meter

Meter is a pay-per-use AI app built with Next.js that uses the Yellow Network SDK and Nitrolite protocol to handle payments. It solves a common Web3 UX issue: charging users small amounts per action without gas fees, delays, or repeated wallet confirmations.

Users connect their wallet once and start a session with a spending limit. During the session, each AI action is charged instantly off-chain, and the remaining balance updates in real time. There are no on-chain transactions while the app is in use, making the experience feel fast and smooth, similar to a Web2 application.

When the user ends the session, Meter settles the total usage on-chain in a single transaction using Yellow. This replaces many small transactions with one clean settlement, while still keeping the system trustless and secure.

Meter demonstrates how session-based payments make practical pay-per-use models possible for AI tools and other usage-driven apps in Web3.

Meter is built as a full-stack web application that integrates the Yellow SDK and Nitrolite protocol to manage session-based, off-chain payments. When a user connects their wallet, the backend creates a Yellow wallet session with a predefined spending allowance. This session tracks usage and balances entirely off-chain during the user’s interaction with the app.

Each user action in Meter triggers a backend call that calculates a fixed usage cost and updates the session balance instantly using Yellow’s off-chain state channel logic. No on-chain transactions or wallet confirmations are required during usage, which keeps the experience fast and seamless.

Meter uses Next.js and the Yellow SDK as the core payment layer. The most notable part of the build is replacing per-action on-chain transactions with a session-based accounting model, which makes practical pay-per-use flows possible in Web3.

• Next.js is used for the frontend and server-side logic, powering the AI UI and handling user interactions.
• Yellow SDK is integrated as the core payment layer to create wallet sessions, track balances, and manage off-chain spending.
• Nitrolite protocol is used under the hood by Yellow to enable session-based, off-chain state channels.
• When a wallet connects, the backend creates a Yellow session with a fixed spending allowance.
• Each AI request triggers a backend call that charges a small fixed amount off-chain using Yellow’s session logic.
• The frontend displays live balance updates and enforces session limits without requiring wallet confirmations.
• When the session ends, the backend settles the net balance on-chain in a single transaction via Yellow’s settlement contracts.