APIs · head to head
Akoya vs Basis Theory
Akoya
APIs
Bank-owned, token-based open finance network that replaces screen scraping for US financial data
- From
- On request
- 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: Akoya coverage reaches several thousand institutions but does not match aggregators that can still scrape, so applications needing the long tail of small credit unions will run a second data provider alongside it.; 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: Akoya covers FDX standard APIs, Basis Theory covers Tokenisation API.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Akoya and Basis Theory actually diverge.
| Attribute | Akoya | Basis Theory |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | On request | $995/month |
| Pricing model | quote | Per month by token volume |
| Platforms | Web | Web, iOS, Android, Linux |
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 Akoya
- FDX standard APIs
- Token-based access
- Investment data
- Accounts, balances and transactions
- Statements and tax forms
- Customer identity
- Consumer permission management
- Single integration
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.
Akoya
- A wealth management platform that needs Fidelity brokerage holdings and tax lots, which cannot be scraped since Fidelity closed that route in October 2023not Basis Theory
- A tax preparation product retrieving tax forms and cost basis directly from the institution rather than asking users to upload PDFsnot Basis Theory
- A lender that needs a permissioning trail defensible under CFPB section 1033 rather than a credential-sharing arrangementnot Basis Theory
- A bank that wants to meet data sharing obligations through one network connection instead of building and policing its own developer interfacenot 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 Akoya
- A merchant locked into a processor by that processor vault that wants to hold its own tokens and route to more than one acquirernot Akoya
- A fintech collecting bank account and identity data that needs it isolated from its application database before an enterprise security reviewnot Akoya
- 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 Akoya
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Akoya
- Coverage reaches several thousand institutions but does not match aggregators that can still scrape, so applications needing the long tail of small credit unions will run a second data provider alongside it.
- The network is owned by large banks, so roadmap and coverage priorities reflect owner interests rather than those of the fintechs consuming the data, and a recipient has no leverage over which institutions are added next.
- Data availability is decided institution by institution, meaning a bank may expose balances but not transactions or investments, and recipients must verify field-level coverage per institution rather than assume the FDX model is fully populated.
- Pricing is unpublished and usage based, which makes it difficult to compare against aggregator pricing during a build-versus-buy decision and forces a sales cycle before you can model cost.
- The token model requires the institution to have implemented its side, so newly onboarded institutions arrive on the institution timetable, not yours, and a launch dependent on a specific bank can slip badly.
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
Akoya
On request- Akoya Data Access$undefined/year
- Usage-based pricing quoted by data product and call volume
- Separate commercial terms for data recipients and for financial institutions joining the network
- No published rate card
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 Basis Theory if
- You need tokenisation api.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android, Linux.
- You also want hosted elements.
Questions people ask
- Is Akoya or Basis Theory better?
- Neither clearly leads. Akoya starts at On request and Basis Theory at $995/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Akoya or Basis Theory?
- Akoya starts at On request and Basis Theory at $995/month.
- Does Akoya or Basis Theory run on more platforms?
- Akoya runs on Web. Basis Theory runs on Web, iOS, Android, Linux.
- What is Akoya best used for?
- Akoya is most often used for a wealth management platform that needs fidelity brokerage holdings and tax lots, which cannot be scraped since fidelity closed that route in october 2023, a tax preparation product retrieving tax forms and cost basis directly from the institution rather than asking users to upload pdfs, a lender that needs a permissioning trail defensible under cfpb section 1033 rather than a credential-sharing arrangement, a bank that wants to meet data sharing obligations through one network connection instead of building and policing its own developer interface. Of those, a wealth management platform that needs fidelity brokerage holdings and tax lots, which cannot be scraped since fidelity closed that route in october 2023 and a tax preparation product retrieving tax forms and cost basis directly from the institution rather than asking users to upload pdfs are not what Basis Theory is typically brought in for.
- What can Akoya do that Basis Theory cannot?
- Akoya covers FDX standard APIs, Token-based access, Investment data, Accounts, balances and transactions. Basis Theory covers Tokenisation API, Hosted elements, Outbound proxy, PCI attestation of compliance.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Akoya: Who owns Akoya?
A group of large US banks. It was spun out of Fidelity, which is why Fidelity data access runs through it.
Basis 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.
Akoya: Is Akoya screen scraping?
No. It uses FDX standard APIs with OpenID Connect tokens, so credentials are never shared with or stored by the data recipient.
Basis 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.
Akoya: Can we use Akoya alone instead of an aggregator?
Usually not. Its investment and large-institution coverage is excellent, but the long tail of smaller institutions is thinner, so most teams run both.
Basis 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.
Akoya: Does it help with CFPB section 1033?
It is designed around it, providing tokenised permissioned access and consumer revocation rather than credential sharing.
Basis 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
Other head to heads
- Akoya vs Yodlee
- Akoya vs MX Technologies
- Akoya vs Ozone API
- Akoya vs Aiia
- Akoya vs Tink
- Akoya vs Salt Edge
- Akoya vs Trustly
- Akoya vs Lithic
- Akoya vs Token.io
- Akoya vs Bud Financial
- Akoya vs Tribe Payments
- Akoya vs Method Financial
- Akoya vs Asyncapi
- Akoya vs AWS API Gateway
- Akoya vs Microsoft Azure API Management
- Akoya vs Boomi API Management
- Akoya vs Codat
- Akoya vs Skyflow
- Akoya vs Increase
- Akoya vs Volt
- Akoya vs Swan
- Akoya vs Moov
- Akoya vs Vodeno
- Akoya vs TrueLayer
- Akoya vs Paymentology
- Akoya vs Sila
- Akoya vs Backbase
- Akoya vs Enfuce
- Akoya vs Griffin
- Akoya vs Stoplight
- Basis Theory vs Yodlee
- Basis Theory vs MX Technologies
- Basis Theory vs Ozone API
- Basis Theory vs Aiia
- Basis Theory vs Tink
- Basis Theory vs Salt Edge
- Basis Theory vs Trustly
- Basis Theory vs Lithic
- Basis Theory vs Token.io
- Basis Theory vs Bud Financial
- Basis Theory vs Tribe Payments
- Basis Theory vs Method Financial
- Basis Theory vs Asyncapi
- Basis Theory vs AWS API Gateway
- Basis Theory vs Microsoft Azure API Management
- Basis Theory vs Boomi API Management
- Basis Theory vs Codat
- Basis Theory vs Skyflow
- Basis Theory vs Increase
- Basis Theory vs Volt
- Basis Theory vs Swan
- Basis Theory vs Moov
- Basis Theory vs Vodeno
- Basis Theory vs TrueLayer
- Basis Theory vs Paymentology
- Basis Theory vs Sila
- Basis Theory vs Backbase
- Basis Theory vs Enfuce
- Basis Theory vs Griffin
- Basis Theory vs Stoplight