WordPress · EmDash · x402
Get paid for your content by readers and AI agents, and block (or charge) AI crawlers. Enforced on the server, so inspect-element can't reveal it. USDC on Base and Solana. No accounts, no card fees, no chargebacks.
New Building on EmDash? The EmDash plugin is in early access →
Platforms
The same x402 payments and server-side gate, built natively for each CMS.
A plugin for posts, pages and the REST API. WordPress 5.8+, PHP 7.4+.
[x402_gate] shortcodeA native EmDash plugin with an Astro integration. Free during early access.
Why x402 Paywall
Real enforcement, real dollars (USDC), and a paywall AI agents can actually pay.
Locked content is stripped on the server before the page is sent — it's never in the HTML. View-source, reader mode, disabling CSS, the REST API and RSS feeds all show the teaser, never the paid body.
Readers pay in USDC on Base or Solana. No card processor taking 2.9% + 30¢, no chargebacks, no reader accounts. Money settles straight to your wallet.
Known AI crawlers (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, CCBot, PerplexityBot, Bytespider…) are blocked from paid content by default. On Pro, let verified agents pay per crawl over HTTP 402.
On WordPress, gate whole posts and pages or lock part of an article with a shortcode, with the front-end, REST, feeds, oEmbed and search behind one server-side gate. On EmDash, a Paywall block in the editor does the same.
Install, paste a wallet address, set a price. The free tier runs on a public facilitator on testnet out of the box; go live on mainnet when you're ready.
How it works
x402 puts a price on the HTTP 402 “Payment Required” status code. No plugin has to reinvent checkout — the protocol does it. Built on x402 v2, the current version of the spec, so any x402-compatible wallet or agent can pay.
Your server replies with HTTP 402 Payment Required and a machine-readable list of what to pay: amount in USDC, network, token and your wallet.
The reader — or any x402-compatible AI agent — signs a USDC payment for the exact amount on the chosen network. No account, no redirect, no card form.
A facilitator confirms the settlement on-chain. Only then does the server release the content and issue a payment-bound access grant. Replay-proof and idempotent.
Every surface covered
The classic paywall bug is one surface forgetting to strip the paid body. On WordPress, x402 Paywall routes the front-end render, REST API, RSS/Atom feeds, oEmbed, search and sitemaps through a single server-side gate, so paid content never leaks.
On EmDash, paid blocks are removed before the page renders, and EmDash's own search, content API and MCP responses are filtered for anyone who can't edit the entry. What's covered on EmDash.
USDC on
Honest scope: USDC only, these two networks (plus their testnets). No other tokens or chains.
Why it’s secure
Access is granted only after a payment settles on-chain — never from a cookie, and never when a check is down.
Trusted by publishers & builders
Replace these slots with real logos, testimonials and metrics as they come in — never invented.
“Placeholder testimonial 1 — a real customer quote about getting paid in USDC without card fees or chargebacks will replace this.”
“Placeholder testimonial 2 — a real customer quote about getting paid in USDC without card fees or chargebacks will replace this.”
“Placeholder testimonial 3 — a real customer quote about getting paid in USDC without card fees or chargebacks will replace this.”
FAQ
x402 is an open payment protocol built on the HTTP 402 "Payment Required" status code, and the plugin speaks x402 v2 — the current version of the spec. When someone requests paid content, the server responds with 402 and a machine-readable list of what to pay (amount, network, token, destination). The visitor pays in USDC, and only after a facilitator confirms the settlement — over x402's standardized verify and settle API — does the server release the content. No accounts, no redirects to a checkout page.
No. The locked content is removed on the server before the page is sent, so it is never in the HTML. There is nothing to reveal by viewing source, disabling CSS, using reader mode, or opening the REST API or RSS feed. Access is granted only after a verified, settled payment.
USDC only, on Base and Solana (plus Base Sepolia and Solana Devnet testnets for development). USDC is a regulated dollar stablecoin, so pricing stays predictable — no volatile-coin surprises for you or your readers.
Payments settle directly to the wallet address you configure. The plugin never takes custody of funds. You are responsible for your own tax and regulatory obligations; the plugin is software, not a payment processor or merchant of record.
Those use card rails: accounts, card fees (roughly 2.9% + 30¢), and chargeback risk. x402 Paywall settles USDC peer-to-peer — no accounts for readers, no card fees, and no chargebacks. It is also natively machine-payable: AI agents can pay for a page over plain HTTP, which no membership plugin can do.
Yes. By default the plugin blocks known AI crawlers (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, CCBot, PerplexityBot, Bytespider and others) from your paid content entirely. On Pro you can instead let a verified agent pay per crawl via HTTP 402 — pay-per-crawl for bots, on a per-surface opt-in basis.
Any x402-compatible agent, crawler or wallet can pay a locked URL. Because the plugin implements the standard x402 v2 wire format — the standard payment headers and CAIP-2 chain identifiers every x402 tool understands — payment isn't limited to the wallet UI we bundle. That interoperability is what makes pay-per-crawl real: a well-behaved AI crawler can settle a USDC micropayment and read the page over plain HTTP. (Pay-per-crawl is a Pro feature and off by default.)
Yes, in early access. The EmDash plugin adds a Paywall block to the EmDash editor with a per-entry price, so you can paywall a whole entry or just part of one. Readers pay with a browser wallet and AI agents pay over x402 v2, in USDC on Base or Solana. It is free during early access and not on npm yet; a testnet demo runs at demodash.x402-wp.com.
A genuinely useful paywall: whole-post and partial (shortcode) paywalls on one network using a public facilitator, AI-crawler blocking, and feed protection. It is GPL-licensed and self-hostable. Pro adds both networks at once, agent pay-per-crawl, custom design, advanced logging and priority support.
The free plugin updates through its distribution channel; the Pro build self-updates from api.x402-wp.com using your license key. Both are documented in Get Started.
Install the free plugin, add your wallet, and lock your first post in minutes. Upgrade to Pro when you need every network, agent pay-per-crawl, and custom design.