APIs · head to head
Astra vs Sila
Astra
APIs
Instant payments API for push-to-card, card-to-account and FedNow transfers
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
Sila
APIs
US money movement API for ACH, RTP and FedNow with KYC and ledgering built in
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Astra push-to-card costs materially more per transaction than ACH, so a platform that switches all payouts to instant sees payment costs rise sharply, and the usual answer of charging the recipient for speed only works where recipients will pay.; Sila no pricing is published, so you cannot compare Sila against Moov or Dwolla without entering two sales processes, and small programmes frequently find the monthly minimum dominates their cost at low volume.
- They diverge on capability: Astra covers Instant disbursements, Sila covers ACH origination.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Astra and Sila actually diverge.
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 Astra
- Instant disbursements
- Card to account
- Net debit mode
- FedNow and RTP transfers
- ACH transfers
- Routing logic
- SDK
- Sandbox
Only in Sila
- ACH origination
- Instant rails
- KYC and KYB
- Virtual accounts
- Ledger
- Wallets and holds
- Webhooks
- Bank-side deployment
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Astra
- A gig or marketplace platform paying workers to their debit cards at the end of a shift rather than on a weekly ACH cyclenot Sila
- An insurer settling small claims instantly to a claimant debit card to remove the cheque processnot Sila
- A lending product disbursing approved funds in seconds so the borrower experience matches the approval decisionnot Sila
- A consumer fintech letting users fund a new account from an existing debit card so the balance is usable immediatelynot Sila
Sila
- A small fintech that needs ACH, identity verification and a ledger from one vendor because it has no compliance team to assemble threenot Astra
- A marketplace paying out to sellers that wants same-day ACH and instant push options without becoming a money transmitter itselfnot Astra
- A community bank replacing batch file ACH processing with an API so it can offer real-time payments to business customersnot Astra
- A lending platform that must verify business identity, disburse funds and collect repayments on a schedule from a single integrationnot Astra
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Astra
- Push-to-card costs materially more per transaction than ACH, so a platform that switches all payouts to instant sees payment costs rise sharply, and the usual answer of charging the recipient for speed only works where recipients will pay.
- Original Credit Transaction support is not universal across card issuers, so a proportion of payouts fall back to slower rails and you must build and explain a two speed experience rather than promising instant to everyone.
- The programme depends on Cross River Bank as sponsor, a bank with concentrated fintech exposure and a documented regulatory history, so a single supervisory action on that institution is a direct operational risk to your payouts.
- Nothing is published on pricing, and per transaction economics vary by rail and volume, so small platforms cannot estimate cost before a sales conversation and have limited leverage in it.
- FedNow reach still depends on the recipient bank participating, so instant account-to-account is not available to every recipient and the routing logic has to degrade gracefully, which is more integration work than the single API framing suggests.
Sila
- No pricing is published, so you cannot compare Sila against Moov or Dwolla without entering two sales processes, and small programmes frequently find the monthly minimum dominates their cost at low volume.
- Sila is materially smaller and less well capitalised than the banking-as-a-service names it competes with, which matters because your customer funds and your payment rails depend on the vendor still trading in three years.
- The sponsor bank behind your programme determines what you can offer and how fast you can change it, and bank partnerships in this sector have been reshuffled repeatedly since 2023, so a bank change during your contract is a realistic risk rather than a theoretical one.
- Coverage is United States only, so any product with cross-border ambitions needs a second payments vendor and a second reconciliation process from the outset.
- Onboarding involves compliance diligence on your own programme, and teams routinely underestimate this, with weeks lost between signing and first live transaction while policies, flow of funds diagrams and BSA arrangements are reviewed.
Pricing, plan by plan
Astra
On request- Astra Payments$undefined/year
- Per transaction pricing quoted by volume and rail
- Push-to-card economics differ materially from ACH
- Net debit mode available in place of prefunding
Sila
On request- Sila Payments Platform$undefined/month
- ACH, RTP and FedNow
- KYC and KYB verification
- Virtual accounts and ledger
Which should you pick?
Choose Astra if
- You need instant disbursements.
- You work on API, Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want card to account.
Questions people ask
- Is Astra or Sila better?
- Neither clearly leads. Astra starts at On request and Sila at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Astra or Sila?
- Astra starts at On request and Sila at On request.
- Does Astra or Sila run on more platforms?
- Astra runs on API, Web, iOS, Android. Sila runs on Web, API.
- What is Astra best used for?
- Astra is most often used for a gig or marketplace platform paying workers to their debit cards at the end of a shift rather than on a weekly ach cycle, an insurer settling small claims instantly to a claimant debit card to remove the cheque process, a lending product disbursing approved funds in seconds so the borrower experience matches the approval decision, a consumer fintech letting users fund a new account from an existing debit card so the balance is usable immediately. Of those, a gig or marketplace platform paying workers to their debit cards at the end of a shift rather than on a weekly ach cycle and an insurer settling small claims instantly to a claimant debit card to remove the cheque process are not what Sila is typically brought in for.
- What can Astra do that Sila cannot?
- Astra covers Instant disbursements, Card to account, Net debit mode, FedNow and RTP transfers. Sila covers ACH origination, Instant rails, KYC and KYB, Virtual accounts.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Astra: Who is the sponsor bank?
Cross River Bank. All banking and payment services run through that relationship, so the bank should be part of your diligence rather than an implementation detail.
Sila: Does Sila require a sponsor bank?
Yes. Funds sit at a partner bank, and which bank that is affects your product features and your regulatory exposure, so ask before signing.
Astra: Do I have to prefund payouts?
Not necessarily. Astra offers a net debit arrangement where disbursements settle against a reserve rather than a permanently funded float account, which is the main working capital argument for the product.
Sila: Is Sila still operating?
Yes. It continues to trade and announced an API integration with GBank in 2025 covering ACH, RTP and FedNow.
Astra: Is every payout instant?
No. Push-to-card requires the recipient card issuer to support Original Credit Transactions, and FedNow requires the recipient bank to participate. The rest fall back to ACH.
Sila: What does it cost?
Sila does not publish rates. Expect per-transaction pricing plus a monthly minimum, quoted after a compliance conversation.
Astra: What does it cost?
Nothing is published. Pricing is per transaction and varies by rail and volume, and card rails cost considerably more than ACH.
Sila: Can I use it outside the United States?
No. Sila covers US rails only.
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