Docs · 17 Aug 2026 · Miven team
Pay-Per-Crawl vs Pay-Per-View
Two AI-era monetization models — one charges the bots that crawl you, the other charges the readers who open your content. Here is how to choose.
Both models are built on x402, the HTTP-native payment protocol. The difference is who pays: a robot or a human.
Pay-Per-Crawl
AI agents and crawlers pay every time they fetch a page. This targets the machine traffic that currently scrapes your content for free to train models or answer user queries. Pricing can be per page, per URL, or via prepaid credit, and the bot pays with its own wallet.
Pay-Per-View
A reader pays a small fee each time they open an article — a microtransaction instead of a monthly subscription. Ideal for single articles, gated guides, and occasional readers who do not want another subscription.
Side-by-side comparison
| Dimension | Pay-Per-Crawl | Pay-Per-View |
|---|---|---|
| Who pays | AI bots, crawlers, LLM providers | Human readers (individuals) |
| Billing unit | Per page crawled | Per article viewed |
| Best for | Publishers whose content feeds AI models | Publishers with direct reader traffic |
| Setup complexity | Medium — bot detection + pricing | Low — wallet + paywall |
| Payment protocol | x402 over HTTP | x402 over HTTP |
Which fits your content?
- Your content is heavily crawled by AI → Pay-Per-Crawl.
- Your content is read by humans directly → Pay-Per-View.
- Mixed traffic → run both; x402 prices per request on either side.
Publishers monetize via Miven for Publishers. Creators and writers use Miven for Creators.
Frequently asked questions
What is Pay-Per-Crawl?
Pay-Per-Crawl is a pricing model where AI bots and crawlers pay each time they fetch or crawl a page. It targets machine traffic — LLM providers, search engines, and research agents — instead of human readers.
What is Pay-Per-View?
Pay-Per-View charges a visitor for each piece of content they open. It replaces traditional subscriptions and paywalls with a per-article microtransaction paid from a crypto wallet.
Which model should a publisher choose?
It depends on the audience. If most of your traffic is AI agents, use Pay-Per-Crawl. If it is human readers, use Pay-Per-View. Both run on x402 and can coexist on the same site.
How does x402 make both models possible?
x402 is an HTTP-native payment protocol. A server answers a request with 402 Payment Required plus payment requirements; the client pays with a wallet signature and retries the request. Because it rides on HTTP, it works for bots and browsers alike.
Do Pay-Per-Crawl and Pay-Per-View replace subscription paywalls?
They are an alternative. Recurring subscriptions charge a flat fee whether or not content is consumed. Pay-per-use billing charges only for actual usage — which is often simpler for both publisher and reader.