402 Payment Required
4xx Client Error
RFC 9110
Reserved for a future where HTTP knows about money. We're not there yet.
What 402 Payment Required means {#what}
Originally envisioned for digital payment systems, 402 was never given a standard definition. It’s still reserved but has no official semantics. Some APIs (Stripe, OpenAI) use it informally to indicate a billing issue or quota exceeded, but there’s no consensus.
When you’ll see a 402 {#when}
- Some SaaS APIs when your subscription has lapsed or you’ve hit a paid quota
- Informal usage varies widely
When to use 402 {#use}
- No standard usage — proceed with caution
- Some teams use it for “billing required” scenarios, but document your usage clearly