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Jul 13, 2026
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feat: update readme #56

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126 changes: 59 additions & 67 deletions README.md
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
@@ -1,18 +1,17 @@
<p align="center">
<a href="https://zoneless.com">
<img src="https://zoneless.com/assets/images/screenshots/og.png" alt="Zoneless — The open-source Stripe Connect alternative" width="800" />
<img src="https://zoneless.com/assets/images/screenshots/og.png" alt="Zoneless — The open-source Stripe, built on stablecoins" width="800" />
</a>
</p>

<h1 align="center">Zoneless</h1>

<p align="center">
<strong>The open-source Stripe Connect alternative.<br>Pay marketplace sellers globally with USDC. ~$0.002 fees. Instant payouts. Self-hosted.</strong>
<strong>The open-source Stripe alternative, built on stablecoins.<br>Payments infrastructure you actually own. Same API and dashboard you already know, minus the fees.</strong>
</p>

<p align="center">
<a href="https://zoneless.com/docs">Docs</a> &middot;
<a href="https://zoneless.com/#live-demo">Live Demo</a> &middot;
<a href="https://zoneless.com">Website</a> &middot;
<a href="https://discord.gg/mdMQJug9mG">Discord</a>
</p>
Expand All @@ -24,62 +23,43 @@

---

Zoneless is a free, open-source drop-in replacement for the **payout part of Stripe Connect**. It lets you pay marketplace sellers globally with stablecoins (USDC) using an API identical to Stripe — at near-zero cost.
Zoneless is a free, open-source payments platform with a **one-to-one mapping of Stripe's API, objects, and dashboard** — except every payment settles in USDC, moving wallet to wallet with no banks in between.

If you know Stripe, you already know how to use Zoneless. Same webhooks, same object shapes, same SDK patterns. Just swap `stripe` for `@zoneless/node` and you're live.

## Battle-tested in production

Zoneless powers payouts on [PromptBase](https://promptbase.com), an AI marketplace with **450,000+ users**. At the peak, PromptBase was burning **$9,400/month** in opaque Stripe Connect fees for seller payouts. After switching to Zoneless:
If you know Stripe, you already know Zoneless. Same webhooks, same object shapes, same SDK patterns. Swap `stripe` for `@zoneless/node`, point it at your instance, and your integration keeps working.

<table>
<tr>
<td align="center"><strong>~$0.002</strong><br><sub>avg. payout cost</sub></td>
<td align="center"><strong>1,400+</strong><br><sub>payouts completed</sub></td>
<td align="center"><strong>73%</strong><br><sub>of sellers chose Zoneless over Stripe</sub></td>
<td align="center"><strong>2,200+</strong><br><sub>sellers onboarded</sub></td>
<td align="center"><strong>~$0.002</strong><br><sub>network cost per payment</sub></td>
<td align="center"><strong>Seconds</strong><br><sub>to settle, 24/7/365</sub></td>
<td align="center"><strong>220+</strong><br><sub>countries &amp; regions</sub></td>
<td align="center"><strong>450k+</strong><br><sub>users on platforms running Zoneless</sub></td>
</tr>
</table>

<sub>Based on 2,500 fully-onboarded sellers given the choice of Stripe or Zoneless payouts, Dec 2025 – Apr 2026.</sub>
## Your own full payments stack

> _"Our payout costs dropped significantly, sellers get paid faster, and we can onboard more countries — which has helped grow the buyer side too. A big worry was that sellers would be confused and hate USDC, but they actually love it."_
>
> — **Ben Stokes**, Founder of [PromptBase](https://promptbase.com)
- **Dashboard** — Payments, customers, products, and balances in one place. If you know the Stripe dashboard, you know this one.
- **Checkout** — A hosted payment page your customers pay from in seconds. One redirect to integrate, guided wallet flow built in.
- **Connect** — Pay sellers and partners worldwide in seconds, for fractions of a cent. Each seller gets their own Express dashboard to track earnings and payouts.
- **Developer Tools** — API keys, webhooks, and event logs. Everything you need to integrate, test, and debug.

## Why Zoneless?

- **Near-zero fees** — Payouts cost ~$0.002 in SOL gas. No $2/month per account, no 0.25% + $0.25 per payout.
- **Stripe-compatible API** — Same webhooks, events, object shapes, and SDK patterns. Migrate with minimal code changes.
- **Truly global** — Pay anyone in 220+ countries & regions. No banking restrictions.
- **Instant payouts** — USDC settles on Solana in seconds, 24/7/365. Not 2–7 business days.
- **Keep the 2.9%** — Payments cost fractions of a cent in network fees, not a percentage cut.
- **Stripe-compatible API** — Same webhooks, events, object shapes, and SDK patterns. Migrate in an afternoon.
- **Instant settlement** — USDC settles on Solana in seconds, 24/7/365. Not 2–7 business days.
- **Truly global** — Accept payments and send payouts in 220+ countries & regions. No banking restrictions.
- **No chargebacks** — Payments are final. No disputes or fraud reversals.
- **No frozen accounts** — No processor can hold your balance or shut you off.
- **Self-custodial** — Your keys, your money. Funds never touch a third party.
- **Open source** — Apache 2.0 licensed. Audit, fork, self-host. No vendor lock-in or surprise shutdowns.
- **Self-custodial** — You hold your keys. Funds never touch a third party.

