# cred.diy

> The developer-first platform for issuing, managing, and monetizing application credits. Build usage-based pricing, prepaid wallets, subscriptions with credit allowances, and AI-agent payments (x402) with a simple REST API.

cred.diy (also called Cred) lets developers add in-app credits, usage-based billing, and prepaid wallets to any application. It keeps an off-chain credit ledger, takes payments through Stripe hosted checkout, saved cards, and x402 stablecoin payments, and can optionally mint credits as ERC-20 tokens. Every API call costs 1 CRD (platform credit); there is no monthly fee. Use cases include AI usage metering, SaaS usage billing, marketplaces with escrow, and game or community economies.

For the complete documentation and every blog post in one file, see https://cred.diy/llms-full.txt.

## Pages

- [Home](https://cred.diy/): Credit systems for modern apps: issue, manage, and monetize application credits.
- [Features](https://cred.diy/features): Platform capabilities: credit types, wallets, swaps, escrow, subscriptions, agent payments, and on-chain credits.
- [Pricing](https://cred.diy/pricing): Usage-based platform pricing: 1 CRD per API call, no monthly fee, credits never expire.
- [Compare](https://cred.diy/compare): How cred.diy compares to billing platforms, loyalty systems, ledger infrastructure, and building it yourself.
- [Glossary](https://cred.diy/glossary): Plain definitions of credit ledgers, prepaid credits, usage-based pricing, escrow holds, x402, and related terms.
- [Help Center](https://cred.diy/help): Answers to common questions about setup, billing, and integration.
- [Changelog](https://cred.diy/changelog): Latest product releases and updates.
- [Blog](https://cred.diy/blog): Guides on credit systems, usage-based pricing, and payments.

## Docs

- [API Documentation](https://cred.diy/docs): The complete REST API reference on one page: authentication, endpoints, code examples, and SDK guides. (Markdown: https://cred.diy/docs.md)
- [Getting Started](https://cred.diy/docs/getting-started): Get started with the cred.diy credits API: create a project, get an API key, and issue your first credit in minutes.
- [SDK Installation](https://cred.diy/docs/sdk): Install the cred.diy TypeScript/JavaScript SDK and manage application credits, users, and balances from your code.
- [Authentication](https://cred.diy/docs/authentication): Authenticate cred.diy API requests with an x-api-key header. API keys, key expiry, rate limits, and platform credit (CRD) costs.
- [Managing Credits](https://cred.diy/docs/credits): Issue, deduct, and track credits per user and credit type with the cred.diy REST API, including balances and transaction history.
- [End Users](https://cred.diy/docs/users): Manage end users in cred.diy. Users are identified by email or external_id, and the same email always maps to the same wallet.
- [Signup Attribution](https://cred.diy/docs/signup-attribution): Track which app, landing page, or channel each end user came from with cred.diy signup attribution, and target promotions per app.
- [Pricing Tiers](https://cred.diy/docs/pricing-tiers): Create pricing tiers: credit packages your users buy for a fixed price, validated against Stripe's minimum charge.
- [Credit Swaps](https://cred.diy/docs/swaps): Let users exchange one credit type for another atomically, with configurable exchange rates and fees.
- [Escrow / Holds](https://cred.diy/docs/escrow): Hold credits in escrow, then release them or capture them to another user for marketplace and peer-to-peer flows.
- [Wallets & On-Chain](https://cred.diy/docs/wallets): Attach or verify wallet addresses on end users and mint ERC-20 tokens when credits are issued.
- [Agent Payments (x402)](https://cred.diy/docs/agent-payments): Accept x402 v2 stablecoin payments from AI agents: answer with 402 Payment Required, verify the signed payment, and credit the buyer.
- [Payment Rails](https://cred.diy/docs/payment-rails): Compare cred.diy's three payment rails and who is merchant of record on each: Stripe Connect, the platform account, and crypto.
- [Hosted Checkout](https://cred.diy/docs/checkout): Sell credits through Stripe-hosted checkout. Create checkout sessions via API; payments go to your connected Stripe account.
- [Subscriptions](https://cred.diy/docs/subscriptions): Bill customers monthly and add credits after every paid Stripe invoice. List, cancel, and manage credit subscriptions.
- [Saved Cards & Auto Top-Up](https://cred.diy/docs/saved-cards): Save a card at checkout and buy credit packs on it later without the buyer present, for example for auto top-up.
- [Refunds](https://cred.diy/docs/refunds): Refund credit purchases and transactions: claw back issued credits and refund money on Stripe, safely retried with an Idempotency-Key.
- [Pre-Sales](https://cred.diy/docs/presales): Sell credits before launch with pre-sale campaigns to gauge interest, fund development, and build an early user base.
- [Referral Program](https://cred.diy/docs/referrals): Run a referral program where users earn credits for inviting others, with rewards for both referrer and referee.
- [Webhooks](https://cred.diy/docs/webhooks): Receive signed real-time webhook events from cred.diy when credits are issued, deducted, purchased, or refunded.
- [MCP Server](https://cred.diy/docs/mcp): Connect AI agents like Claude and Cursor to cred.diy's MCP server to manage credits, users, pricing, and referrals in natural language.
- [API Reference](https://cred.diy/docs/api-reference): Endpoint-by-endpoint reference for the cred.diy credits API: request parameters, responses, and errors.

