Voidly Pay vs @stripe/link-cli

Quickstart side-by-side

@stripe/link-cli (OAuth Link Wallet)

# 1. User must have a Stripe Link account first (linked to a card / bank).
# 2. Install the CLI:
npm install -g @stripe/link-cli

# 3. Authenticate (opens browser, OAuth to link.com):
link-cli login

# 4. Issue a one-time-use card scoped to a single purchase:
link-cli mpp pay \
  --merchant did:web:example.com \
  --amount 9.99 \
  --currency USD

# Returns a single-use virtual card. Stripe auto-revokes after the charge.
# User approves each spend in their Link wallet.

@voidly/pay-cli (Ed25519 DID + USDC on Base)

# 1. No prerequisite account. CLI mints the keypair.
# 2. Install the CLI:
npm install -g @voidly/pay-cli

# 3. Initialize (mints Ed25519 keypair to ~/.voidly-pay/keypair.json):
voidly-pay init

# 4. Claim 10 starter credits (one-shot, no card, no KYC):
voidly-pay faucet

# 5. Pay an agent or paywalled URL:
voidly-pay fetch "https://api.example.com/expensive-route"
# (auto-pays HTTP 402 quote; settles in <200ms)

# Or transfer directly:
voidly-pay transfer --to did:voidly:abc... --amount 0.01

Key difference: Stripe Link CLI requires the user to already have a Stripe Link account with a saved payment method. Voidly Pay CLI generates the identity from scratch on first run — no third-party login, no card on file, no KYC.

Feature matrix

Where Voidly Pay differentiates

• Self-custodial — Ed25519 keypair lives in `~/.voidly-pay/keypair.json` (mode 0600). Private keys never leave the user's machine.
• No third-party login. No Stripe account needed. No Link wallet needed.
• Sub-cent settlements. Critical for per-call AI inference economics where each request is fractions of a cent.
• Public proof-of-reserves (independently auditable on-chain).
• `registerPaidTool` middleware ships in @voidly/pay-mcp v0.2.0 — wrap any MCP tool with a 402 paywall in 10 lines.
• Universal x402 reverse proxy: paywall ANY HTTPS URL with one query parameter. Stripe Link CLI requires SDK install on the merchant side.

Where Stripe Link CLI leads

• Massive distribution. 10 npm releases in 7 days = active investment. Stripe brand recognition.
• Real card-network access. If your buyer wants to pay with a saved credit card, only Stripe can do it.
• MPP open-standard footprint. Visa, Mastercard, OpenAI, Anthropic, DoorDash, Shopify all on board.
• OAuth flow integrates with the user's existing Link wallet (250M users with cards saved).
• Issuing for agents: programmatic single-use virtual cards.
• Spend-request approval flow with human-in-the-loop guardrails.

If your buyer is a human consumer with a saved Stripe Link card, or you specifically want MPP-rail integration for credit-card settlement, Stripe Link CLI is the right pick. If your buyer is another agent (or a developer wanting sub-cent settlements without Stripe Connect onboarding), Voidly Pay is the right pick.

Use both: the sidecar pattern

The two CLIs aren't mutually exclusive — they target different layers of the agent economy:

Customer ──Stripe Link CLI (USD via card)──> Orchestrator agent
                                              │
              Orchestrator splits work across sub-agents
                                              │
                                              ▼
        [Sub-agent A]    [Sub-agent B]    [Sub-agent C]
              ╲              │               ╱
               Voidly Pay CLI (USDC on Base, sub-cent, instant)
                            │
   Orchestrator sweeps Voidly credits at run-end →
   optional bridge → USDC on Base → Stripe payout

Stripe owns the customer relationship and the dollar on-ramp; Voidly Pay handles the per-call settlement between agents that would otherwise be lost in card fees. Same sidecar pattern documented at /pay/vs/stripe-agent-toolkit for the MCP layer.