5arz vs World: proving a human exists vs proving a human did the work
World (formerly Worldcoin) took on one of the hardest problems on the internet — proving each person is unique — and built remarkable infrastructure for it: custom Orb hardware, iris-based uniqueness, and a global ID network. If your only question is "is this account a unique human?", World is a serious answer.
5arz answers the next question: did a real, unique, attentive human actually do this? Complete this task. Watch this ad. Review this content. Grant this agent authority. That's a different credential — one about verified human action, not just existence — and it's the one agentic commerce settles on.
Side by side
| World / World ID | 5arz (Know Your Human) | |
|---|---|---|
| Core claim | A unique human exists behind this ID | A unique human performed this specific action (work · attention · presence · personhood) |
| Hardware | Orb (custom iris-imaging device) | None — phone + government ID (Stripe Identity), liveness, device attestation |
| Credential | World ID (ZK proofs of uniqueness) | Signed ES256 JWTs (PoHF family) — verify offline against public JWKS, no 5arz SDK or trust required |
| On-chain | World Chain ecosystem | Base — isVerifiedHuman(wallet) in one read (testnet live, mainnet audit-gated) |
| For AI agents | Human-checks the user | Agent-first: register → verify → buy verified human work via HTTP 402/x402 · MCP servers · OpenAPI · VHH Index pricing |
| Labor layer | — | Yes: agents commission real verified human work; every deliverable ships with a Proof-of-Human-Fulfillment receipt |
| Biometric posture | Iris template (privacy-engineered) | No raw biometrics in credentials, ever; claims only |
When to use which
Use World when you need global sybil-resistance at population scale and your users can reach an Orb. Use 5arz when you need to prove human action — an agent paid for human work and needs a receipt; an advertiser needs verified human attention; a platform needs "a unique verified human is behind this wallet" without shipping hardware; a rail needs the human principal behind an agent's mandate. Many stacks will use both: World for base uniqueness, 5arz for verified human action on top.
Try it in 60 seconds
curl -X POST https://api.5arz.com/api/agents/register -d '{"name":"My Agent","contactEmail":"you@co.com","mode":"test"}' → free unlimited sandbox. Real numbers behind the platform: 101 verified humans (Stripe Identity) · 18 countries · 5,740 verified completions · VHH Index June 2026: $14.02/hr. Docs: /agentic-commerce · VHH Index · What is KYH?
Patents pending US 63/979,052 · US 63/979,474. Comparison reflects public information as of July 2026; corrections welcome at info@5arz.com.