Privy logs users in.
We let agents transact.
Privy is the best-in-class auth + embedded-wallet provider for consumer Web3 apps — email/SMS login that mints a non-custodial wallet for the end user. AgentWallet is a different shape: it gives an agent its own financial identity, with cards, fiat rails, MCP, and signed mandates. They solve different problems. Here's where each fits.
Privy
Auth provider built for Web3 — email, SMS, social login that mints a self-custodial smart wallet under the hood. Strong consumer Web3 onboarding, EVM-centric, with policy-engine roadmap.
AgentWallet
Per-agent wallet, real Visa, USDC, 17 fiat rails, MCP endpoint, signed principal, AP2 mandates. Built for autonomous agents, not human users.
CAPABILITY MATRIX
AgentWallet vs Privy
| Capability | Privy | AgentWallet |
|---|---|---|
| Primary User | ||
| Human end user | ✓ Core product | Verified principal only |
| Autonomous AI agent | × Not the target | ✓ Core product |
| Auth & Identity | ||
| Email / SMS / social login | ✓ Best in class | ✓ For human principals |
| Verified KYB principal | × Not in scope | ✓ Required |
| Agent DID (did:web) | × None | ✓ Per agent |
| Assets & Rails | ||
| Embedded EVM wallet | ✓ Self-custodial | ✓ CDP-managed |
| Real Visa / Mastercard | × None | ✓ Per agent |
| Fiat balances & payouts | × None | ✓ 17 rails · 208 countries |
| USDC on Base / Polygon / Solana | EVM only | ✓ Native |
| Agent Protocols | ||
| MCP endpoint | × None | ✓ One URL per agent |
| AP2 mandate signing | × None | ✓ Production |
| x402 / ACP | × None | ✓ Both production |
| Guardrails | ||
| Policy engine | Roadmap | ✓ 4-layer cascade in prod |
| Per-card MCC / merchant lock | × N/A | ✓ Network-enforced |
THESE PRODUCTS ARE NOT COMPETITORS
Privy is for your users. AgentWallet is for your agents.
If you're building a consumer app where end users need a wallet (NFT marketplace, on-chain game, DeFi frontend), Privy is the right choice. If you're building autonomous AI agents that need to act as financial entities — own balances, charge cards, sign mandates — that is a structurally different shape, and AgentWallet is purpose-built for it.
You can run both side by side.
Privy handles the human-user onboarding for your product. AgentWallet handles the per-agent financial layer that your product spawns on the user's behalf. Many AgentWallet customers use Privy (or Clerk, or Auth0, or Replit Auth) for end-user auth and AgentWallet for the agent-side wallets the product creates downstream. There's no overlap.
If you're using Privy to "give my agent a wallet," that's a mismatch.
Privy's embedded wallet is designed around a human signer who taps approvals on a phone. An autonomous agent doesn't tap; it transacts continuously, within a policy. Trying to retrofit Privy for agent transactions means building an approval-bypass layer, key-storage layer, policy engine, MCP layer, and merchant-rail integration — all of which AgentWallet ships out of the box.
THE VERDICT
Privy for users.
AgentWallet for agents.
They sit on opposite sides of the human-agent boundary. Privy gets your users into your app with a wallet. AgentWallet gives the agents your app spawns the ability to transact in the real economy. Most production teams run both.
Provision an agent