# Consumer Monetization

The complete guide to monetizing your AI agent with Stripe payments, per-tool pricing, and product catalogs.

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The Monetize tab in the app builder gives you three ways to earn revenue from your AI agents: selling credit packages and subscriptions, setting per-tool pricing, and listing products for agentic commerce. This guide covers all three.

For the basics of connecting Stripe and creating your first package, see [Selling Access to Your AI](/docs/guides/selling-access). This guide covers the full Monetize tab in depth.

## The Three Tabs

| Tab | Purpose |
|-----|---------|
| **Sell** | Connect Stripe, enable monetization, and create credit packages or subscriptions |
| **Pricing** | Set per-tool credit costs so users pay only when your agent performs valuable actions |
| **Catalog** | List products and manage API keys for agentic commerce (agent-to-agent transactions) |

## Sell Tab

The Sell tab is where you connect payments and create packages. For full setup instructions, see [Selling Access to Your AI](/docs/guides/selling-access).

### Stripe Connect

Chipp uses Stripe Connect so payments go directly to your Stripe account. Click **Connect Stripe**, complete the onboarding flow, and you'll see your account status with a link to your Stripe dashboard.

> **Note:** Stripe must be connected and charges must be enabled before you can create packages or list products. If charges are not yet enabled, complete the remaining verification steps in your Stripe dashboard.

### Monetization Toggle

Enable the monetization toggle to require credits for using your agent. Configure free trial credits (given to new users automatically), currency, and tax behavior.

### Packages

| Package Type | How It Works |
|--------------|-------------|
| **One-Time** | User buys a fixed number of credits. Each message costs 1 credit. When credits run out, they buy more. |
| **Subscription** | User pays monthly or yearly. Configure whether subscriptions bypass credit checks or grant a recurring credit allotment. |

### Subscription Bypass

The **Subscription Bypasses Credits** toggle controls whether active subscribers get unlimited access or still consume credits:

- **On**: Subscribers send unlimited messages. No credit deduction.
- **Off**: Subscribers still consume credits per message.

### Revenue Stats

| Metric | Description |
|--------|-------------|
| **Total Revenue** | Lifetime earnings from this app |
| **Total Purchases** | Number of completed transactions |
| **Active Subscriptions** | Currently active subscribers |
| **Unique Customers** | Distinct paying users |

## Pricing Tab

The Pricing tab lets you set credit costs on a per-tool basis -- charge users only when your agent performs a meaningful action, not for every message.

### How It Works

By default, every message costs 1 credit. With per-tool pricing, you can make conversations **free** and charge credits **only** when specific tools execute (e.g., generating a report, querying a database).

### Setting Up Tool Pricing


  **1.** 
    <strong>Open the Pricing tab</strong>

    All tools configured on your app appear, grouped by source: Custom Actions, Hosted Integrations, MCP Integrations, and Components.
  


  **2.** 
    <strong>Set the pricing mode</strong>

    For each tool, choose **Free** (no credit cost) or **Credits** (costs a specific number of credits per execution).
  


  **3.** 
    <strong>Set the credit cost</strong>

    For tools in "Credits" mode, enter the cost per execution. Changes save automatically.
  


### Example Pricing Strategy

| Tool | Mode | Cost | Rationale |
|------|------|------|-----------|
| `search_knowledge` | Free | 0 | Low-cost operation, encourages usage |
| `generate_report` | Credits | 5 | High-value output |
| `send_email` | Credits | 2 | External side effect |
| `query_database` | Credits | 3 | Direct data access |

> **Tip:** Make basic conversation free and only charge for high-value actions. This reduces friction for new users while aligning costs with the value your agent delivers.

## Catalog Tab

The Catalog tab powers **agentic commerce** -- the ability for external AI agents to discover, purchase, and use your agent's capabilities programmatically through the Agent Commerce Protocol (ACP).

### What Is Agentic Commerce?

Agentic commerce lets other AI agents (not just human users) buy and use your agent's services. For example, a customer support agent could purchase access to your specialized analysis tool, or a research agent could buy your data enrichment service on a per-use basis.

### Products

List items for sale through the agent catalog:

| Field | Description |
|-------|-------------|
| **Name** | Product name shown in the catalog |
| **Description** | What the product does |
| **SKU** | Unique identifier |
| **Price** | Cost in cents (e.g., 999 = $9.99) |
| **Currency** | Payment currency (default: USD) |
| **Fulfillment** | `automatic` (instant) or `manual` (requires approval) |

### API Keys

API keys let external agents authenticate when purchasing. Create keys in the Catalog tab -- each key is shown only once at creation. You can optionally set a webhook URL to receive order notifications.

### Orders

The Catalog tab shows recent orders from external agents with status, amount, currency, and timestamp.

> **Note:** If your app has no evaluations configured, the Catalog tab recommends setting up evals before listing products. Evals help ensure consistent quality for paying customers. See [Understanding Evals](/docs/guides/understanding-evals).

## Putting It All Together

A common monetization strategy combines all three tabs:

1. **Sell**: Create a free trial (10 credits) and a subscription ($29/month with unlimited access)
2. **Pricing**: Make conversation free, charge 3-5 credits for high-value tool executions
3. **Catalog**: List your agent's unique capabilities as products for other AI agents to purchase

This gives you three revenue streams: direct consumer subscriptions, per-action credit revenue, and programmatic agent-to-agent commerce.

> **Note:** Consumer monetization requires user signup to be enabled. Go to the **Access** tab and make sure **User Signup** is turned on before enabling credits.

## Troubleshooting

### Stripe Not Connecting

1. Make sure you complete all Stripe onboarding steps
2. Check that your Stripe account has charges enabled
3. If stuck, disconnect and reconnect Stripe

### Users Not Being Charged

1. Verify the monetization toggle is enabled in the Sell tab
2. Check that at least one package exists
3. Confirm the user's credits are exhausted (free trial credits may still be active)

### Tool Pricing Not Taking Effect

1. Per-tool pricing only applies when monetization is enabled
2. Verify the tool's pricing mode is set to "Credits" (not "Free")
3. Changes save automatically -- refresh the page if the UI seems stuck