Launching on Product Hunt this Monday — we're the API where AI agents pay per request
We're launching Social Intel on Product Hunt this Monday, March 16.
Before the big day, I wanted to share the real build-in-public story with the IH community.
What we built: An Instagram influencer search API that uses x402 instead of API keys. The flow is:
- AI agent sends GET /v1/search?query=fitness&country=US
- API returns HTTP 402 with payment instructions
- Agent pays $0.10 USDC on Base automatically
- Agent gets JSON results (usernames, followers, categories, public emails)
No signup. No API keys. No monthly billing. Just pay per request.
2 weeks in — honest numbers:
- 50 API hits (developers finding it, testing it)
- 1 paying customer: a Node.js MCP client from Japan, finding yoga and fitness influencers
- $1.20 USDC in confirmed revenue
- Gross margin: 99.7% ($0.0003 DataLikers cost per request)
- Conversion rate after first customer: 0%
The 0% conversion is the story. Developers understand x402 conceptually but don't have USDC on Base ready to go. The payment friction kills conversions.
What we shipped to fix it: Free tier endpoint — add ?demo=true and get 3 results instantly, no wallet needed. Try it: https://socialintel.dev/v1/search?query=fitness&demo=true
It also runs as an MCP server, so Claude Desktop and Cursor can search influencers directly. Agents pay autonomously from their own wallet.
If you're building with AI agents, playing with x402, or just curious about machine-native payments — we'd love your support on PH Monday.
The PH page will be live at 12:01 AM PDT: https://www.producthunt.com/products/social-intel
Quick update: we moved the Product Hunt launch to March 30. Took a look at the analytics and want to address some conversion issues first (mainly: USDC friction for new devs). The product is live and running — just giving ourselves more time to fix the funnel before the big push. Will share a proper build-in-public update before launch day.