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APIs · head to head

Akana vs Tink

Akana logo

Akana

APIs

Enterprise API lifecycle management platform

From
$2500/monthly
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Tink logo

Tink

APIs

European open banking platform for account data and payment initiation

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Akana owned by Perforce and sold within their portfolio rather than independently, and akana.com redirects to perforce.com; Tink visa owns Tink, and pay-by-bank exists to move payments off card rails, so the roadmap and pricing of the product you are using to reduce interchange are set by the company that earns the interchange.
  • They diverge on capability: Akana covers API Lifecycle Management, Tink covers Account data access.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Akana and Tink actually diverge.

Attributes where Akana and Tink differ
AttributeAkanaTink
Starting price$2500/monthlyOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsCloud, On-premise, HybridAPI, Web
Founded2001Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (APIs).

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 Akana

  • API Lifecycle Management
  • API Security
  • Governance Controls
  • OAuth
  • SAML
  • LDAP
  • Active Directory
  • Cloud support

Only in Tink

  • Account data access
  • Payment initiation
  • EEA passporting
  • Categorisation
  • Account verification
  • Risk and affordability signals
  • Variable recurring payments support
  • Consent management

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Akana

  • API lifecycle management across REST, SOAP and GraphQLnot Tink
  • Applying OAuth, JWT and SAML policies at the gatewaynot Tink
  • Running the same platform on-premises, in Kubernetes or across cloudsnot Tink
  • Developer portal and API monetisationnot Tink
  • Monitoring API traffic and enforcing quotasnot Tink

Tink

  • A European lender that needs verified income and expense data from a borrower bank account across several EEA markets under one licencenot Akana
  • A merchant offering pay-by-bank at checkout to avoid card acceptance costs on high value basketsnot Akana
  • A fintech that does not hold its own PSD2 licence and needs to operate under an authorised provider passported across the EEAnot Akana
  • A bank building an account aggregation view of a customer external accounts without negotiating with each institution individuallynot Akana

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Akana

  • Owned by Perforce and sold within their portfolio rather than independently, and akana.com redirects to perforce.com
  • Pricing is not published; only a 30 day trial is offered

Tink

  • Visa owns Tink, and pay-by-bank exists to move payments off card rails, so the roadmap and pricing of the product you are using to reduce interchange are set by the company that earns the interchange.
  • Coverage is Europe only, so a product serving both European and United States users runs a second aggregator with a different data model and a separate contract.
  • PSD2 connection quality varies sharply by bank, and headline connection counts hide wide differences in success rate, consent lifetime and re-authentication frequency that determine what users actually experience.
  • Consent under PSD2 expires and requires periodic re-authentication, so any product depending on continuous data access has a recurring user friction it cannot design away, and drop-off at re-consent is a real product problem.
  • Pricing is quoted with data access and payment initiation priced separately, and there is no published rate card, so small merchants cannot compare pay-by-bank economics against card acceptance without a sales process.

Pricing, plan by plan

Akana

$2500/monthly
  • Professional$2500/monthly
    • API Gateway
    • Developer Portal
    • Basic analytics
  • Enterprise$5000/monthly
    • Advanced governance
    • Multi-cloud support
    • Premium support
  • Custom$undefined/monthly
    • Custom solutions
    • Dedicated support
    • SLA guarantee

Tink

On request
  • Tink Platform$undefined/year
    • Priced by product, market and volume
    • Data access and payment initiation priced separately
    • Annual commitments typical for enterprise agreements

Which should you pick?

Choose Akana if

  • You need api lifecycle management.
  • You work on Cloud, On-premise, Hybrid.
  • You also want api security.
Akana review

Choose Tink if

  • You need account data access.
  • You work on API, Web.
  • You also want payment initiation.
Tink review

Questions people ask

Is Akana or Tink better?
Neither clearly leads. Akana starts at $2500/monthly and Tink at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Akana or Tink?
Akana starts at $2500/monthly and Tink at On request.
Does Akana or Tink run on more platforms?
Akana runs on Cloud, On-premise, Hybrid. Tink runs on API, Web.
What is Akana best used for?
Akana is most often used for api lifecycle management across rest, soap and graphql, applying oauth, jwt and saml policies at the gateway, running the same platform on-premises, in kubernetes or across clouds, developer portal and api monetisation. Of those, api lifecycle management across rest, soap and graphql and applying oauth, jwt and saml policies at the gateway are not what Tink is typically brought in for.
What can Akana do that Tink cannot?
Akana covers API Lifecycle Management, API Security, Governance Controls, OAuth. Tink covers Account data access, Payment initiation, EEA passporting, Categorisation.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Akana: What does Akana API Platform include?

Akana provides mediation and integration capabilities for creating easy-to-consume API products from API code, with features for API governance, security, and operational management.

Source
Tink: Who owns Tink?

Visa, since 2022. That is directly relevant if you are adopting pay-by-bank specifically to reduce card costs.

Akana: How does Akana help secure APIs?

Akana addresses the security challenges that come with more APIs and more endpoints, providing tools for enterprise API governance and compliance management.

Source
Tink: Do I need my own PSD2 licence?

No. Tink holds AIS and PIS licences from the Swedish FSA passported across the EEA, and customers can operate as its agent rather than obtaining their own authorisation.

Tink: Does Tink cover the United States?

No. It is a European platform. US coverage requires a separate provider.

Tink: How reliable are the bank connections?

It varies by institution far more than the headline count of roughly 6,000 connections suggests. Ask for per market and per bank success rates and consent lifetimes for the banks your users actually hold accounts with.

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