# Sandbox

> Test Mintage Pay end to end with free test money before you take real payments.

Source: https://mintagepay.com/docs/sandbox/ (last updated 2026-10-30)

The sandbox at [sandbox.mintagepay.com](https://sandbox.mintagepay.com) is a full copy of Mintage Pay that uses free
test money. Use it to try your checkout, plugin or code from start to finish. No real money moves.

| | Sandbox | Live |
|---|---|---|
| Dashboard and API | `https://sandbox.mintagepay.com` (the API is under `/v1`) | `https://app.mintagepay.com` |
| Payment and product pages | Same address (`/i/...`, `/l/...`) | `https://pay.mintagepay.com` |
| API keys | Start with `mp_test_`. They do not work on live | Start with `mp_live_`. They do not work in the sandbox |
| Networks | Test networks: Base Sepolia, Solana devnet, TRON Nile | Base, Polygon, Solana, TRON |
| Accounts | Free and instant. Sign up yourself | By application and review |

## Get started

1. Open the sandbox and click **Create a free test account**. It is ready straight away, with $100 of test fee credit.
2. Go to **Payout addresses** and add at least one address for test payments:
   - **Base:** any address from an Ethereum-style wallet, such as MetaMask.
   - **Solana:** a devnet address, for example from Phantom with "Testnet mode" turned on.
   - **TRON:** a Nile address from TronLink, set to the Nile network.
3. Go to **Developers** to create an API key and, if you are writing your own code, add your webhook address.

Using WooCommerce? You do not need step 3. Click **Connect a test (sandbox) account** in the plugin instead.

## Get test money

- **Base and Solana:** on the payment page, choose the network and click **Sandbox: need test USDC? Get 100**. It
  sends 100 test USDC to your wallet. Test USDC has no value.
- **TRON:** get test TRX and test USDT from the [Nile faucet](https://nileex.io/join/getJoinPage).

Developers can also request test USDC directly:

```bash
curl https://sandbox.mintagepay.com/api/public/sandbox/faucet \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"address": "0xYOUR_ADDRESS", "network": "base"}'
```

For Solana, leave out `network` and send a Solana address. Each request gives 100 test USDC, up to 10 requests an hour.

### Network fees

- **Solana:** your wallet does not need any SOL. The network fee is covered.
- **Base, with a browser wallet** (MetaMask, Coinbase Wallet, Rabby): choose "Covered, I just sign" on the payment
  page. You sign once and the payment is sent for you.
- **Base, by a plain transfer:** you need a little test ETH, from any public Base Sepolia faucet.

### How long a test payment takes

About 5 seconds on Solana, and 1.5 to 9 minutes on Base. The payment page shows "payment detected" first, then
confirms. Your store or code is told when it is confirmed (the `invoice.paid` event).

### Testing short or extra payments

On a Solana payment, click **Pay a different amount (test)** and type any amount. Use it to see what happens when a
customer pays too little (`partially_paid`) or too much.

## How the sandbox differs from live

- Every payment and product page shows a "Test mode" banner.
- No emails go out. Receipts, payment requests and other emails appear in the dashboard's **Sandbox inbox** instead,
  and are kept for 14 days.
- Price checks on stablecoins are switched off, because test coins have no market price.
- Some features can be tried here before they reach live accounts: subscriptions, refunds sent from the dashboard,
  batch payouts and payments by AI agents (x402).
- Test data can be reset at any time. Never use real customer details.

## For developers

The sandbox has its own machine-readable API description (OpenAPI) at
[sandbox.mintagepay.com/v1/openapi.json](https://sandbox.mintagepay.com/v1/openapi.json).