## Compare

- [cred.diy vs Usage-Based Billing Platforms](https://cred.diy/compare/billing): Orb, Metronome, Chargebee, Lago. They invoice usage. We run credit economies.
- [cred.diy vs Loyalty / Rewards Systems](https://cred.diy/compare/loyalty): Enterprise loyalty platforms, points systems, gaming currencies. They're marketing tools. We're infrastructure primitives.
- [cred.diy vs Ledger / Wallet Infrastructure](https://cred.diy/compare/ledger): Fintech ledger products, stored value systems, internal wallet solutions. They're financial infrastructure. We're credit infrastructure.
- [cred.diy vs Build It Yourself (DIY)](https://cred.diy/compare/diy): Custom code + database + Stripe integration. You'll build it, it will break, and it will cost 5x what you thought.

## Blog

- [What Does One Credit Buy? Design Packages Customers Can Actually Compare](https://cred.diy/blog/credit-package-pricing-october-2026): A Q4 2026 pricing guide to clear usage units, honest package comparisons, sustainable volume discounts, and fewer surprises at checkout. (Markdown: https://cred.diy/blog/credit-package-pricing-october-2026.md)
- [Launching a Second App? Keep Its Credit Wallets in the Right Project](https://cred.diy/blog/multi-project-launch-checklist-october-2026): An October 2026 launch checklist for choosing wallet boundaries, keeping project credentials aligned, and testing email-first identity without mixing balances. (Markdown: https://cred.diy/blog/multi-project-launch-checklist-october-2026.md)
- [Monthly Credits or Pay As You Go? Build Both Without Two Billing Systems](https://cred.diy/blog/hybrid-credit-billing-october-2026): An October 2026 guide to combining recurring credit allowances with one-off top-ups, explicit cancellation, and invoice-based renewals in Cred. (Markdown: https://cred.diy/blog/hybrid-credit-billing-october-2026.md)
- [AI Agents Can Pay for API Access. Your Payment Boundary Still Needs Work.](https://cred.diy/blog/x402-agent-payments-october-2026): A practical October 2026 checklist for x402 payments: verify challenges, constrain agent spending, separate payment from execution, and respect testnet limits. (Markdown: https://cred.diy/blog/x402-agent-payments-october-2026.md)
- [Paid, but No Credits? A Q4 2026 Checklist for Reliable Wallet Funding](https://cred.diy/blog/credit-ledger-reliability-q4-2026): Why payment success and credit delivery are separate states—and how paid-invoice references, reconciliation, signed webhooks, and atomic updates keep them aligned. (Markdown: https://cred.diy/blog/credit-ledger-reliability-q4-2026.md)
- [Track Which Signups Actually Pay: Signup URL and Credit-Type Attribution](https://cred.diy/blog/signup-attribution-trick): Knowing your top traffic sources isn't enough. Recording the signup URL and the credit type each user claimed shows which channels and offers bring paying customers. (Markdown: https://cred.diy/blog/signup-attribution-trick.md)
- [The Trust Problem in AI Marketplaces (And How Credit Escrow Fixes It)](https://cred.diy/blog/ai-marketplace-credit-escrow): Buyers don't want to pay before delivery; sellers don't want to deliver before payment. Credit escrow is a neutral middle layer an AI marketplace can build in an afternoon. (Markdown: https://cred.diy/blog/ai-marketplace-credit-escrow.md)
- [Subscription Fatigue Is Real. Credits Are an Exit Route.](https://cred.diy/blog/subscription-fatigue-credits-exit): Flat monthly plans fit badly when usage varies wildly between customers. Credit-based billing lets people pay for what they use without another recurring commitment. (Markdown: https://cred.diy/blog/subscription-fatigue-credits-exit.md)
