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APIs · head to head

Basis Theory vs Feedzai

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
Feedzai logo

Feedzai

Cybersecurity

Real-time transaction fraud and financial crime detection for banks and payment processors

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • 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.; Feedzai pricing is per transaction with an annual minimum, so a bank with seasonal or growing volume commits to a floor it may not use and pays overage above the band.
  • They diverge on capability: Basis Theory covers Tokenisation API, Feedzai covers Real-time scoring.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Basis Theory and Feedzai differ
AttributeBasis TheoryFeedzai
Starting price$995/monthOn request
Pricing modelPer month by token volumequote
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, LinuxWeb, Linux
CategoryAPIsCybersecurity

Identical on both: free tier (No), 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 Feedzai

  • Real-time scoring
  • Rule and model hybrid
  • Case manager
  • Behavioural biometrics
  • Model explainability
  • Deployment options

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 Feedzai
  • A merchant locked into a processor by that processor vault that wants to hold its own tokens and route to more than one acquirernot Feedzai
  • A fintech collecting bank account and identity data that needs it isolated from its application database before an enterprise security reviewnot Feedzai
  • 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 Feedzai

Feedzai

  • A bank joining an instant payments scheme where transfers are irrevocable and post-hoc recovery is impossiblenot Basis Theory
  • A card issuer whose existing rules engine cannot be changed without a release, so fraud waves run for daysnot Basis Theory
  • An acquirer needing per-merchant risk models rather than one portfolio-wide modelnot Basis Theory
  • A bank required by its regulator to explain automated declines to customers, which rules out opaque scoringnot 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.

Feedzai

  • Pricing is per transaction with an annual minimum, so a bank with seasonal or growing volume commits to a floor it may not use and pays overage above the band.
  • It sits in the authorisation path, which makes every upgrade a change-controlled event with rollback plans, and the operational burden falls on the bank rather than the vendor.
  • Out of the box models need months of the customer own labelled fraud history before they beat the rules they replace, so the value case starts late.
  • AML and fraud are licensed as separate modules, so institutions expecting one platform fee find the transaction monitoring capability is a second line item.
  • The buyer profile is large institutions, so smaller banks and fintechs face minimums that make per-transaction economics unattractive below significant scale.

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

Feedzai

On request
  • Feedzai Financial Crime Platform$undefined/year
    • Priced by transaction volume with annual minimum commitment
    • Modules for fraud, AML and account opening licensed separately
    • Cloud, private cloud and on-premises deployment

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 Feedzai if

  • You need real-time scoring.
  • You work on Web, Linux.
  • You also want rule and model hybrid.
Feedzai review

Questions people ask

Is Basis Theory or Feedzai better?
Neither clearly leads. Basis Theory starts at $995/month and Feedzai at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Basis Theory or Feedzai?
Basis Theory starts at $995/month and Feedzai at On request.
Does Basis Theory or Feedzai run on more platforms?
Basis Theory runs on Web, iOS, Android, Linux. Feedzai runs on Web, Linux.
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 Feedzai is typically brought in for.
What can Basis Theory do that Feedzai cannot?
Basis Theory covers Tokenisation API, Hosted elements, Outbound proxy, PCI attestation of compliance. Feedzai covers Real-time scoring, Rule and model hybrid, Case manager, Behavioural biometrics.

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.

Feedzai: Can Feedzai run on-premises?

Yes. On-premises and private cloud deployments are supported, which is why it appears in markets where transaction data cannot legally leave the country.

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.

Feedzai: Does it cover AML as well as fraud?

It does, but transaction monitoring is a separately licensed module. Assume two line items if you want both.

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.

Feedzai: How fast are decisions?

Designed for the authorisation window, typically tens of milliseconds. This is the constraint that rules out batch scoring architectures.

Basis Theory: Is data stored outside the United States?

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

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