Is Astra or Solaris better?

Neither clearly leads. Astra starts at On request and Solaris at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Astra or Solaris?

Astra starts at On request and Solaris at On request.

Does Astra or Solaris run on more platforms?

Astra runs on API, Web, iOS, Android. Solaris 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 Solaris is typically brought in for.

What can Astra do that Solaris cannot?

Astra covers Instant disbursements, Card to account, Net debit mode, FedNow and RTP transfers. Solaris covers German banking licence, IBAN accounts, Card issuing, Lending as a service.

APIs · head to head

Astra vs Solaris

Astra

APIs

Instant payments API for push-to-card, card-to-account and FedNow transfers

From: On request
Rated: -

Full review Website

Solaris

APIs

German banking as a service with a full banking licence and a live regulatory problem

From: On request
Rated: -

Full review Website

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.; Solaris baFin appointed a special representative in 2022 and extended the mandate in July 2024, so a partner is joining a bank under active supervisory monitoring, with slower approvals and heavier compliance demands as a direct consequence.
They diverge on capability: Astra covers Instant disbursements, Solaris covers German banking licence.
Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Astra and Solaris actually diverge.

Attributes where Astra and Solaris differ
Attribute	Astra	Solaris
Platforms	API, Web, iOS, Android	Web, API

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 Solaris

German banking licence
IBAN accounts
Card issuing
Lending as a service
Digital assets and custody
SEPA payments
KYC and onboarding
Deposit protection

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 Solaris
An insurer settling small claims instantly to a claimant debit card to remove the cheque processnot Solaris
A lending product disbursing approved funds in seconds so the borrower experience matches the approval decisionnot Solaris
A consumer fintech letting users fund a new account from an existing debit card so the balance is usable immediatelynot Solaris

Solaris

A retailer or platform launching a German current account or card product without applying for its own licencenot Astra
A fintech that needs deposit taking and lending, which an e-money licence cannot providenot Astra
A European business needing German IBANs because customers reject foreign IBANs for salary and direct debitnot Astra
A company requiring German statutory deposit protection on customer balances as a product claimnot 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.

Solaris

BaFin appointed a special representative in 2022 and extended the mandate in July 2024, so a partner is joining a bank under active supervisory monitoring, with slower approvals and heavier compliance demands as a direct consequence.
BaFin fined Solaris EUR 6.5 million in March 2024 for systematically late suspicious activity reports and EUR 500,000 for breaching large exposure limits between January 2022 and March 2024, which is a track record a partner inherits reputationally.
Solaris has previously needed BaFin approval before onboarding new corporate clients, which can turn a commercial decision to launch into a regulatory timetable outside your control.
The 2024 restructuring involved job cuts and the closure of parts of a business unit, so product lines a partner depends on may not have the engineering behind them that the sales process implies.
SBI Holdings acquired majority control in 2025, so strategic direction now sits with a Japanese financial group whose priorities for the European business may differ from the roadmap you were sold.

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

Solaris

On request

Solaris banking as a service$undefined/year
- Quoted per partner, typically setup fee plus monthly platform fee
- Per account, per card and per transaction charges on top
- Interchange sharing arrangements negotiated per programme

Which should you pick?

Choose Astra if

You need instant disbursements.
You work on API, Web, iOS, Android.
You also want card to account.

Astra review

Choose Solaris if

You need german banking licence.
You work on Web, API.
You also want iban accounts.

Solaris review

Questions people ask

Is Astra or Solaris better?: Neither clearly leads. Astra starts at On request and Solaris at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Astra or Solaris?: Astra starts at On request and Solaris at On request.
Does Astra or Solaris run on more platforms?: Astra runs on API, Web, iOS, Android. Solaris 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 Solaris is typically brought in for.
What can Astra do that Solaris cannot?: Astra covers Instant disbursements, Card to account, Net debit mode, FedNow and RTP transfers. Solaris covers German banking licence, IBAN accounts, Card issuing, Lending as a service.

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.

Solaris: Does Solaris have a real banking licence?

Yes. Solaris SE is a German credit institution, which is why it can offer deposits and lending, unlike e-money based competitors.

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.

Solaris: Is the BaFin action still live?

The special representative appointed in 2022 had the mandate extended in July 2024, and fines were issued in March 2024. Treat supervisory oversight as an active condition in your diligence.

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.

Solaris: Who owns Solaris now?

SBI Holdings of Japan agreed in December 2024 and January 2025 to take a majority stake of over seventy per cent for around EUR 100 million.

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.

Astra vs Solaris

Astra

Solaris

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Astra

Only in Solaris

What people use each for

Astra

Solaris

Where each one falls short

Astra

Solaris

Pricing, plan by plan

Astra

Solaris

Which should you pick?

Choose Astra if

Choose Solaris if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Astra

More on Solaris

Keep looking

Other head to heads