APIs · head to head
Akoya vs Strands
Akoya
APIs
Bank-owned, token-based open finance network that replaces screen scraping for US financial data
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
Strands
Personal Finance
Personal and business financial management modules for banks, owned by CRIF
- 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.; Strands transaction categorisation accuracy depends on local merchant data, and banks in smaller markets face months of tuning before customers trust the categories shown.
- They diverge on capability: Akoya covers FDX standard APIs, Strands covers Transaction categorisation.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Akoya and Strands actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), 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 Strands
- Transaction categorisation
- Personal financial management
- Business financial management
- Lighthouse
- Automated savings
- Account aggregation
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 Strands
- A tax preparation product retrieving tax forms and cost basis directly from the institution rather than asking users to upload PDFsnot Strands
- A lender that needs a permissioning trail defensible under CFPB section 1033 rather than a credential-sharing arrangementnot Strands
- A bank that wants to meet data sharing obligations through one network connection instead of building and policing its own developer interfacenot Strands
Strands
- A retail bank adding budgeting and spending insight without building a categorisation enginenot Akoya
- A bank wanting personalised product offers driven by observed spending and credit datanot Akoya
- A credit union offering small business customers cash flow forecasting inside online bankingnot Akoya
- A Nordic institution combining Strands insight with open banking account aggregationnot 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.
Strands
- Transaction categorisation accuracy depends on local merchant data, and banks in smaller markets face months of tuning before customers trust the categories shown.
- It is now a product line inside CRIF, a credit bureau, so roadmap priorities follow group data strategy rather than standalone software competition.
- Commercial terms are often bundled with other CRIF services, which makes a standalone comparison against a pure PFM vendor harder to run.
- Money management features have weak measurable impact on bank revenue, so the business case relies on engagement metrics that are difficult to tie to profit.
- It is a white-label component, so the bank still owns design, support and customer communication, and a poor in-app implementation reflects on the bank rather than the vendor.
Pricing, plan by plan
Akoya
On request- Akoya Data Access$undefined/year
- Usage-based pricing quoted by data product and call volume
- Separate commercial terms for data recipients and for financial institutions joining the network
- No published rate card
Strands
On request- Strands AI Finance Suite$undefined/year
- Licence scaled by end customers or active users
- Modules licensed separately for personal, business and Lighthouse
- Implementation and categorisation tuning charged as a project
Which should you pick?
Choose Strands if
- You need transaction categorisation.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android, REST API.
- You also want personal financial management.
Questions people ask
- Is Akoya or Strands better?
- Neither clearly leads. Akoya starts at On request and Strands at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Akoya or Strands?
- Akoya starts at On request and Strands at On request.
- Does Akoya or Strands run on more platforms?
- Akoya runs on Web. Strands runs on Web, iOS, Android, REST API.
- 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 Strands is typically brought in for.
- What can Akoya do that Strands cannot?
- Akoya covers FDX standard APIs, Token-based access, Investment data, Accounts, balances and transactions. Strands covers Transaction categorisation, Personal financial management, Business financial management, Lighthouse.
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.
Strands: Who owns Strands?
CRIF, the Italian credit bureau and information services group, which acquired it to combine money management software with credit data.
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.
Strands: Is it sold to consumers?
No. It is licensed to banks and credit unions who embed it in their own applications under their own brand.
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.
Strands: Does it include account aggregation?
It supports aggregated external accounts, with CRIF and partners such as Enable Banking supplying the open banking connectivity.
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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