Guides

Consumer Monetization

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

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Hunter Hodnett
Hunter Hodnett CPTO at Chipp
| 1 min read
# monetization # stripe # payments # pricing # agentic-commerce # tutorials # advanced

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. This guide covers the full Monetize tab in depth.

The Three Tabs

TabPurpose
SellConnect Stripe, enable monetization, and create credit packages or subscriptions
PricingSet per-tool credit costs so users pay only when your agent performs valuable actions
CatalogList 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.

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.

ℹ️

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 TypeHow It Works
One-TimeUser buys a fixed number of credits. Each message costs 1 credit. When credits run out, they buy more.
SubscriptionUser 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

MetricDescription
Total RevenueLifetime earnings from this app
Total PurchasesNumber of completed transactions
Active SubscriptionsCurrently active subscribers
Unique CustomersDistinct 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

Open the Pricing tab

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

2

Set the pricing mode

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

3

Set the credit cost

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

Example Pricing Strategy

ToolModeCostRationale
search_knowledgeFree0Low-cost operation, encourages usage
generate_reportCredits5High-value output
send_emailCredits2External side effect
query_databaseCredits3Direct data access
💡

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:

FieldDescription
NameProduct name shown in the catalog
DescriptionWhat the product does
SKUUnique identifier
PriceCost in cents (e.g., 999 = $9.99)
CurrencyPayment currency (default: USD)
Fulfillmentautomatic (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.

ℹ️

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.

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.

ℹ️

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