paid at https://api.agentpaid.io/api/v2.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/metronome-vs-paid.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/metronome-vs-paid.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "metronome", "b": "paid"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare metronome paid`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/metronome.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/paid.json

## Other comparisons with Metronome or Paid

- [ATXP vs Metronome](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/atxp-vs-metronome.md)
- [ATXP vs Paid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/atxp-vs-paid.md)
- [Lago vs Metronome](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lago-vs-metronome.md)
- [Lago vs Paid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lago-vs-paid.md)
- [Metronome vs Nevermined API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/metronome-vs-nevermined.md)
- [Metronome vs Orb](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/metronome-vs-orb.md)
- [Metronome vs Stripe API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/metronome-vs-stripe-mcp.md)
- [Metronome vs Tempo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/metronome-vs-tempo.md)
- [Nevermined API + MCP vs Paid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nevermined-vs-paid.md)
- [Orb vs Paid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orb-vs-paid.md)
- [Paid vs Stripe API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/paid-vs-stripe-mcp.md)
- [Paid vs Tempo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/paid-vs-tempo.md)
- [Crossmint API + Docs MCP vs Paid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crossmint-vs-paid.md)
- [Paid vs Payman Genie MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/paid-vs-payman.md)
- [Adyen MCP server vs Paid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/adyen-mcp-server-vs-paid.md)
- [Paid vs PayPal MCP server](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/paid-vs-paypal-mcp-server.md)
- [Paid vs Skyfire API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/paid-vs-skyfire.md)
- [Metronome vs PayPal MCP server](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/metronome-vs-paypal-mcp-server.md)