Pick Lithic when
- You're building a full card product yourself.
- You need fine-grained control of every webhook, KYC step, and authorization rule.
- You're ready to run a card program (compliance, chargebacks, support).
Pick CardForAgent when
- You just want a card you can hand to an agent — not a card program to operate.
- You want MCP support out of the box.
- You don't want to build the issuer-side compliance posture.
Side-by-side
| Feature | Lithic | CardForAgent |
|---|---|---|
| You operate | A card program | An MCP token |
| Compliance burden | Yours | Ours (via Stripe Issuing) |
| MCP server | No | Yes, hosted |
| Time to first card | Weeks (program setup) | Minutes (sign up + top up) |
Honest take
Lithic is the right call if you're building something Privacy.com-shaped. If you're building an agent that needs a card today, there's no reason to operate your own card program when CardForAgent and Stripe Issuing already exist.