CrawlToll – pay-per-crawl gate

Add AI-crawler paywalls and stats to any small site in minutes

Problem

AI crawlers scrape content at scale without paying, and independent publishers lack both leverage and tooling to identify or throttle them. A pay-per-page USDC scheme for AI crawlers already appeared on HN, showing real demand, but existing options are blockchain-heavy and hard for normal site owners.

Solution

Provide lightweight middleware or reverse-proxy configs that detect common AI crawler user agents, apply paywalls or rate limits per page, and report crawl volume. Support simple billing via API keys or invoices instead of crypto wallets, with custom allowlists and free quotas.

Users

Independent bloggers, content site owners, small media and docs sites

MVP

One-click generated reverse-proxy/middleware config; detection and throttling of common AI crawlers; per-page stats and simple reports; configurable allowlists and free quotas; API-key or email-request paid access

Revenue

Per-site subscription with a free stats-only tier and paid blocking/billing; white-label option for company docs sites

Why now

AI training and retrieval crawlers are surging, publishers are increasingly resentful, and crypto-first solutions leave a gap for simpler tools that a solo developer can ship.