Solana Pay is a Solana-native payment specification for QR-code and URL-based USDC and SOL payments, primarily aimed at point-of-sale and consumer commerce. x402 is a chain-agnostic HTTP protocol aimed at machine-initiated API and agent payments. Both can settle USDC on Solana but they target very different use cases.
| x402 | Solana Pay | |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Solana chain only | Chain-agnostic (Solana, Base, Polygon, Arbitrum, World Chain, +more) |
| Trigger surface | QR codes, payment URLs, wallet deep links | HTTP 402 response from any web endpoint |
| Primary user | Humans at checkout / merchants | AI agents and software clients |
| Auth model | Wallet signs a Solana transaction | Signed payment-proof header verified by a facilitator |
| Account / app required | Wallet app on phone | None - any HTTP client |
| Settlement asset | USDC or SOL on Solana | USDC by default; USDT and others via specific facilitators |
| Best for | Retail checkout, P2P transfers, SaaS billing on Solana | Pay-per-call APIs, autonomous agent commerce, micropayments across chains |
See all comparisons, or jump to what x402 is.
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