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APIs · head to head

Akoya vs Liveblocks

Akoya logo

Akoya

APIs

Bank-owned, token-based open finance network that replaces screen scraping for US financial data

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Liveblocks logo

Liveblocks

APIs

Realtime collaboration infrastructure for building multiplayer features

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Liveblocks has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • 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.; Liveblocks on the Free plan, each metered feature has a hard cap and simply pauses when exceeded rather than allowing overage.
  • They diverge on capability: Akoya covers FDX standard APIs, Liveblocks covers Realtime presence and cursors.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Akoya and Liveblocks actually diverge.

Attributes where Akoya and Liveblocks differ
AttributeAkoyaLiveblocks
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquotefreemium
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebweb, api

Identical on both: 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 Liveblocks

  • Realtime presence and cursors
  • Comments
  • Version history
  • Custom notifications
  • SSO and SOC 2
  • Management API

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 Liveblocks
  • A tax preparation product retrieving tax forms and cost basis directly from the institution rather than asking users to upload PDFsnot Liveblocks
  • A lender that needs a permissioning trail defensible under CFPB section 1033 rather than a credential-sharing arrangementnot Liveblocks
  • A bank that wants to meet data sharing obligations through one network connection instead of building and policing its own developer interfacenot Liveblocks

Liveblocks

  • Adding live cursors and presence to a collaborative editornot Akoya
  • Building threaded comments on documents or designsnot Akoya
  • Sending realtime notifications tied to collaborative actionsnot Akoya
  • Restoring previous versions of collaborative contentnot 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.

Liveblocks

  • On the Free plan, each metered feature has a hard cap and simply pauses when exceeded rather than allowing overage.
  • The jump from Pro ($30/month) to Team (starting at $600/month) is steep for teams that outgrow Pro but don't need full Team scale.
  • Multi-region hosting and SCIM provisioning are Enterprise-only and require custom pricing.

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

Liveblocks

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 10 projects
    • 3 dashboard seats
    • 10 simultaneous connections per room
  • Pro$30/month
    • $30 monthly credits
    • Removes Liveblocks branding
    • 3 dashboard seats
  • Team$600/month
    • SSO and SOC 2
    • 10 dashboard seats
    • 50 connections/room

Which should you pick?

Choose Akoya if

  • You need fdx standard apis.
  • You also want token-based access.
Akoya review

Choose Liveblocks if

  • You need realtime presence and cursors.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on web, api.
  • You also want comments.
Liveblocks review

Questions people ask

Is Akoya or Liveblocks better?
Neither clearly leads. Akoya starts at On request and Liveblocks at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Akoya or Liveblocks?
Liveblocks has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Akoya and Free for Liveblocks.
Does Akoya or Liveblocks run on more platforms?
Akoya runs on Web. Liveblocks runs on web, api.
Can I use Liveblocks for free?
Yes. Liveblocks has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Akoya starts at On request.
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 Liveblocks is typically brought in for.
What can Akoya do that Liveblocks cannot?
Akoya covers FDX standard APIs, Token-based access, Investment data, Accounts, balances and transactions. Liveblocks covers Realtime presence and cursors, Comments, Version history, Custom notifications.

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.

Liveblocks: What does Liveblocks cost?

Liveblocks offers a Free plan with hard usage caps, a Pro plan at $30/month ($25/month billed annually) including $30 in monthly credits, a Team plan from $600/month, and custom Enterprise pricing.

Source
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.

Liveblocks: Is there a free plan, and what are its limits?

Yes, the Free plan includes 10 projects, 3 dashboard seats, 10 simultaneous connections per room, 3,000 collaboration minutes, 200 comments, and 1GB of realtime data storage, with features pausing once a cap is hit.

Source
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.

Liveblocks: How is usage metered?

Paid plans include monthly credits covering collaboration minutes, comments, and storage; usage beyond the credit is billed at metered rates such as $0.002 per collaboration minute and $0.01 per comment, with credits resetting each billing cycle without rollover.

Source
Akoya: Does it help with CFPB section 1033?

It is designed around it, providing tokenised permissioned access and consumer revocation rather than credential sharing.

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