How to Create a Paid MCP Server

If you've built an MCP server that people actually use, you've probably had this thought: "I should charge for this."

And then you start thinking about everything that involves. Stripe integration. Auth tokens. Usage tracking. Subscription management. A dashboard so people can manage their account. Suddenly your side project needs its own billing team.

That's the wall most MCP creators hit. The tool itself took a weekend. The billing would take a month. So they don't charge, or they slap a GitHub Sponsors link on the README and hope for the best.

There's a better way now.

The problem with charging for MCP tools

MCP servers are a bit unusual. They're not web apps with a login page. They're tool endpoints that AI clients connect to programmatically. That means the normal playbook for SaaS billing doesn't quite fit.

Think about what you'd need to build yourself:

• Authentication per user, per request. Every tool call needs to be tied to a paying customer.
• Usage metering so you know who called what and how many times.
• A payment flow that works. Credit cards, not crypto wallets.
• Subscription management if you want recurring revenue. Upgrades, downgrades, cancellations.
• Payouts to your bank account on some regular schedule.

Each of those is a real project. Together, they're months of work that has nothing to do with the tool you actually want to build.

The proxy approach

The simplest way to add billing to an MCP server is to put a proxy in front of it. The proxy checks if the caller has paid, meters their usage, and forwards the request to your actual server. Your server code doesn't change at all.

This is what PayRun does. You register your MCP endpoint, pick a pricing model, and we give you a proxied URL. Your users connect to that URL instead of your raw endpoint. We handle the rest.

The nice thing about this approach: you keep running your server wherever you want. Your own VPS, Railway, Fly, AWS, whatever. PayRun just sits in front and handles the money part.

Step by step: going from free to paid

1. Sign up and register your server

Create a PayRun account and add your MCP server endpoint URL. That's the URL where your server actually lives. PayRun will verify it responds to MCP protocol requests.

2. Choose how you want to charge

You've got a few options:

• Per-call pricing. You set a price per tool invocation. Good for tools people use occasionally. Users buy prepaid credits so micro-transactions stay efficient.
• Monthly subscription. Flat fee, unlimited access. Works well for tools people use daily. You pick the monthly price.
• Tiered usage. Free up to a limit, then paid. The classic freemium play. Let people try it, charge when they get serious.
• One-time payment. Pay once, use forever. Simple for niche utilities.

You can also mix these across different tools if you have multiple MCP servers.

3. Share the proxied URL

PayRun gives you a new endpoint URL. Your users add it to Claude Desktop, Cursor, or whatever MCP client they use. The config looks the same as any other MCP server, just with a different URL.

When a new user connects, PayRun handles the signup and payment flow. They pay with a credit card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay. No crypto wallets, no custom apps to install.

4. Track usage and get paid

The PayRun dashboard shows you who's using your tool, how often, and how much you're earning. Payouts go to your bank account via Stripe Connect on a regular schedule.

What this looks like for your users

From your user's perspective, nothing weird happens. They add your MCP server to their client with a one-line config. The first time they try to use it, they get prompted to sign up and pay. After that, it just works.

If they're on a subscription, every request goes through. If they're on per-call pricing, it deducts from their credit balance. If they run out, they get a clear message telling them to top up.

What you keep

You keep 90% of every transaction. PayRun takes a 10% platform fee that covers payment processing, infrastructure, and support. There are no upfront costs and no monthly minimums.

Do you actually need this?

Honestly, if you have 3 users and they're all friends, probably not. But if people you don't know are using your tool, and you're spending time maintaining it, and you're paying for hosting, then yes. You should get paid for it.

The MCP ecosystem is still early. The people building tools right now are going to be the ones with established, paying user bases when this goes mainstream. Getting billing set up now, even if you start with a low price, means you're ready when demand picks up.

Get started

PayRun is in early access right now. Join the waitlist below and you'll be among the first to monetize your MCP server. Setup takes about five minutes and you don't need to change any code.