- [How Usage-Based Pricing Models Work for AI Automation Platforms](https://cred.diy/blog/usage-based-pricing-ai-agents): A technical guide to building credit-based ledgers for token-consuming AI agents — metering, billing, and reconciliation with cred.diy. (Markdown: https://cred.diy/blog/usage-based-pricing-ai-agents.md)
- [Cross-App Wallet Identity: The Email-First Approach](https://cred.diy/blog/cross-app-wallet-identity): Learn how email-first user identification creates unified credit wallets across multiple applications, eliminating fragmented balances. (Markdown: https://cred.diy/blog/cross-app-wallet-identity.md)
- [Building AI-Powered Apps with Credit Metering](https://cred.diy/blog/ai-credit-metering): How to implement per-request credit billing for AI features like image generation, chat completions, and embeddings. (Markdown: https://cred.diy/blog/ai-credit-metering.md)
- [Credit Swaps: Building Multi-Currency Economies](https://cred.diy/blog/credit-swaps-multi-currency): How to use credit swaps to enable users to exchange between different credit types, creating rich in-app economies. (Markdown: https://cred.diy/blog/credit-swaps-multi-currency.md)
- [Running Presales and Token Launches with cred.diy](https://cred.diy/blog/presales-token-launches): A complete guide to running presale campaigns that let early adopters purchase credits before your product launches. (Markdown: https://cred.diy/blog/presales-token-launches.md)
- [Introduction to Credit Systems for Modern Apps](https://cred.diy/blog/introduction-to-credit-systems): Learn how credit-based pricing can transform your SaaS business model and improve user experience with usage-based billing. (Markdown: https://cred.diy/blog/introduction-to-credit-systems.md)
- [Implementing Usage-Based Pricing with cred.diy](https://cred.diy/blog/implementing-usage-based-pricing): A step-by-step guide to integrating credit-based pricing into your application using our REST API and webhooks. (Markdown: https://cred.diy/blog/implementing-usage-based-pricing.md)
- [Monetizing Your Platform with Stripe Connect](https://cred.diy/blog/stripe-connect-integration): How to set up Stripe Connect integration to enable marketplace payments and earn platform fees on credit purchases. (Markdown: https://cred.diy/blog/stripe-connect-integration.md)
- [Building a Successful Referral Program](https://cred.diy/blog/referral-program-best-practices): Best practices for designing and implementing a credit-based referral program that drives growth. (Markdown: https://cred.diy/blog/referral-program-best-practices.md)
- [API Security Best Practices for Credit Systems](https://cred.diy/blog/api-security-best-practices): Essential security measures to protect your credit management API and prevent fraud. (Markdown: https://cred.diy/blog/api-security-best-practices.md)
- [Using Webhooks for Real-Time Credit Updates](https://cred.diy/blog/webhooks-real-time-updates): How to leverage webhooks to keep your application in sync with credit transactions and purchases. (Markdown: https://cred.diy/blog/webhooks-real-time-updates.md)

## Optional

- [Privacy Policy](https://cred.diy/privacy): Data handling, retention, and GDPR compliance.
- [Terms of Service](https://cred.diy/terms): Platform terms, acceptable use, and liability.
- [Acceptable Use Policy](https://cred.diy/acceptable-use): What the platform may and may not be used for.
- [Cookie Policy](https://cred.diy/cookies): Cookie usage and tracking disclosures.