# Metronome vs Tempo

> Tempo scores 76.6 (BB) to Metronome's 69.7 (B) for usage billing. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/metronome-vs-tempo
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/metronome-vs-tempo.md (~2,150 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/metronome-vs-tempo.min.md (~630 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/metronome-vs-tempo.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

Tempo scores 76.6 (BB) on agent readiness against Metronome's 69.7 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. 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
- Tempo: grade BB, 76.6/100, rank #27 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/tempo.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/tempo.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.

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

### Tempo (BB)

Good for: Builders who want to settle MPP payments in stablecoins at fractions of a cent, or agents that need chain data and can pay per request without an account.

Ahead on:
- Payments & pricing, 80 against 39
- Maintenance & community, 88 against 82

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- Open source

Watch for: The API versioning page says endpoints are not yet stable and may change without notice


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Metronome | Tempo | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 68 | 71 | Tempo +3 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 88 | 88 | even |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 75 | 78 | Tempo +3 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 68 | 70 | Tempo +2 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 39 | 80 | Tempo +41 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 82 | 88 | Tempo +6 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 65 | 63 | Metronome +2 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **69.7 · B** | **76.6 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Metronome | Tempo |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Metronome (Stripe) | Tempo |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.metronome.com` | `https://api.tempo.xyz/v1` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Pay per use |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under the Stripe Services Agreement. The SDKs on GitHub are Apache-2.0 | MIT OR Apache-2.0 |
| Tools exposed | none | 4 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-09-29 | 2026-09-24 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-09-28 | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-04-28 | 2026-07-31 |
| Customer content may train models | yes |  |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes |  |
| Popularity | 7 stars, 363k npm/wk | 1k stars, 209k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | none | 3.1/5 (8) |

## 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.

**Tempo.** api.tempo.xyz accepts MPP on its anonymous endpoints, so an agent can pay per request without an account. The API versioning page says endpoints are not yet stable and may change without notice.

## 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

### Tempo

1. Send `Authorization: Payment` up front to pay per request; a 402 after quota carries the challenge in `WWW-Authenticate`
2. Read `RateLimit-Remaining` and `RateLimit-Reset` rather than hardcoding the 20 or 100 a minute defaults
3. Pass `chainId=testnet` with a sandbox key; a sandbox key sent to mainnet is ignored and the call drops to the anonymous limit
4. Use `tempo request --dry-run` before paying an MPP endpoint to see the cost
5. Branch on `error.code`, never on `error.message`

## Questions

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

Tempo scores 76.6 (BB) on agent readiness against Metronome's 69.7 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories.

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

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

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

Yes. Metronome has a hosted endpoint at https://api.metronome.com and Tempo at https://api.tempo.xyz/v1.

### Are Metronome and Tempo open source?

No open-source release is listed for Metronome. Tempo is open source (MIT OR Apache-2.0).


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Metronome or Tempo

- [ATXP vs Metronome](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/atxp-vs-metronome.md)
- [Lago vs Metronome](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lago-vs-metronome.md)
- [Lago vs Tempo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lago-vs-tempo.md)
- [Metronome vs Nevermined API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/metronome-vs-nevermined.md)
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- [Metronome vs Stripe API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/metronome-vs-stripe-mcp.md)
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