## Zoneless vs Stripe Connect
## Migrate in an afternoon

| | Zoneless | Stripe Connect |
| --------------------- | ------------------------ | ----------------- |
| Monthly account fee | Free | $2/active account |
| Payout fee (domestic) | ~$0.002 (SOL gas) | 0.25% + $0.25 |
| Payout fee (intl) | ~$0.002 (SOL gas) | $1.50 per payout |
| Cross-border fee | None | +0.25–1.25% |
| Currency conversion | None (USDC) | +0.50–1% FX fee |
| Payout speed | Seconds | 2–7 business days |
| Global coverage | 220+ countries & regions | ~47 countries |
| Source code | Open source (Apache 2.0) | Proprietary |
| Self-hostable | Yes | No |

## Built for

- **Microtransaction marketplaces** — When payouts cost fractions of a cent, small transactions finally make sense. Digital goods, templates, prompts, and more.
- **Global creator platforms** — Pay creators worldwide without banking restrictions. No more "sorry, we don't support your country."
- **AI agent economies** — Programmatic payouts for AI agents and autonomous systems. Machine-to-machine commerce at scale.

## Migrate in minutes
Zoneless mirrors Stripe's API one-to-one. Swap the SDK, point it at your instance, and your integration keeps working — same event names, same payloads, same signature verification, same idempotency keys.

```typescript
// Before — Stripe Connect
// Before — Stripe
// import Stripe from 'stripe';
// const client = new Stripe('sk_live_...');

Expand All @@ -88,37 +68,49 @@ import { Zoneless } from '@zoneless/node';
const client = new Zoneless('sk_z_...', 'api.example.com');

// Same API you already know
const account = await client.accounts.create({
type: 'express',
country: 'US',
email: 'seller@example.com',
});

// Fee: $0.002 instead of $2+
await client.payouts.create({
amount: 10000,
currency: 'usdc',
destination: account.id,
const session = await client.checkout.sessions.create({
mode: 'payment',
line_items: [
{
price: 'price_z_...',
quantity: 1,
},
],
success_url: 'https://example.com/success',
});
```

## Express Dashboard
## How the money moves

Sellers get a familiar Express-style dashboard to view payouts, track earnings, and manage their account — plus guided wallet onboarding.
Every payment settles in USDC — digital dollars worth exactly $1 — moving wallet to wallet with no banks in between.

<p align="center">
<img src="https://zoneless.com/assets/images/screenshots/dashboard1.webp" alt="Zoneless Express Dashboard" width="700" />
</p>
1. **Customer pays** — USDC leaves their wallet at checkout. Hosted Checkout guides first-timers through wallet setup in about a minute.
2. **You hold the funds** — Money lands instantly in a wallet you control. No processor sits between you and your revenue.
3. **Send money anywhere** — Payouts, refunds, or withdrawals land in seconds, anywhere in the world.

**[Try the Live Demo →](https://zoneless.com/#live-demo)**
## Battle-tested in production

## How sellers get paid
Zoneless powers payments on [PromptBase](https://promptbase.com), an AI marketplace with **450,000+ users**. At the peak, PromptBase was paying Stripe over **$9,400/month** in fees. After switching to Zoneless:

1. **Seller connects a wallet** — During onboarding, sellers connect a Solana wallet (e.g. Phantom). Takes 30 seconds with guided instructions.
2. **You send USDC** — Trigger payouts via the API. Funds arrive in the seller's wallet in seconds, not days.
3. **Seller spends or off-ramps** — Sellers spend USDC directly, or convert to local currency via an exchange like Coinbase.
<table>
<tr>
<td align="center"><strong>~$0.002</strong><br><sub>avg. payout cost</sub></td>
<td align="center"><strong>73%</strong><br><sub>of sellers chose Zoneless over Stripe</sub></td>
<td align="center"><strong>2,200+</strong><br><sub>sellers onboarded</sub></td>
</tr>
</table>

You create and manage your own platform wallet — top it up with USDC via any exchange and you're ready to send payouts.
> _"At the peak we were paying Stripe over $9,400 a month in Connect fees. I built Zoneless to replace it — payouts now cost fractions of a cent, sellers get paid in seconds, and we onboard countries Stripe never supported."_
>
> — **Ben Stokes**, Founder of [PromptBase](https://promptbase.com)

## Dashboard

You get the full platform dashboard; connected sellers get a familiar Express-style dashboard to view payouts, track earnings, and manage their account — plus guided wallet onboarding.

<p align="center">
<img src="https://zoneless.com/assets/images/screenshots/hero-dashboard.webp" alt="Zoneless Dashboard" width="700" />
</p>

## Quick Start

Expand All @@ -130,15 +122,15 @@ docker compose up -d

Open [localhost/setup](http://localhost/setup) to create your platform account and API key.

See the full [Quickstart Guide](https://zoneless.com/docs/quickstart) for creating connected accounts, transfers, and payouts.
See the full [Quickstart Guide](https://zoneless.com/docs/quickstart) for creating checkout sessions, connected accounts, transfers, and payouts.

## Documentation

All guides and API reference docs live at **[zoneless.com/docs](https://zoneless.com/docs)**:

- [Quickstart](https://zoneless.com/docs/quickstart) — end-to-end setup in under 5 minutes
- [Deployment](https://zoneless.com/docs/deployment) — deploy to a VPS with Docker
- [API Reference](https://zoneless.com/docs/account-links) — Accounts, Transfers, Payouts, Webhooks, and more
- [API Reference](https://zoneless.com/docs/account-links) — Checkout, Accounts, Transfers, Payouts, Webhooks, and more
- [Migrate from Stripe](https://zoneless.com/docs/migrate-from-stripe) — step-by-step migration guide

## Local Development
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