APIs · head to head
Basis Theory vs Liveblocks
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
- -
Liveblocks
APIs
Realtime collaboration infrastructure for building multiplayer features
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Liveblocks 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.; Liveblocks on the Free plan, each metered feature has a hard cap and simply pauses when exceeded rather than allowing overage.
- They diverge on capability: Basis Theory covers Tokenisation API, Liveblocks covers Realtime presence and cursors.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Basis Theory and Liveblocks actually diverge.
| Attribute | Basis Theory | Liveblocks |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $995/month | Free |
| Pricing model | Per month by token volume | freemium |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android, Linux | web, api |
Identical on both: 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 Liveblocks
- Realtime presence and cursors
- Comments
- Version history
- Custom notifications
- SSO and SOC 2
- Management API
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 Liveblocks
- A merchant locked into a processor by that processor vault that wants to hold its own tokens and route to more than one acquirernot Liveblocks
- A fintech collecting bank account and identity data that needs it isolated from its application database before an enterprise security reviewnot Liveblocks
- 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 Liveblocks
Liveblocks
- Adding live cursors and presence to a collaborative editornot Basis Theory
- Building threaded comments on documents or designsnot Basis Theory
- Sending realtime notifications tied to collaborative actionsnot Basis Theory
- Restoring previous versions of collaborative contentnot 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.
Liveblocks
- On the Free plan, each metered feature has a hard cap and simply pauses when exceeded rather than allowing overage.
- The jump from Pro ($30/month) to Team (starting at $600/month) is steep for teams that outgrow Pro but don't need full Team scale.
- Multi-region hosting and SCIM provisioning are Enterprise-only and require custom pricing.
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
Liveblocks
Free- FreeFree
- 10 projects
- 3 dashboard seats
- 10 simultaneous connections per room
- Pro$30/month
- $30 monthly credits
- Removes Liveblocks branding
- 3 dashboard seats
- Team$600/month
- SSO and SOC 2
- 10 dashboard seats
- 50 connections/room
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 Liveblocks if
- You need realtime presence and cursors.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on web, api.
- You also want comments.
Questions people ask
- Is Basis Theory or Liveblocks better?
- Neither clearly leads. Basis Theory starts at $995/month and Liveblocks at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Basis Theory or Liveblocks?
- Liveblocks has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $995/month for Basis Theory and Free for Liveblocks.
- Does Basis Theory or Liveblocks run on more platforms?
- Basis Theory runs on Web, iOS, Android, Linux. Liveblocks runs on web, api.
- Can I use Liveblocks for free?
- Yes. Liveblocks 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 Liveblocks is typically brought in for.
- What can Basis Theory do that Liveblocks cannot?
- Basis Theory covers Tokenisation API, Hosted elements, Outbound proxy, PCI attestation of compliance. Liveblocks covers Realtime presence and cursors, Comments, Version history, Custom notifications.
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.
Liveblocks: What does Liveblocks cost?
Liveblocks offers a Free plan with hard usage caps, a Pro plan at $30/month ($25/month billed annually) including $30 in monthly credits, a Team plan from $600/month, and custom Enterprise pricing.
SourceBasis 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.
Liveblocks: Is there a free plan, and what are its limits?
Yes, the Free plan includes 10 projects, 3 dashboard seats, 10 simultaneous connections per room, 3,000 collaboration minutes, 200 comments, and 1GB of realtime data storage, with features pausing once a cap is hit.
SourceBasis 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.
Liveblocks: How is usage metered?
Paid plans include monthly credits covering collaboration minutes, comments, and storage; usage beyond the credit is billed at metered rates such as $0.002 per collaboration minute and $0.01 per comment, with credits resetting each billing cycle without rollover.
SourceBasis 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
Other head to heads
- Basis Theory vs Skyflow
- Basis Theory vs Increase
- Basis Theory vs Lithic
- Basis Theory vs Volt
- Basis Theory vs Swan
- Basis Theory vs Moov
- Basis Theory vs Trustly
- Basis Theory vs Vodeno
- Basis Theory vs TrueLayer
- Basis Theory vs Paymentology
- Basis Theory vs Akoya
- Basis Theory vs Sila
- Basis Theory vs Backbase
- Basis Theory vs Enfuce
- Basis Theory vs Griffin
- Basis Theory vs Stoplight
- Basis Theory vs Pusher
- Basis Theory vs Ably
- Basis Theory vs Apollo GraphQL
- Basis Theory vs PubNub
- Basis Theory vs Svix
- Basis Theory vs Thunder Client
- Basis Theory vs Sanity
- Basis Theory vs i2c
- Basis Theory vs KeystoneJS
- Basis Theory vs Kong
- Basis Theory vs Moesif
- Basis Theory vs Ozone API
- Basis Theory vs Parse Server
- Liveblocks vs Skyflow
- Liveblocks vs Increase
- Liveblocks vs Lithic
- Liveblocks vs Volt
- Liveblocks vs Swan
- Liveblocks vs Moov
- Liveblocks vs Trustly
- Liveblocks vs Vodeno
- Liveblocks vs TrueLayer
- Liveblocks vs Paymentology
- Liveblocks vs Akoya
- Liveblocks vs Sila
- Liveblocks vs Backbase
- Liveblocks vs Enfuce
- Liveblocks vs Griffin
- Liveblocks vs Stoplight
- Liveblocks vs Pusher
- Liveblocks vs Ably
- Liveblocks vs Apollo GraphQL
- Liveblocks vs PubNub
- Liveblocks vs Svix
- Liveblocks vs Thunder Client
- Liveblocks vs Sanity
- Liveblocks vs i2c
- Liveblocks vs KeystoneJS
- Liveblocks vs Kong
- Liveblocks vs Moesif
- Liveblocks vs Ozone API
- Liveblocks vs Parse Server