# Brave Search API now accepts x402 agentic payments in USDC on Base

published: 2026-11-12T18:05:36.104Z
topic: payments
source: https://brave.com/blog/search-api-agentic-payments/
url: https://aiagentnews.io/stories/brave-search-api-now-accepts-x402-agentic-payments-in-usdc-on-base

Brave's Search API now accepts pay-per-request payments under the x402 protocol, so agents can query it without an account or API key. Payment is made in USDC on the Base blockchain, at $5 per 1,000 requests.

Brave's Search API now accepts payments through the x402 protocol, letting developers and autonomous agents query its independent search index and settle each request in real time. Each request is paid for rather than authenticated, so no API key or account plan is required. Brave runs its own facilitator that accepts USDC on the Base blockchain, and other networks and stablecoins are expected soon.

An unpaid request receives an HTTP 402 Payment Required response that states the price and the payment details. The agent signs a USDC payment for that amount and retries the request with the payment attached. After the payment is verified, the search runs and the results come back with a receipt for the transaction on Base.

Pricing follows Brave's published API rates. LLM Context, along with the web, news, image, video and local endpoints, costs $0.005 per request, or $5 per 1,000. Brave says gas fees on Base will be covered for a limited time, and it points developers to Purl Wallet, a CLI wallet developed by Stripe, for funding an agent with Base-native USDC.

## Why it matters if you build agents

Agents can now buy search on demand without a Brave account, a subscription plan or a stored API key, which removes key management from the agent's setup. The agent's wallet needs USDC on Base, and client code has to handle the 402 response by signing and retrying each request. Because gas coverage is temporary, budget for network fees once it ends.