PAY for Windows is a command-line tool for developers building AI agents that need to pay for things on their own. It sends USDC payments on the Base network and is aimed at Web3 developers, automation builders and teams testing agent-to-service commerce. If you have wanted a script to pay a small fee for an API call without a person clicking through a checkout, this is the kind of problem PAY targets.
The program is open source under the MIT license and free to use. The current release is 0.2.14, and it installs on Windows through winget. Its scope is deliberately narrow: one stablecoin, one network and a small set of payment modes, which keeps the tool focused. Because it moves real money, read the safety section before installing and test with small amounts first.
What Is PAY and Who Is It For?
PAY is a payment layer for software rather than people. Instead of a wallet app where you click to send, it is a command-line program that scripts and AI agents can call. The most natural users are developers who build agents, run automation pipelines or offer paid APIs and want those services to accept payment in USDC.
It is less suited to someone who only wants to hold or send crypto manually. If your goal is a general-purpose wallet with a graphical interface, PAY is the wrong category of tool.
How Micropayments Shape Machine Commerce
Traditional card payments carry fixed fees, so charging a few cents for a single API call rarely makes sense. Stablecoins like USDC, combined with fast, low-cost networks such as Base, make very small amounts practical to settle on-chain.
Metered billing fits this model. Rather than asking for a payment per request, a service can track usage and settle in batches, which keeps overhead low for both sides. Understanding this trade-off helps you decide whether an agent really needs per-call payments at all.
Practical Scenarios for Agent Payments
Agent payments tend to show up in a few concrete patterns:
- A research agent pays a data provider for each query it runs.
- A content tool buys a paid image or text generation call in the middle of a task.
- A service publishes a paid endpoint and wants agents to pay per request rather than through a signup form.
In each case the value is automation: the payment happens inside the workflow, without a human approving each step. That is also why spending limits and careful testing matter before any agent gets access to real funds.
Key features
Direct Payments
Metered Tabs
x402 Protocol Integration
Supported coins
PAY is built around USDC on the Base network. That is the asset and chain to plan around: agents, services and test setups should all be configured for USDC on Base. Choose your setup accordingly before you commit any funds.
How to install PAY on Windows
PS> winget install pay-skill.pay- 1
Install with winget
Open PowerShell or Windows Terminal and run: winget install pay-skill.pay. Winget ships with current versions of Windows 10 and 11 through the App Installer package, so no separate package manager is needed. Let the installer finish before moving on.
- 2
Confirm the Installation
Close and reopen your terminal so the updated PATH is loaded, then check that the new command runs. If it is not found, review the winget output for errors and run the install again.
-
Manual Download Option
If you prefer not to use winget, download only from the official website at https://pay-skill.com or from the GitHub Releases page linked from it. Verify the SHA-256 checksum before running the installer.
System requirements
- Windows with winget available (included in current Windows 10 and 11 releases)
How to use PAY
Using PAY means connecting a USDC balance on Base to the command line and choosing the payment mode that fits your task. Start with a test setup before you point it at real funds.
- Install PAY with winget and confirm the command runs in a fresh terminal.
- Prepare a Base wallet holding a small amount of USDC for testing, and keep its seed phrase offline.
- Review the command help to see the available options for direct payments, tabs and x402 requests.
- Send a single direct payment to a test recipient you control, then check the transaction on a Base block explorer.
- If your workflow bills by usage, open a metered tab with a small limit and confirm how it settles.
- Only after these tests, connect the tool to your agent or script, and set a spending cap on the agent side.
Keep logs of every payment your agent makes. Reviewing them after each run is the simplest way to catch a bug before it costs more.
Pros & cons
- Free and open source under the MIT license, so the code can be reviewed and adapted
- Covers direct payments, metered tabs and x402 integration in one tool
- Installs on Windows with a single winget command
- Focused on one asset and one network, which keeps the scope clear
- Command-line only, with no graphical interface
- Limited to USDC on Base
- Handling payments requires careful key management and testing
- Version 0.2.x suggests the interface may still change between releases
Is PAY safe?
Because PAY signs transactions that move real USDC, treat installation as a security decision. Download only from the official website or the GitHub Releases page, never from a mirror or a link shared in a chat. Verify the SHA-256 checksum or signature against the value published by the project before running the installer. When using winget, use the exact package ID pay-skill.pay to avoid look-alike packages.
Never enter your seed phrase on any third-party website or into a chat, form or script you did not write. Payments on Base are generally irreversible, so test with small amounts. Check the latest version on the official website before updating.
- Official source only. Download from pay-skill.com. Ignore ads and lookalike domains.
- Check the SHA-256. Compare the installer hash with the value the developer publishes before running it.
- Never share your seed phrase. No developer, support agent or website — including CryptApps — will ever ask for it.
Alternatives
PAY is not a general development toolkit like Foundry, which compiles, tests and deploys contracts, or an IDE such as Remix Desktop, where you write Solidity. Tenderly CLI focuses on debugging and monitoring contracts, and Alchemy, Infura and QuickNode provide RPC access to nodes. PAY sits at a different point in the stack: it handles payments made by software at runtime.
In practice, many projects combine these tools. You might use Foundry to test a paid endpoint, a node provider for RPC access, and PAY to send the payment itself. Postman is useful for checking JSON-RPC responses, though it does not send payments.
Specifications
- Price
- Free
- Type
- Open source
- License
- MIT
- Latest version
- 0.2.14
- Last update
- —
- Windows support
- Yes (available via winget)
- Official site
- pay-skill.com
- Install command
- winget install pay-skill.pay
Frequently asked questions
Yes. PAY is free to use and released under the MIT license, which allows you to inspect and modify the source code. Installation on Windows is done through winget with the package ID pay-skill.pay. Free use does not cover the USDC you send on the Base network, which you fund yourself.
It can be, if you get it from the right place. Download from the official website or GitHub Releases, verify the SHA-256 checksum or signature, and keep your seed phrase private. Because PAY moves real money, begin with small test amounts before connecting it to an agent.
PAY is a command-line tool for AI agent payments in USDC on Base. It supports direct one-time payments, metered tabs for usage-based billing and integration with the x402 protocol. It is aimed at automated workflows rather than manual wallet use.
Yes. PAY is a command-line program, so a script or a simple automation job can call it just as well as an agent can. The agent focus describes the use case the tool targets. Any workflow that needs to send a USDC payment on Base from the terminal can use it.
x402 is a protocol that lets a server respond to a request with a payment requirement, so the client can pay and then receive the resource over standard HTTP. PAY's integration lets an agent handle these requests automatically. It is useful when paid access needs to work without account sign-ups.
A direct payment is a single transfer for one purchase. A metered tab accumulates usage over time and settles later, which reduces the number of on-chain transactions for services that charge per call. Choose direct payments for one-off purchases and tabs for repeated, usage-based services.
Verdict
PAY for Windows suits developers and teams building AI agents or automated services that need to pay in USDC on Base. It is free, open source under the MIT license, and easy to install with winget. It is not a fit for people who want a visual wallet or a general crypto trading tool. Treat it as infrastructure: read the documentation, test with small amounts and keep keys secure. Its 0.2.x version line suggests an early stage, so plan for changes.