AgentPays and Nekuda both help AI agents pay for things, with different shapes. AgentPays is an MCP-native managed service: connect it to your agent, and it issues a single-use virtual card per approved purchase with spending rules, human approval, and audit built in. Nekuda is a developer SDK that gives agents a wallet to store and inject the user's payment credentials at checkout, plus "mandates" that record signed proof of user authorization for a purchase.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | AgentPays | Nekuda |
|---|---|---|
| Form factor | MCP-native managed service | Developer SDK you integrate into your app |
| Integration | Add one MCP server (Claude, ChatGPT, custom agents) | Drop in the SDK and build the checkout flow |
| Payment model | Single-use virtual card issued per approved purchase | Stored card credentials injected at checkout, network tokens |
| Authorization | Server-side spending rules plus human email approval | Mandates: signed records of user purchase authorization |
| Spend controls | Per-transaction caps, daily/weekly/monthly limits, merchant allow/blocklists | Spending limits and conditions defined in mandates |
| Human approval | Built-in email approval flow with duplicate detection | Mandate captures authorization up front; not a live approval gate |
| Audit | Full logged history of agent purchases | Mandates serve as verifiable authorization records |
Managed Service vs SDK
The core difference is who builds the flow. Nekuda gives developers an SDK and the building blocks (wallet, mandates) to construct agent checkout inside their own application. AgentPays is a managed service you connect over MCP, the spending rules, approval flow, and audit are already built and enforced server-side, so there is little to assemble. If you are a developer building your own checkout experience, an SDK gives you control. If you want agent spending governed and audited out of the box without building it, the managed MCP service is less work.
When AgentPays Is the Right Choice
Choose AgentPays if you want agent card spending that is governed and auditable without building the flow yourself: a single MCP connection, per-agent and cross-agent limits, human approval over thresholds, duplicate-purchase protection, and a complete record, working with Claude, ChatGPT, or custom agents.
More comparisons: AgentPays vs Crossmint · AgentPays vs Skyfire