# Brave adds USDC payments for search API access without accounts

_Published Friday, November 13, 2026 at 1:03 AM EST · Products, AI · Latest · Tier 2 — Notable_

![Brave adds USDC payments for search API access without accounts — Primary](https://brave.com/blog/search-api-agentic-payments/images/featured.jpg)

Brave says developers and AI agents can now access its Search API without an account or API key by paying for each request through the x402 protocol. Payments use USDC on the Base blockchain, with Brave operating the payment facilitator.

An unpaid request receives an HTTP 402 response containing the price and payment instructions. The agent signs a payment and retries; verified payment triggers the search and a transaction receipt. Brave lists LLM Context and search endpoints at $0.005 per request ($5 per 1,000). It will cover Base transaction gas fees for a limited time.

## Sources

- [brave.com](https://brave.com/blog/search-api-agentic-payments/)

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Canonical: https://techandbusiness.org/newswire/AFj03UHl9WLVf_lWzJQQIu
Published: 2026-11-13T06:03:03.282Z
Story chronology: 2026-11-12T00:00:00.000Z
Retrieved: 2026-11-13T08:25:33.887Z
Publisher: Tech & Business (techandbusiness.org)