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APIs · head to head

Basis Theory vs Directual

Basis Theory logo

Basis Theory

APIs

Developer tokenisation platform that holds card and sensitive data inside a PCI Level 1 environment you do not operate

From
$995/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Directual logo

Directual

No-Code

No-code backend with a visual workflow engine, used behind other tools rather than instead of them

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Directual has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Basis Theory the Starter plan is 995 US dollars a month before any volume, which is a real floor for an early stage company and puts the product out of reach of teams tokenising a few thousand records.; Directual the front-end builder is basic, so any project needing a designed interface means learning and paying for a second tool, and time to launch is closer to a two-system build than a one-tool build.
  • They diverge on capability: Basis Theory covers Tokenisation API, Directual covers Visual database designer.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Basis Theory and Directual actually diverge.

Attributes where Basis Theory and Directual differ
AttributeBasis TheoryDirectual
Starting price$995/monthFree
Pricing modelPer month by token volumequote
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, LinuxWeb
CategoryAPIsNo-Code

Identical on both: 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 Basis Theory

  • Tokenisation API
  • Hosted elements
  • Outbound proxy
  • PCI attestation of compliance
  • Processor portability
  • Reactors
  • Access controls and audit
  • PII and PHI options

Only in Directual

  • Visual database designer
  • Scenario builder
  • Generated API endpoints
  • Event-driven triggers
  • Role and permission model
  • Scheduled jobs
  • Basic web page builder
  • Self-hosted deployment

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Basis Theory

  • A payments company that wants card on file without bringing its own infrastructure into PCI scope and paying for the assessment that followsnot Directual
  • A merchant locked into a processor by that processor vault that wants to hold its own tokens and route to more than one acquirernot Directual
  • A fintech collecting bank account and identity data that needs it isolated from its application database before an enterprise security reviewnot Directual
  • A team that needs to send stored card data to a third party for a one-off integration without that data traversing its own serversnot Directual

Directual

  • Providing the backend for a Webflow or FlutterFlow front end that needs real data, authentication and logicnot Basis Theory
  • Replacing an Airtable base that has outgrown its row limits without hiring a backend developernot Basis Theory
  • Event-driven workflows such as order processing or scheduled billing runs that must run without a person triggering themnot Basis Theory
  • Organisations with a data residency requirement that rules out most no-code platforms, using the self-hosted tiernot Basis Theory

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Basis Theory

  • The Starter plan is 995 US dollars a month before any volume, which is a real floor for an early stage company and puts the product out of reach of teams tokenising a few thousand records.
  • Starter is limited to the US region, so a company with European data residency requirements is pushed into a quoted Scale or Enterprise agreement immediately.
  • Log retention on Starter is 24 hours, which is well below what most security teams expect for a system holding cardholder data and forces an upgrade for reasons unrelated to volume.
  • Migrating away means moving card data out of the vault, which requires processor and assessor involvement and is slow, so the portability argument that attracts buyers cuts against them at exit.
  • An attestation of compliance covers the vendor environment, not your assessment; your assessor still decides what is in scope, and buyers occasionally discover their integration pattern pulled systems back into scope anyway.

Directual

  • The front-end builder is basic, so any project needing a designed interface means learning and paying for a second tool, and time to launch is closer to a two-system build than a one-tool build.
  • Visual scenarios become unreadable once the logic is non-trivial; a workflow that would be forty lines of code sprawls across a canvas, and reviewing what a colleague built is slow.
  • Debugging asynchronous, event-triggered scenarios is harder than debugging code, because failures surface as records left in an unexpected state rather than as a stack trace at the point of failure.
  • Self-hosting is confined to the top commercial tier, so the ownership advantage is available only to buyers already spending at the high end.
  • The pool of agencies and freelancers who know Directual is small next to Bubble or Airtable, so handing a finished system to someone else to maintain is harder and more expensive.

Pricing, plan by plan

Basis Theory

$995/month
  • Starter$995/month
    • 20,000 tokens included
    • Production PCI Level 1 environment
    • US region only
  • Scale$undefined/month
    • Quoted
    • Higher token volumes
    • Additional regions
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Quoted
    • Additional compliance options for PII and PHI
    • Responses for 95 percent of PCI SAQ D

Directual

Free
  • Directual$undefined/month
    • Free tier with capped records and API calls
    • Paid tiers priced by database rows, API calls and scenario runs
    • Self-hosted deployment on the top tier only

Which should you pick?

Choose Basis Theory if

  • You need tokenisation api.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, Linux.
  • You also want hosted elements.
Basis Theory review

Choose Directual if

  • You need visual database designer.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want scenario builder.
Directual review

Questions people ask

Is Basis Theory or Directual better?
Neither clearly leads. Basis Theory starts at $995/month and Directual at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Basis Theory or Directual?
Directual has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $995/month for Basis Theory and Free for Directual.
Does Basis Theory or Directual run on more platforms?
Basis Theory runs on Web, iOS, Android, Linux. Directual runs on Web.
Can I use Directual for free?
Yes. Directual has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Basis Theory starts at $995/month.
What is Basis Theory best used for?
Basis Theory is most often used for a payments company that wants card on file without bringing its own infrastructure into pci scope and paying for the assessment that follows, a merchant locked into a processor by that processor vault that wants to hold its own tokens and route to more than one acquirer, a fintech collecting bank account and identity data that needs it isolated from its application database before an enterprise security review, a team that needs to send stored card data to a third party for a one-off integration without that data traversing its own servers. Of those, a payments company that wants card on file without bringing its own infrastructure into pci scope and paying for the assessment that follows and a merchant locked into a processor by that processor vault that wants to hold its own tokens and route to more than one acquirer are not what Directual is typically brought in for.
What can Basis Theory do that Directual cannot?
Basis Theory covers Tokenisation API, Hosted elements, Outbound proxy, PCI attestation of compliance. Directual covers Visual database designer, Scenario builder, Generated API endpoints, Event-driven triggers.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Basis Theory: Does this make us PCI compliant?

It removes cardholder data from your systems and gives you an AOC plus documented responses for most of a SAQ D. Your assessor still determines your scope, and a careless integration can pull systems back in.

Directual: Is Directual a replacement for Bubble?

Not directly. Bubble builds the whole application; Directual builds the backend and expects you to bring a front end such as Webflow or FlutterFlow.

Basis Theory: What does it cost to start?

995 US dollars a month on Starter, including 20,000 tokens, a production PCI Level 1 environment and US hosting. Higher tiers are quoted.

Directual: Can I host it myself?

Yes, on the top commercial tier. That is unusual in no-code and it is the main reason regulated buyers look at it at all.

Basis Theory: Can we switch payment processors without re-collecting cards?

Yes, that is the main non-compliance reason to buy it. You hold the tokens and detokenise into whichever processor you route to.

Directual: How does it cope with large data volumes?

It is built on a real database with indexing rather than a spreadsheet abstraction, so record counts that break Airtable-class tools are within its normal range.

Basis Theory: Is data stored outside the United States?

Not on Starter, which is US only. Other regions require a Scale or Enterprise agreement.

Directual: What happens to my logic if I leave?

The data exports and the API is documented, but scenarios are platform-specific and have to be reimplemented, unless you are already on the self-hosted tier.

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