# M2M Tokens General Availability

We're thrilled to announce that the M2M Tokens feature has graduated from beta and is now **Generally Available (GA)**!

After months of real-world testing and feedback, the APIs are stable, performance has been refined, and M2M tokens are ready to power your production-grade backend services.

M2M tokens enable secure communication between your backend systems — from microservices and background workers to distributed systems — all with a straightforward and highly configurable authentication model.

## What's New

**Stable APIs for Production:**
M2M tokens are now officially supported for production workloads. You can confidently build and deploy systems using the M2M API without worrying about breaking changes.

**Usage Charts in the Dashboard:**
Track your M2M token activity directly from the [Clerk Dashboard](https://dashboard.clerk.com/~/machines/logs). You can now monitor token creation and verification trends at a glance, helping you stay in control of your usage.
![Usage Charts in Dashboard](./usage-charts.jpg){{ breakout: true }}

**Pricing Reminder:**
As shared during the beta, M2M tokens will use a simple usage-based pricing model:

- `$0.001` per token creation
- `$0.00001` per token verification (for opaque tokens)

Billing isn't live yet — we'll provide at least **30 days' notice** before billing begins. We recommend familiarizing yourself with your usage via the new usage charts before billing starts to avoid any surprises.

## What's Next

We're still just getting started with machine authentication. Next, we're working on M2M tokens as JWTs, allowing verification to happen locally — no network calls required. This will make M2M authentication even faster and more flexible across your infrastructure.

## Get Started Today

Ready to secure your backend service communication? Check out these resources to get started:

- 📖 [M2M tokens guide](https://clerk.com/docs/machine-auth/m2m-tokens.md) - Complete walkthrough of creating machines and using tokens
- 💻 [Example repository](https://github.com/clerk/m2m-example) - See M2M tokens in action with two simple Express apps
- 🛠️ [Machines Dashboard](https://dashboard.clerk.com/~/machines/configure) - Start creating your machine configurations

We're grateful for all the feedback that shaped M2M through its beta period — and we can't wait to see what you build next. Have questions or suggestions? Reach out through [our feedback portal](https://feedback.clerk.com) or join the discussion in our [Discord community](https://clerk.com/discord).