NitroTranslate, the human translation service by Alconost, has become the first professional human translation service to accept agent-initiated payments through the Machine Payments Protocol (MPP). This new open standard lets autonomous AI agents pay for services per request, without traditional account setup.
A 1-minute explainer of how it works: https://youtu.be/wyipEcXdkBs
Why it matters
AI made people faster. Then people started building agents to work on their behalf — a second pair of hands that reads, writes, and researches. The next step is agents that can also buy services on their own.
Until now, that step hit a wall: to order professional translation services, an agent had to hand the task back to a human to create an account, generate an API key, and load a balance. With MPP support, an agent completes the entire purchase itself, all while the translation is still done by professional native-speaking linguists.
“Agents are becoming the next layer of how people work. It felt natural to open NitroTranslate up to them first, while keeping the quality of human translation exactly where it is,” said Diana Ivanenko, Product Manager at Alconost.
How it works
- The agent sends a translation request to the NitroTranslate API with no authentication needed.
- The API responds with HTTP 402 Payment Required and a payment challenge. In this flow, 402 is not an error, it is the payment step.
- The agent obtains a payment credential from any MPP-compatible provider and retries the same request. One credential pays for exactly one request, so there are no stored keys to leak, rotate, or overcharge.
- The order goes straight into production. The agent polls the order status and receives a reviewed, publication-ready translation — typically within 2–24 hours.
Translations are performed by native-speaking professionals in over 80 languages, with markup — HTML, JSON, XML, iOS strings — preserved. There are no plans, minimums, or pre-funding: agents pay per request.
The full flow is documented at docs.nitrotranslate.com/agentic-flow. MPP payments currently support US-issued cards only; the standard API-key flow remains available worldwide.
About NitroTranslate
NitroTranslate is a human-powered online translation service offering fast turnaround, native-speaking linguists, and support for 80+ languages. With no minimum order, API integration, extensive file-format compatibility, and tools like glossaries and Translation Memory, Nitro delivers scalable, high‑quality localization for businesses, creators, and global teams.
About Alconost
Founded in 2004, Alconost is a leading provider of localization services, offering professional translation, localization testing, and language quality assurance. The company serves clients across the gaming, software, mobile app, and digital content industries worldwide, with headquarters in Virginia and offices in multiple countries, along with a network of over 1,000 linguists. Alconost also builds QACat (translation quality visibility) and alconostmt (AI translation stack).
