Accounting · head to head
Adyen vs Basis Theory
Adyen
Accounting
The payments platform built for growth
- From
- $0.13/per-transaction
- Rated
- -
Basis Theory
APIs
Developer tokenisation platform that holds card and sensitive data inside a PCI Level 1 environment you do not operate
- From
- $995/month
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Adyen there is a minimum monthly invoice, set by industry and business model and only disclosed through the sales team, so small volumes are not economic; Basis Theory the Starter plan is 995 US dollars a month before any volume, which is a real floor for an early stage company and puts the product out of reach of teams tokenising a few thousand records.
- They diverge on capability: Adyen covers Payment processing, Basis Theory covers Tokenisation API.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Adyen and Basis Theory actually diverge.
| Attribute | Adyen | Basis Theory |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $0.13/per-transaction | $995/month |
| Pricing model | usage-based | Per month by token volume |
| Platforms | Web, Api, Pos | Web, iOS, Android, Linux |
| Category | Accounting | APIs |
| Founded | 2006 | Unknown |
Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Adyen
- Payment processing
- Risk management
- Unified commerce
- Issuing
- Platform payments
- SAP
- Salesforce
- Oracle
Only in Basis Theory
- Tokenisation API
- Hosted elements
- Outbound proxy
- PCI attestation of compliance
- Processor portability
- Reactors
- Access controls and audit
- PII and PHI options
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Adyen
- Card acquiring with interchange plus pricing for larger merchantsnot Basis Theory
- Accepting local payment methods across multiple countriesnot Basis Theory
- Settling in several currencies through linked bank accountsnot Basis Theory
- Unified online and in-person paymentsnot Basis Theory
Basis Theory
- A payments company that wants card on file without bringing its own infrastructure into PCI scope and paying for the assessment that followsnot Adyen
- A merchant locked into a processor by that processor vault that wants to hold its own tokens and route to more than one acquirernot Adyen
- A fintech collecting bank account and identity data that needs it isolated from its application database before an enterprise security reviewnot Adyen
- A team that needs to send stored card data to a third party for a one-off integration without that data traversing its own serversnot Adyen
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Adyen
- There is a minimum monthly invoice, set by industry and business model and only disclosed through the sales team, so small volumes are not economic
- Published fees are indicative rather than a rate card, with real pricing negotiated
- Interchange++ means the card cost varies per transaction rather than being a single predictable percentage
- Alternative payment methods carry their own rates on top, such as 3.3 percent plus $0.10 for American Express in North America
Basis Theory
- The Starter plan is 995 US dollars a month before any volume, which is a real floor for an early stage company and puts the product out of reach of teams tokenising a few thousand records.
- Starter is limited to the US region, so a company with European data residency requirements is pushed into a quoted Scale or Enterprise agreement immediately.
- Log retention on Starter is 24 hours, which is well below what most security teams expect for a system holding cardholder data and forces an upgrade for reasons unrelated to volume.
- Migrating away means moving card data out of the vault, which requires processor and assessor involvement and is slow, so the portability argument that attracts buyers cuts against them at exit.
- An attestation of compliance covers the vendor environment, not your assessment; your assessor still decides what is in scope, and buyers occasionally discover their integration pattern pulled systems back into scope anyway.
Pricing, plan by plan
Adyen
$0.13/per-transaction- Transaction-Based Pricing$undefined/mo
- Fixed $0.13 USD per transaction
- Variable fee determined by payment method
- No setup fees
Basis Theory
$995/month- Starter$995/month
- 20,000 tokens included
- Production PCI Level 1 environment
- US region only
- Scale$undefined/month
- Quoted
- Higher token volumes
- Additional regions
- Enterprise$undefined/month
- Quoted
- Additional compliance options for PII and PHI
- Responses for 95 percent of PCI SAQ D
Which should you pick?
Choose Adyen if
- You need payment processing.
- You work on Web, Api, Pos.
- You also want risk management.
Choose Basis Theory if
- You need tokenisation api.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android, Linux.
- You also want hosted elements.
Questions people ask
- Is Adyen or Basis Theory better?
- Neither clearly leads. Adyen starts at $0.13/per-transaction and Basis Theory at $995/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Adyen or Basis Theory?
- Adyen starts at $0.13/per-transaction and Basis Theory at $995/month.
- Does Adyen or Basis Theory run on more platforms?
- Adyen runs on Web, Api, Pos. Basis Theory runs on Web, iOS, Android, Linux.
- What is Adyen best used for?
- Adyen is most often used for card acquiring with interchange plus pricing for larger merchants, accepting local payment methods across multiple countries, settling in several currencies through linked bank accounts, unified online and in-person payments. Of those, card acquiring with interchange plus pricing for larger merchants and accepting local payment methods across multiple countries are not what Basis Theory is typically brought in for.
- What can Adyen do that Basis Theory cannot?
- Adyen covers Payment processing, Risk management, Unified commerce, Issuing. Basis Theory covers Tokenisation API, Hosted elements, Outbound proxy, PCI attestation of compliance.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Adyen: How much does Adyen charge per transaction?
Adyen charges a fixed $0.13 USD per transaction plus a variable fee based on the payment method used. Credit cards typically cost $0.13 + 0.60% + interchange, while digital wallets and BNPL options cost between $0.13 + 0.99% to $0.13 + 4.99%+, depending on the specific method and region.
SourceBasis Theory: Does this make us PCI compliant?
It removes cardholder data from your systems and gives you an AOC plus documented responses for most of a SAQ D. Your assessor still determines your scope, and a careless integration can pull systems back in.
Adyen: Does Adyen have monthly subscription or setup fees?
No, Adyen has no setup fees or monthly recurring charges. You pay only for each transaction processed. The transaction fee structure remains the same regardless of transaction volume or business size.
SourceBasis Theory: What does it cost to start?
995 US dollars a month on Starter, including 20,000 tokens, a production PCI Level 1 environment and US hosting. Higher tiers are quoted.
Adyen: What's Adyen's Interchange++ pricing option?
Adyen offers an Interchange++ transparent pricing model that passes interchange and scheme fees directly to merchants instead of bundling them into a percentage rate. This allows visibility into exact costs for each payment method.
SourceBasis Theory: Can we switch payment processors without re-collecting cards?
Yes, that is the main non-compliance reason to buy it. You hold the tokens and detokenise into whichever processor you route to.
Adyen: Can I process payments in multiple currencies with Adyen?
Yes, Adyen supports 100+ payment methods across multiple currencies. You can link multiple bank accounts in different currencies to avoid currency conversion fees on international transactions.
SourceBasis Theory: Is data stored outside the United States?
Not on Starter, which is US only. Other regions require a Scale or Enterprise agreement.
Related pages
More on Basis Theory
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