> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://shinydapps-bd9fa40b.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Pricing Your API

> How to think about pricing — what to charge, how sats translate to dollars, and strategies for different use cases.

## Satoshi reference table

1 sat = 1/100,000,000 of a Bitcoin. At common price points:

| BTC price | 1 sat    | 10 sats | 100 sats | 1,000 sats |
| --------- | -------- | ------- | -------- | ---------- |
| \$50,000  | \$0.0005 | \$0.005 | \$0.05   | \$0.50     |
| \$80,000  | \$0.0008 | \$0.008 | \$0.08   | \$0.80     |
| \$100,000 | \$0.001  | \$0.01  | \$0.10   | \$1.00     |

Lightning payments have no minimum fee floor. A 1-sat payment costs the sender \~$0.0005 — impossible with Stripe ($0.30 minimum).

***

## Pricing by use case

| Use case                                   | Suggested price | Reasoning                                      |
| ------------------------------------------ | --------------- | ---------------------------------------------- |
| Simple data query (weather, exchange rate) | 1–10 sats       | Cheap enough to be invisible, still meaningful |
| Premium API call (LLM inference, search)   | 10–100 sats     | Covers compute cost, filters abuse             |
| Per-document / per-file access             | 50–500 sats     | Reflects content value                         |
| High-value report or dataset               | 500–5,000 sats  | Competes with $0.50–$5 micro-transactions      |
| Real-time streaming (per chunk)            | 1–5 sats        | Accumulates naturally over a stream            |

These are starting points. The right price is what your callers will pay without friction.

***

## Start low, move up

Because switching fees is one line of code, err on the side of low prices at launch:

```typescript theme={null}
l402({ priceSats: 10, lightning }) // start here
l402({ priceSats: 100, lightning }) // raise if demand holds
```

Payment data in the VS Code dashboard shows you call volume and revenue — use it to calibrate.

***

## Managed vs Soberano at scale

The 0.3% managed fee only matters at volume:

| Monthly volume  | Managed fee          | Soberano savings |
| --------------- | -------------------- | ---------------- |
| 1,000 sats      | 3 sats               | Negligible       |
| 100,000 sats    | 300 sats (\~\$0.24)  | Small            |
| 10,000,000 sats | 30,000 sats (\~\$24) | Worth switching  |

**Rule of thumb:** if you're processing less than 1M sats/month (\~$800 at $80k/BTC), the 0.3% fee is noise. Stay on Managed and focus on building. Switch to Soberano when volume makes it worthwhile — it's one line of code.

***

## Pricing for AI agents

Agents are price-insensitive in a different way than humans — they don't feel the pain of a payment, but they do have budget limits set by their operators.

**Practical guidance:**

* Keep prices below 100 sats per call for general agent use — this fits within typical per-session budgets
* For high-value agent tools (code execution, document analysis), 100–1,000 sats is acceptable
* Use `priceSats` dynamically if your cost varies by input size:

```typescript theme={null}
app.post("/analyze", (req, res, next) => {
  const sats = Math.ceil(req.body.text.length / 100); // 1 sat per 100 chars
  l402({ priceSats: sats, lightning })(req, res, next);
}, handler);
```

***

## Tiered access with multiple endpoints

Price different tiers by routing to different endpoints:

```typescript theme={null}
// Free tier — basic data
app.get("/data/basic", handler);

// Paid tier — full dataset, 10 sats
app.get("/data/premium", l402({ priceSats: 10, lightning }), handler);

// High-value tier — real-time feed, 100 sats
app.get("/data/realtime", l402({ priceSats: 100, lightning }), handler);
```

Each endpoint generates its own invoice. Callers pay per call — no subscription management.

***

## Testing your pricing

Before going live, test the full payment flow with a real wallet:

1. Set `priceSats: 1` (1 sat ≈ \$0.0008 — cheap enough to test freely)
2. Use [Wallet of Satoshi](https://walletofsatoshi.com) or [Blink](https://dashboard.blink.sv) on your phone
3. Call your endpoint, scan the invoice QR, verify 200 OK
4. Check the [VS Code dashboard](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ShinyDapps.shinydapps-l402) or your Lightning wallet to confirm receipt

Once confirmed, set your real price and deploy.