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APIs · head to head

Basis Theory vs Increase

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
Increase logo

Increase

APIs

Direct banking API for ACH, wires, real-time payments, accounts and cards

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.; Increase the published per transaction rates exclude a monthly platform fee that Increase states varies by use case, so the transparent price page cannot produce a total cost and the material part of the deal is still negotiated privately.
  • They diverge on capability: Basis Theory covers Tokenisation API, Increase covers ACH origination and receipt.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Basis Theory and Increase differ
AttributeBasis TheoryIncrease
Starting price$995/monthOn request
Pricing modelPer month by token volumequote
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, LinuxAPI, Web

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 Increase

  • ACH origination and receipt
  • Domestic wires
  • Real-time payments
  • Bank accounts
  • Cards
  • Cheques
  • Sandbox and simulations
  • Audit and reconciliation data

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

Increase

  • A payroll or treasury product that needs to originate same-day ACH and wires under its own control rather than through a payment processornot Basis Theory
  • A marketplace that must hold seller balances in ledgered accounts with real account and routing numbersnot Basis Theory
  • A fintech that wants FedNow and RTP payouts so recipients are paid outside banking hoursnot Basis Theory
  • An engineering team that needs the underlying return codes and settlement timing visible in order to build correct reconciliation and retry logicnot 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.

Increase

  • The published per transaction rates exclude a monthly platform fee that Increase states varies by use case, so the transparent price page cannot produce a total cost and the material part of the deal is still negotiated privately.
  • Free allowances are deliberately small at ten account numbers and five physical cards, so any programme issuing accounts or cards at volume moves to quoted pricing almost immediately.
  • Banking is provided through partner banks, so programme approval, compliance obligations and the ability to launch at all depend on a bank relationship you do not control, and post-Synapse bank risk appetite has tightened considerably.
  • The API deliberately exposes payment rail mechanics rather than smoothing them, which is correct engineering but means a team without payments expertise will build reconciliation and return handling wrongly and only discover it when funds go astray.
  • Coverage is United States only, so a company with international payout needs runs a second provider and reconciles two ledgers, and the single API argument disappears at the first cross border customer.

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

Increase

On request
  • Increase Platform$undefined/month
    • Monthly fee quoted by use case and not published
    • Next-day ACH origination listed at 0.50 US dollars per transaction
    • Same-day ACH origination listed at 2.00 per transaction

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 Increase if

  • You need ach origination and receipt.
  • You work on API, Web.
  • You also want domestic wires.
Increase review

Questions people ask

Is Basis Theory or Increase better?
Neither clearly leads. Basis Theory starts at $995/month and Increase at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Basis Theory or Increase?
Basis Theory starts at $995/month and Increase at On request.
Does Basis Theory or Increase run on more platforms?
Basis Theory runs on Web, iOS, Android, Linux. Increase runs on API, Web.
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 Increase is typically brought in for.
What can Basis Theory do that Increase cannot?
Basis Theory covers Tokenisation API, Hosted elements, Outbound proxy, PCI attestation of compliance. Increase covers ACH origination and receipt, Domestic wires, Real-time payments, Bank accounts.

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.

Increase: Does Increase publish its pricing?

Partly. Per transaction fees for ACH, wires, RTP, FedNow and cards are listed publicly. The monthly platform fee is not, and it is described only as varying by use case.

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.

Increase: Who holds the deposits?

Partner banks, not Increase itself. That relationship determines your programme approval, your compliance obligations and your risk if the bank changes appetite.

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.

Increase: Is it international?

No. Increase covers United States rails only, so cross border payouts require a second provider.

Basis Theory: Is data stored outside the United States?

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

Increase: How is it different from a middleware BaaS platform?

It exposes the rails rather than abstracting them, showing real return codes and settlement timing. That suits teams who understand payments and punishes teams who do not.

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