APIs · head to head
Astra vs Tink
Astra
APIs
Instant payments API for push-to-card, card-to-account and FedNow transfers
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
Tink
APIs
European open banking platform for account data and payment initiation
- 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.; Tink visa owns Tink, and pay-by-bank exists to move payments off card rails, so the roadmap and pricing of the product you are using to reduce interchange are set by the company that earns the interchange.
- They diverge on capability: Astra covers Instant disbursements, Tink covers Account data access.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Astra and Tink 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 Tink
- Account data access
- Payment initiation
- EEA passporting
- Categorisation
- Account verification
- Risk and affordability signals
- Variable recurring payments support
- Consent management
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 Tink
- An insurer settling small claims instantly to a claimant debit card to remove the cheque processnot Tink
- A lending product disbursing approved funds in seconds so the borrower experience matches the approval decisionnot Tink
- A consumer fintech letting users fund a new account from an existing debit card so the balance is usable immediatelynot Tink
Tink
- A European lender that needs verified income and expense data from a borrower bank account across several EEA markets under one licencenot Astra
- A merchant offering pay-by-bank at checkout to avoid card acceptance costs on high value basketsnot Astra
- A fintech that does not hold its own PSD2 licence and needs to operate under an authorised provider passported across the EEAnot Astra
- A bank building an account aggregation view of a customer external accounts without negotiating with each institution individuallynot 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.
Tink
- Visa owns Tink, and pay-by-bank exists to move payments off card rails, so the roadmap and pricing of the product you are using to reduce interchange are set by the company that earns the interchange.
- Coverage is Europe only, so a product serving both European and United States users runs a second aggregator with a different data model and a separate contract.
- PSD2 connection quality varies sharply by bank, and headline connection counts hide wide differences in success rate, consent lifetime and re-authentication frequency that determine what users actually experience.
- Consent under PSD2 expires and requires periodic re-authentication, so any product depending on continuous data access has a recurring user friction it cannot design away, and drop-off at re-consent is a real product problem.
- Pricing is quoted with data access and payment initiation priced separately, and there is no published rate card, so small merchants cannot compare pay-by-bank economics against card acceptance without a sales process.
Pricing, plan by plan
Astra
On request- Astra Payments$undefined/year
- Per transaction pricing quoted by volume and rail
- Push-to-card economics differ materially from ACH
- Net debit mode available in place of prefunding
Tink
On request- Tink Platform$undefined/year
- Priced by product, market and volume
- Data access and payment initiation priced separately
- Annual commitments typical for enterprise agreements
Which should you pick?
Choose Astra if
- You need instant disbursements.
- You work on API, Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want card to account.
Choose Tink if
- You need account data access.
- You work on API, Web.
- You also want payment initiation.
Questions people ask
- Is Astra or Tink better?
- Neither clearly leads. Astra starts at On request and Tink at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Astra or Tink?
- Astra starts at On request and Tink at On request.
- Does Astra or Tink run on more platforms?
- Astra runs on API, Web, iOS, Android. Tink runs on API, Web.
- 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 Tink is typically brought in for.
- What can Astra do that Tink cannot?
- Astra covers Instant disbursements, Card to account, Net debit mode, FedNow and RTP transfers. Tink covers Account data access, Payment initiation, EEA passporting, Categorisation.
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.
Tink: Who owns Tink?
Visa, since 2022. That is directly relevant if you are adopting pay-by-bank specifically to reduce card costs.
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.
Tink: Do I need my own PSD2 licence?
No. Tink holds AIS and PIS licences from the Swedish FSA passported across the EEA, and customers can operate as its agent rather than obtaining their own authorisation.
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.
Tink: Does Tink cover the United States?
No. It is a European platform. US coverage requires a separate provider.
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.
Tink: How reliable are the bank connections?
It varies by institution far more than the headline count of roughly 6,000 connections suggests. Ask for per market and per bank success rates and consent lifetimes for the banks your users actually hold accounts with.
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