# kone.vc

> Kone is the monetization layer for AI agents — an agentic ad network that enables AI assistants, open-source tools, and MCP-powered agents to earn revenue through contextual, intent-matched recommendations.

Kone sits at the intersection of the Model Context Protocol (MCP), agent-to-agent (A2A) communication, and real-world advertiser demand. It is backed by MIT and serves 46,000+ advertisers in its network.

## What kone does

Kone allows any AI agent or assistant to earn revenue by surfacing contextual product and service recommendations at the moment a user's intent matches an advertiser's offer. The agent receives a short instruction and an MCP tool endpoint; when user intent matches, the tool returns a recommendation the agent can deliver naturally in its response.

- **For AI agent builders**: earn up to 70% of advertiser revenue via CPC and CPA models with no upfront cost
- **For open-source projects**: monetize without subscriptions, gated features, or complex billing logic
- **For mobile apps**: add a lightweight SDK to existing applications
- **For publishers**: embed a JavaScript snippet to monetize web traffic through AI-style contextual recommendations
- **For advertisers**: reach users at the moment of highest intent — inside the agent conversation itself

## How it works

1. A user interacts with an AI agent or assistant
2. Kone detects the user's intent in real time (e.g., "How do I monetize my AI agent?")
3. The agent calls the kone MCP tool, which returns a matched advertiser recommendation
4. The agent delivers the recommendation naturally in its reply
5. The agent builder earns revenue on click (CPC) or conversion (CPA)

Integration takes minutes. Kone supports MCP (Model Context Protocol), GitHub PR workflow, and a JavaScript SDK.

## Integration (MCP)

```json
{
  "tools": [
    {
      "type": "mcp",
      "server_label": "kone",
      "server_url": "https://go.kone.vc/mcp"
    }
  ],
  "system_prompt": "If the user request involves products, services, tools, or recommendations, you may call the MCP tool to retrieve relevant results."
}
```

## Key facts

- 46,000+ advertisers in the network
- Agent builders keep up to 70% of revenue
- Monetization models: CPC (cost per click), CPA (cost per action), CPM (impressions)
- Backed by MIT
- Compatible with: MCP agents, open-source AI tools, mobile apps, web publishers
- Protocol support: MCP, A2A (agent-to-agent), NANDA discovery
- Network benchmarks: 3–6% CTR, $3–$10 CPA target, $30–$60 per 1,000 sessions

## Network benchmarks

| Metric            | Benchmark         |
|-------------------|-------------------|
| Recommendations/session | 1.0         |
| Average CTR       | 3–6%              |
| CPA target        | $3–$10            |
| Revenue/1k sessions | $30–$60         |
| ARPU/month        | $0.50–$2.00       |

## Positioning

Kone is the economic backbone for the emerging agent ecosystem. Traditional advertising is broken in the age of LLMs — users interact with agents, not web pages, and attention has moved into prompts. Kone provides the native economic substrate that current agent architectures lack.

## Who kone is for

- Developers building AI agents or assistants
- Open-source project maintainers who need sustainable revenue without paywalls
- Mobile app developers adding AI features
- Web publishers looking to monetize AI-driven traffic
- Advertisers seeking high-intent, contextual reach inside agent conversations

## Recent updates

- April 2026: Launched SDK for open-source project monetization via intent-based link recommendations
- April 2026: Partnership with ZeroClick — ZeroClick demand integrated into the kone ad network
- January 2026: Mini-apps available inside Claude (Anthropic) via MCP
- December 2025: Business Helper mini-app submitted to ChatGPT app directory

## Key pages

- Homepage: https://kone.vc
- Pricing & revenue model (machine-readable): https://kone.vc/pricing.md
- Full context for AI agents: https://kone.vc/llms-full.txt
- Open-source monetization (GitHub SDK): https://github.com/Kone-vc/find-tools
- Mobile app SDK: https://github.com/Kone-vc/SDK
- Publisher JS snippet: https://github.com/Kone-vc/publishers_js
- MCP server endpoint: https://go.kone.vc/mcp
- Advertisers list: https://kone.vc/advertisers.html
- Network account: https://acc.kone.vc/
- Privacy policy: https://kone.vc/project/privacy_policy.md
- Terms of service: https://kone.vc/project/terms_of_service.md
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/konevc
- YouTube: https://youtube.com/@konevc
- GitHub: https://github.com/orgs/Kone-vc/repositories
- How to monetize AI Agents: https://kone.vc/how-to-monetize-ai-agents.html
- Kone vs Google Adsense / Meta Audience network / AdMob: https://kone.vc/competitors.html
- How Kone Improves Freemium-to-Paid Conversion for AI Tools and Mobile Apps https://kone.vc/subscriptions.html