Show IH: I built a Chinese AI API marketplace with 67 endpoints and x402 micropayments
Hey IH community!
I've been building in the AI infrastructure space for the past year, and today I want to share what I've been working on.
The Problem
In China, developers who want to use AI APIs face a frustrating reality:
- International API providers (OpenAI, Anthropic) are blocked or require VPNs
- Domestic providers lock you into monthly subscription plans
- There's no unified marketplace with transparent pay-per-call pricing
- You can't test an API without committing to a $20/month plan
What I Built: GoldBean API
A pay-per-call AI API marketplace with 67 endpoints covering OCR, speech recognition, text-to-speech, image generation, object detection, and more.
Key decisions:
1. x402 Micropayments (USDC)
Instead of monthly plans, developers pay exactly for what they use — down to fractions of a cent. The x402 protocol handles payment negotiation automatically in the HTTP layer. No wallet top-ups, no minimum deposits.
2. Multi-payment support
Besides crypto, I integrated PayPal for international users and Alipay for Chinese developers. The goal: let developers pay however they want.
3. MCP Server
Published as goldbean-mcp on npm — developers can plug GoldBean's APIs directly into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible client. This was a game-changer for adoption.
Tech Stack
- Backend: Node.js + Express on AlmaLinux VPS
- Payments: x402 Protocol (USDC), PayPal, Alipay
- Infrastructure: PM2, Nginx, Docker
- SDK: npm packages (goldbean-mcp, @goldbean/x402-sdk)
- AI APIs: Unified REST interface aggregating multiple AI providers
The Journey
Started as a side project to solve my own problem — I needed OCR and speech APIs for client projects but didn't want monthly commitments.
The hardest part wasn't technical. It was trust. Chinese developers are skeptical of new platforms. I focused on three things:
- Radical pricing transparency — every endpoint shows exact per-call cost before you use it
- No lock-in — no subscriptions, no minimum balance
- Open source SDK — developers can inspect how payments work
Current Progress
- 67 endpoints live and tested
- x402 payment integration working
- MCP server published on npm
- First organic API calls from developers who found us through GitHub
- Building out better documentation and interactive playground
What I Learned
Developers hate pricing opacity. Every conversation with potential users comes down to the same question: "How much does this actually cost per call?" Monthly plans create anxiety. Pay-per-call creates trust.
Crypto payments are still a barrier. x402 is elegant, but many developers don't have USDC. That's why I added PayPal and Alipay — meet users where they are.
Distribution is harder than building. The product works, but getting developers to discover it is the real challenge. I'm currently exploring GitHub, npm, and developer communities.
What's Next
- Expanding to 100+ endpoints
- Better developer documentation
- Interactive API playground
- Goal: 1,000 active developers by end of 2026
I'd love feedback from this community on:
- The x402 micropayment approach — is crypto-based payment a barrier?
- How to build trust with developers in new markets?
- Should I prioritize more endpoints or better developer experience?
API: https://goldbean-api.xyz
GitHub: https://github.com/wuzenghai616-lang/goldbean
Thanks for reading!
i would prioritize time to first successful call over more endpoints. with 67 endpoints, a new developer may still ask which one to start with, what it costs, and whether the first response is reliable. pick three jobs such as OCR, speech, and image generation, give each a copy-paste example with the full price before execution, and show the same path through REST, SDK, and MCP. if a developer reaches a useful result in five minutes, that builds more trust than adding 33 more endpoints.
67 endpoints + micropayments — that's the infrastructure layer AI tools need. Most builders (me included) focus on the UI and forget the economics.
x402 is smart. Per-call billing beats subscription fatigue for dev tools.
The strongest part is the combination of pay-per-call pricing and payment flexibility. The 67 endpoints matter less than whether developers trust the marketplace enough to make it their default API layer.