APIs · head to head
Akoya vs Plaid
Akoya
APIs
Bank-owned, token-based open finance network that replaces screen scraping for US financial data
- From
- On request
- 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.; Plaid no dollar amount is published for any product, and the pricing page states no per request rate or minimum commitment
- They diverge on capability: Akoya covers FDX standard APIs, Plaid covers Bank account linking.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Akoya and Plaid actually diverge.
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 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 Plaid
- Bank account linking
- Transaction data
- Identity verification
- Income verification
- Asset reports
- Venmo
- Robinhood
- Coinbase
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 Plaid
- A tax preparation product retrieving tax forms and cost basis directly from the institution rather than asking users to upload PDFsnot Plaid
- A lender that needs a permissioning trail defensible under CFPB section 1033 rather than a credential-sharing arrangementnot Plaid
- A bank that wants to meet data sharing obligations through one network connection instead of building and policing its own developer interfacenot Plaid
Plaid
- Connecting bank accounts to an application for balances and transactionsnot Akoya
- Verifying account ownership and income for payments or lendingnot 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.
Plaid
- No dollar amount is published for any product, and the pricing page states no per request rate or minimum commitment
- Three different billing models apply depending on the product, being one time per connected account, monthly per connected account, and per successful API call
- That mix means total cost depends on which products are combined rather than on a single unit
- Discounted rates require the Growth plan, which is a 12 month commitment
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
Plaid
$29/month- Pay-as-you-goFree
- Bank connections
- Transaction data
- Account verification
Which should you pick?
Choose Plaid if
- You need bank account linking.
- You work on Api, Web, Ios, Android.
- You also want transaction data.
Questions people ask
- Is Akoya or Plaid better?
- Neither clearly leads. Akoya starts at On request and Plaid at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Akoya or Plaid?
- Akoya starts at On request and Plaid at $29/month.
- Does Akoya or Plaid run on more platforms?
- Akoya runs on Web. Plaid runs on Api, Web, Ios, Android.
- 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 Plaid is typically brought in for.
- What can Akoya do that Plaid cannot?
- Akoya covers FDX standard APIs, Token-based access, Investment data, Accounts, balances and transactions. Plaid covers Bank account linking, Transaction data, Identity verification, Income verification.
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.
Plaid: How much does Plaid cost?
Plaid does not publish per request rates. It offers Pay as You Go with no upfront commitment, a Growth plan on a 12 month commitment with discounts, and a Custom plan priced on volume. Figures come from its sales team.
SourceAkoya: 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.
Plaid: How does Plaid bill for its products?
Plaid uses three billing shapes: one time fee products charged once per connected account, subscription products charged monthly per connected account, and per request products charged a flat fee for every successful API call.
SourceAkoya: 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.
Plaid: Can I test Plaid for free?
Yes. Plaid's Limited Production service allows up to 200 API calls with each available product using live data, before any commitment. Plaid is also free for the consumers whose accounts are connected.
SourceAkoya: 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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