# ERC-8183: Agentic Commerce vs x402

The map lists them as complementary: sites and agents commonly implement both.

[7 Pay](/category/pay/) [ERC-8183: Agentic Commerce](/protocols/erc-8183/) · [7 Pay](/category/pay/) [x402](/protocols/x402/)

|  | [ERC-8183: Agentic Commerce](/protocols/erc-8183/) ERC-8183 | [x402](/protocols/x402/) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Lifecycle step | 7 Pay: Settle the bill | 7 Pay: Settle the bill |
| Answers | How can two agents (a client and a provider) settle a job on-chain, with funds held in escrow and released only once an evaluator attests the work was done? | How can an HTTP client pay per-request or per-resource, in stablecoins, without accounts, API keys, or signup? |
| Governed by | Ethereum EIP/ERC process (Ethereum Magicians discussion + EIPs repository); status Draft, an ERC Standards Track proposal, not yet Final | x402 Foundation, a Series of LF Projects, LLC (Linux Foundation); operational launch announced 2026-07-14; Executive Director Michael Hursta from 2026-10-01; 50+ members |
| Status (issuer's words) | Draft ERC — 'This specification defines the Agentic Commerce Protocol: a job with escrowed budget...' | Open, neutral standard for internet-native payments |
| Version | Draft, created 2026-02-25 (2026-02-25) | x402 protocol specification v2, transports-v2/http.md |
| Form / transport | on-chain registry | HTTP header |
| Found at | none — no well-known file; discovery is by contract address/ABI | none — signalled per-request via the 402 status code, not a fixed well-known path |
| Implementation | prototype | multi-implementation — x402 Foundation (x402.org live dashboard) |
| Evidence | 1 verified, 1 reported | 5 verified |
| Primary use case | Accept payments from agents | Accept payments from agents |
| Last verified | 2026-10-23 (current) | 2026-10-23 (current) |
| Specification | [https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-8183](https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-8183) | [https://github.com/x402-foundation/x402/blob/main/specs/transports-v2/http.md](https://github.com/x402-foundation/x402/blob/main/specs/transports-v2/http.md) |

## When to use which

- Choose ERC-8183: Agentic Commerce when your question is “How can two agents (a client and a provider) settle a job on-chain, with funds held in escrow and released only once an evaluator attests the work was done?” and you accept its maturity: status "Draft ERC — 'This specification defines the Agentic Commerce Protocol: a job with escrowed budget...'", implementation prototype.
- Choose x402 when your question is “How can an HTTP client pay per-request or per-resource, in stablecoins, without accounts, API keys, or signup?” and you accept its maturity: status "Open, neutral standard for internet-native payments", implementation multi-implementation (x402 Foundation (x402.org live dashboard)).

Guidance is derived from the two records (question, status, implementation, prerequisites, pairings), not from opinion. Each record's page carries its numbered references.

## Read the full articles

- [ERC-8183: Agentic Commerce](/protocols/erc-8183/): How can two agents (a client and a provider) settle a job on-chain, with funds held in escrow and released only once an evaluator attests the work was done?
- [x402](/protocols/x402/): How can an HTTP client pay per-request or per-resource, in stablecoins, without accounts, API keys, or signup?

Ask the MCP server to compare any two: the compare-protocols prompt, or get on both ids. [Connect](/connect/).

[erc-8183.json](/data/protocols/erc-8183.json) · [x402.json](/data/protocols/x402.json) · [Markdown](/compare/erc-8183-vs-x402/index.md)