> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://developers.circle.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Agent nanopayments

> Gas-free, batched USDC payments at sub-cent scale for AI agents.

Agent Nanopayments, built on [Gateway Nanopayments](/gateway/nanopayments), let
your AI agent pay for [x402](/gateway/nanopayments/concepts/x402)-compatible
services in sub-cent USDC. These payments would normally be uneconomical due to
per-payment gas costs, but batching them into a single onchain settlement makes
high-frequency machine-to-machine commerce viable.

Your agent uses [Circle CLI](/agent-stack/circle-cli) to deposit USDC into a
Gateway balance, discover services, and pay for them.

## Get started

Follow the [quickstart](/agent-stack/agent-nanopayments/quickstart) to deposit
USDC, find a service, and make a nanopayment.

## Use cases

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Pay for APIs and services" icon="bolt">
    Pay for x402-compatible APIs on a per-request basis. No subscriptions or
    per-service sign-ups.
  </Card>

  <Card title="On-demand compute and data" icon="server">
    Pay for compute, data, or storage at usage scale. Sub-cent payments make
    granular billing viable.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Agent-to-agent commerce" icon="arrows-left-right">
    Enable machine-to-machine payments at high frequency, with batched
    settlement keeping costs predictable.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Service discovery" icon="store">
    Find x402-compatible services on [Circle Agent
    Marketplace](https://agents.circle.com/services) and pay using your [agent
    wallet](/agent-stack/agent-wallets).
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Features

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Batched settlement" icon="gas-pump">
    Gateway batches many payment authorizations and settles them onchain in a
    single transaction, amortizing gas across thousands of payments. Your agent
    pays no per-transaction gas. Learn more about [batched
    settlement](/gateway/nanopayments/concepts/batched-settlement).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="x402 protocol" icon="code">
    Nanopayments use the [x402 standard](/gateway/nanopayments/concepts/x402),
    an open HTTP-native payment protocol built around the `402 Payment Required`
    status code. Sellers declare payment requirements, your agent signs a
    payment payload, and the exchange happens in a single request-response
    cycle.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Crosschain balance" icon="arrow-right-arrow-left">
    Your nanopayments balance can live on any [Gateway-supported
    blockchain](/gateway/references/supported-blockchains).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

<Tip>
  To integrate x402 and Gateway Nanopayments in your application code instead of
  Circle CLI, see the [Nanopayments buyer
  quickstart](/gateway/nanopayments/quickstarts/buyer).
</Tip>