What Is Web4?

Web4 is a name for the next phase of the internet, in which autonomous agents — not only people — are primary users of the web. Where Web2 was read-write and Web3 emphasised ownership and tokens, Web4 emphasises agency: software that discovers, decides, transacts and proves on our behalf. In practice "Web4" and "the agentic web" point at the same shift; the substance is machine legibility and accountability, not the label.

Web2

Read-write, human users

Web3

Ownership, tokens

Web4

Agency — agents as primary users

In practice

The agentic web, by another name

The label matters less than the layer

Whether it is called Web4 or the agentic web, the real content is the same: making the internet legible and accountable to machine actors. The useful work is not defending a version number but building the layers — discovery, identity, payment, proof — that let an agent act on the web the way a person can, and be held accountable for it.

Questions

Is Web4 the same as Web3?

No. Web3 centres ownership and tokens; Web4 centres agency — autonomous agents as primary users. Web4 does not require a blockchain.

Is Web4 an official standard?

No. It is a framing for the agent-driven phase of the web. Treat it as a lens, and look to the actual layers — discovery, identity, payment, proof — for substance.