# Brave Search API — AI agents can now pay per request with x402

> Brave Search API lets an AI agent pay for each search with a stablecoin, with no account or API key.

- Org: Brave
- Date: 2026-11-12
- Category: tool
- Source: https://brave.com/blog/search-api-agentic-payments/
- Canonical page: https://ai-tldr.dev/releases/brave-search-api-x402-agent-payments/

## In short

Brave Search API now accepts pay-per-request payments through the open x402 protocol. Agents need no account or API key: they pay in USDC on Base, at $0.005 per request on the web, news, image, video, local and LLM Context endpoints.

## What it is

Brave Search API now supports the x402 protocol, so developers and AI agents can query Brave's search index and pay per request without a plan, account or key. The signed payment replaces the API key as the credential. Answers, Autosuggest and Spellcheck are not sold this way yet and still need a key.

## How it works

An unpaid request to an x402 endpoint returns HTTP 402 Payment Required with the price and payment details. The agent signs a USDC payment on the Base network and retries the request with the payment attached. Brave runs its own facilitator to verify it, runs the search, and returns a receipt for the transaction on Base. Brave says it covers Base gas fees for a limited time.

## Why it matters

An agent can now buy search on its own, with a funded wallet and an x402-compatible client. Nobody has to sign up, store a key or pick a monthly plan first. Brave says other networks and stablecoins are coming soon.

## Who it's for

agent builders who want keyless, pay-as-you-go web search

## Try it

Read https://api-dashboard.search.brave.com/documentation/guides/agent-payments and send requests to search.agent.s.brave.app with an x402 client such as Purl Wallet

## Links

- [Announcement](https://brave.com/blog/search-api-agentic-payments/)
- [Agent Payments Docs](https://api-dashboard.search.brave.com/documentation/guides/agent-payments)
- [Hacker News](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50477649)