x402 trust surface comparison
A factual matrix of x402station.io alongside nine near-direct services in the x402 agentic-commerce trust niche. Methodology, pricing, signal depth, and independence - by row, with sources. Compiled 2026-05-13; refreshed quarterly.
| Service | Methodology | Probe cadence | Pricing | Independence | Open-spec authorship | Deepest-signal coverage | Cross-protocol | Proxy / resell detection | Public dataset |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| x402station.io | Active probing + CDP settlement merge + signal classification | 10 min | $0.001 preflight / $1 verified-cert (30 d) | Independent | x402-signals v0.2.0 | zombie + decoy + never-paid + concentration + proxy/resell | Base mainnet only | yes - heuristic proxy_markup | public HF v0.1; refresh pending |
| ScoutScore.ai | Multi-vector trust scoring + active probing | 30 min | not disclosed | Independent | none disclosed | partial - uptime + price outlier | x402 only disclosed | none disclosed | none disclosed |
| 402 Index | Multi-protocol active probing + directory | 60 min | free tier disclosed | Independent | none disclosed | partial - uptime + multi-protocol indexing | L402 + x402 + MPP | none disclosed | none disclosed |
| x402.direct | Search + 4-factor Trust Score | 30 min | $0.001 per query | Independent | none disclosed | partial - uptime + price + transport | x402 only disclosed | none disclosed | none disclosed |
| 402audit | Proxy/resell detection + markup analysis | not disclosed | not disclosed | Independent | none disclosed | proxy/resell specialization | x402 + MPP positioning | yes | none disclosed |
| Signal402 | Editorial + settlement aggregation + active probing | 6 h | $0.01 catalog / $0.02 recommend / $0.03 assess / $0.01 probe | Independent, Bazaar-integrated | none disclosed | partial - uptime + editorial | x402 only disclosed | none disclosed | none disclosed |
| Agent402 | Demand intel + marketplace trust scoring | not disclosed | free during ramp phase | Independent | none disclosed | partial - review + on-chain + uptime + success rate | 13 chains + 3 facilitators | none disclosed | none disclosed |
| MerchantGuard.ai | Compliance suite + on-demand agent/payment risk checks | on demand | varies by product; x402-specific pricing not isolated in public snapshot | Independent | none disclosed | partial - compliance and agent risk | not disclosed | partial | none disclosed |
| x402scan | Block explorer + ecosystem statistics | not disclosed | free; source public | Independent | none disclosed | explorer, not pre-payment risk signals | x402 only disclosed | none disclosed | partial - source code |
| x402ready | Agent-side handshake / timing / recovery testing | per execution | $1.00 USDC per execution in draft snapshot | Independent | none disclosed | n/a - caller-agent readiness, not endpoint trust | x402 only disclosed | none disclosed | none disclosed |
Independent risk signal layer for x402 agentic commerce. It probes the active catalog every 10 minutes, merges probe results with CDP settlement data, and exposes decoy, zombie, never-paid, concentration, and proxy/resell signals before agents or policy engines authorize payment.
ScoutScore.ai positions itself as trust infrastructure for autonomous agent commerce, with scores based on contract clarity, availability, response fidelity, and identity/safety signals. Public pricing and full weighting details are not disclosed in the cited snapshot.
402 Index is a protocol-agnostic paid API directory across L402, x402, and MPP, with search, health status, registration, webhooks, and protocol-change detection. Its breadth is discovery and multi-protocol indexing rather than x402-only pre-payment classification.
x402.direct is framed as a search surface for x402 endpoints, with a Trust Score oriented around transport, domain, network, and pricing signals. It is closer to search and routing than a deep forensic signal layer.
402audit specializes in whether a paid endpoint is original or a thin wrapper around an upstream API, including markup and response-fingerprint checks. x402station.io now exposes a conservative proxy_markup signal; 402audit remains the specialist on response fingerprinting.
Signal402 presents an ecosystem radar with service categories, live status, settlement volume, payer counts, and paid catalog/recommend/assess/probe endpoints. Its public framing blends editorial curation, settlement aggregation, and active checks.
Agent402 combines demand intelligence with a marketplace. Its trust-score language includes reviews, on-chain reputation, success rate, and uptime, and its public positioning is broader than endpoint risk: supply matching, listing, and marketplace discovery.
MerchantGuard.ai is compliance-led, with KYA, OFAC, LLM firewall, GuardGate, GuardScore, and kill-switch language around agent and merchant risk. Its scope is wider compliance infrastructure, so it is adjacent rather than a narrow x402 endpoint risk-signal layer.
x402scan is an open-source ecosystem explorer for x402 servers and activity. It is useful ecosystem infrastructure, but the public repo framing is explorer/statistics rather than pre-payment endpoint risk classification.
x402ready is treated here as an agent-readiness surface: it tests the caller-side payment handshake, timeout behavior, and recovery path rather than merchant endpoint risk. That makes it adjacent to preflight safety, not a direct replacement.
Comparison data compiled 2026-05-13 from public sources: each service's homepage, documentation, GitHub repository, and pricing page where disclosed. Source URLs are linked per row. Where a service did not publicly disclose a dimension (pricing, methodology, cadence), the matrix marks "not disclosed" rather than infer. x402station.io fields are self-reported and verifiable against /spec, /api/openapi.json, and the public x402-signals repository. The matrix is a snapshot in time; the agentic-commerce trust niche is evolving rapidly. Refreshed quarterly; next scheduled refresh 2026-08-13. Corrections welcome via hello@x402station.io.