APIs · head to head
Basis Theory vs Flybits
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
- -
Flybits
APIs
Contextual personalisation and decisioning platform for financial institutions
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
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.; Flybits its output quality depends entirely on the completeness and accuracy of the underlying bank data it is fed, so a bank with fragmented or poor-quality customer data gets correspondingly weak personalisation.
- They diverge on capability: Basis Theory covers Tokenisation API, Flybits covers Contextual decisioning engine.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Basis Theory and Flybits actually diverge.
| Attribute | Basis Theory | Flybits |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $995/month | On request |
| Pricing model | Per month by token volume | quote |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android, Linux | Web, iOS, Android |
Identical on both: 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 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 Flybits
- Contextual decisioning engine
- Non-technical configuration
- Agentic Banking capability
- Customer data unification
- Card-linked offers
- Real-time insight delivery
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 Flybits
- A merchant locked into a processor by that processor vault that wants to hold its own tokens and route to more than one acquirernot Flybits
- A fintech collecting bank account and identity data that needs it isolated from its application database before an enterprise security reviewnot Flybits
- 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 Flybits
Flybits
- A bank wanting to move from generic segment-based marketing to individually contextual offers and messagesnot Basis Theory
- A product team wanting to configure personalisation rules without needing engineering support for every changenot Basis Theory
- A bank wanting card-linked contextual offers tied to transaction datanot Basis Theory
- A financial institution exploring an agentic AI interaction layer across cards, loans and depositsnot 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.
Flybits
- Its output quality depends entirely on the completeness and accuracy of the underlying bank data it is fed, so a bank with fragmented or poor-quality customer data gets correspondingly weak personalisation.
- The newer Agentic Banking capability is recent enough that long-term reliability, accuracy and customer trust data at scale are still limited compared with its longer-established contextual decisioning engine.
- Pricing is not published, requiring a licensing negotiation per institution.
- As with Meniga, it is a white-label layer rather than a consumer-facing brand, making independent reputation and reliability harder for a prospective bank client to verify directly.
- Expanding from a rules-based personalisation engine into agentic AI interaction is a significant scope and complexity increase, and a bank evaluating it today should confirm which capabilities are mature and in production versus newly launched.
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$undefined/month
- Quoted
- Additional compliance options for PII and PHI
- Responses for 95 percent of PCI SAQ D
Flybits
On request- Flybits$undefined/year
- Pricing not published, licensed per financial institution 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.
Choose Flybits if
- You need contextual decisioning engine.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want non-technical configuration.
Questions people ask
- Is Basis Theory or Flybits better?
- Neither clearly leads. Basis Theory starts at $995/month and Flybits at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Basis Theory or Flybits?
- Basis Theory starts at $995/month and Flybits at On request.
- Does Basis Theory or Flybits run on more platforms?
- Basis Theory runs on Web, iOS, Android, Linux. Flybits runs on Web, iOS, Android.
- 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 Flybits is typically brought in for.
- What can Basis Theory do that Flybits cannot?
- Basis Theory covers Tokenisation API, Hosted elements, Outbound proxy, PCI attestation of compliance. Flybits covers Contextual decisioning engine, Non-technical configuration, Agentic Banking capability, Customer data unification.
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.
Flybits: Does Flybits require engineering support to run campaigns?
No, it is designed so marketing and product teams can configure personalisation rules directly.
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.
Flybits: What is Agentic Banking?
A newer Flybits capability introducing AI agents as an interaction layer unifying cards, loans and deposits into conversational banking experiences.
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.
Flybits: Is pricing published?
No, it is licensed per financial institution and requires a quote.
Basis Theory: Is data stored outside the United States?
Not on Starter, which is US only. Other regions require a Scale or Enterprise agreement.
Related pages
More on Basis Theory
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