Softwr

APIs · head to head

Akoya vs Unit

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
Unit logo

Unit

APIs

Banking as a service platform for embedding deposit accounts, cards and payments, with a sponsor bank behind it

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

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.; Unit your product depends on a sponsor bank you do not contract with directly, and 2024 showed what that means: Thread Bank received an FDIC enforcement action naming its banking as a service programmes and Blue Ridge Bank went under an OCC consent order and offboarded fintech partners.
  • They diverge on capability: Akoya covers FDX standard APIs, Unit covers Deposit accounts.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Akoya and Unit actually diverge.

Attributes where Akoya and Unit differ
AttributeAkoyaUnit
PlatformsWebWeb, iOS, Android

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), 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 Unit

  • Deposit accounts
  • Card issuing
  • Payments
  • White label components
  • Compliance operations
  • Lending
  • Programme reporting
  • Sandbox

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

Unit

  • A vertical SaaS platform for contractors that wants to hold customer funds and issue expense cards without pursuing a charternot Akoya
  • A payroll or benefits platform embedding accounts so employees can be paid ahead of schedulenot Akoya
  • A marketplace that wants seller balances to sit in real accounts under its own brand rather than as ledger entries at a processornot Akoya
  • A company that needs interchange revenue from a card programme to make the unit economics of its core product worknot 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.

Unit

  • Your product depends on a sponsor bank you do not contract with directly, and 2024 showed what that means: Thread Bank received an FDIC enforcement action naming its banking as a service programmes and Blue Ridge Bank went under an OCC consent order and offboarded fintech partners.
  • Programme approval by the bank is a separate gate from signing with Unit, and it can add months and impose product restrictions that were not visible during the commercial conversation.
  • Compliance obligations are shared but the operational load lands on you, and platforms consistently underestimate the staffing needed for disputes, escalations and the bank ongoing oversight requests.
  • Pricing is unpublished and blends platform fees, per-account and per-transaction charges and interchange sharing, which makes it hard to model unit economics before you have volume and easy to be surprised by the minimum.
  • Migrating a live deposit programme to a different provider or bank is extremely disruptive because it involves moving customer accounts and card credentials, so switching costs are far higher than for ordinary software.

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

Unit

On request
  • Unit Banking as a Service$undefined/year
    • Platform fee plus per-account and per-transaction charges, quoted
    • Interchange sharing arrangements negotiated per programme
    • Minimum commitment typical

Which should you pick?

Choose Akoya if

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

Choose Unit if

  • You need deposit accounts.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want card issuing.
Unit review

Questions people ask

Is Akoya or Unit better?
Neither clearly leads. Akoya starts at On request and Unit at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Akoya or Unit?
Akoya starts at On request and Unit at On request.
Does Akoya or Unit run on more platforms?
Akoya runs on Web. Unit runs on 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 Unit is typically brought in for.
What can Akoya do that Unit cannot?
Akoya covers FDX standard APIs, Token-based access, Investment data, Accounts, balances and transactions. Unit covers Deposit accounts, Card issuing, Payments, White label components.

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.

Unit: Who actually holds the money?

A chartered partner bank, not Unit. Deposits sit at the sponsor bank and FDIC insurance flows from that bank, so its condition is your condition.

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.

Unit: What happened with Unit sponsor banks in 2024?

Thread Bank received an FDIC enforcement action that explicitly named its banking as a service and lending as a service programmes, and Blue Ridge Bank was under an OCC consent order from January 2024 and offboarded fintech partners. Blue Ridge exited the order in late 2025.

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.

Unit: What does Unit cost?

Not published. Expect a platform fee, per-account and per-transaction charges, an interchange share and a minimum commitment.

Akoya: Does it help with CFPB section 1033?

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

Unit: Do we need our own compliance team?

Yes. Unit supplies tooling and the bank sets the rules, but disputes, escalations and evidence for bank oversight require named people on your side.

Share

Related pages

More on Akoya

More on Unit

Keep looking

Other head to heads