APIs · head to head
Basis Theory vs Marqeta
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
- -
Marqeta
APIs
Card issuing and transaction processing APIs with just-in-time funding
- 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.; Marqeta you still need a sponsor bank and a BIN, so the timeline and compliance burden of launching are set by a bank you must separately court and satisfy.
- They diverge on capability: Basis Theory covers Tokenisation API, Marqeta covers Just-in-time funding.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Basis Theory and Marqeta actually diverge.
| Attribute | Basis Theory | Marqeta |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $995/month | On request |
| Pricing model | Per month by token volume | quote |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android, Linux | Web, REST API |
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 Marqeta
- Just-in-time funding
- Virtual and physical issuing
- Spend controls
- Programme management tools
- Multi-region issuing
- Webhooks and ledger 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 Marqeta
- A merchant locked into a processor by that processor vault that wants to hold its own tokens and route to more than one acquirernot Marqeta
- A fintech collecting bank account and identity data that needs it isolated from its application database before an enterprise security reviewnot Marqeta
- 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 Marqeta
Marqeta
- A delivery marketplace funding courier cards only at the moment a courier pays for the ordernot Basis Theory
- An expense platform issuing a virtual card per subscription with merchant locksnot Basis Theory
- A lender issuing a card that draws on an approved credit line rather than a stored balancenot Basis Theory
- A fintech wanting the same issuing stack across US and European programmesnot 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.
Marqeta
- You still need a sponsor bank and a BIN, so the timeline and compliance burden of launching are set by a bank you must separately court and satisfy.
- Pricing carries minimum monthly platform commitments, so a programme with modest card volume pays for capacity it never uses.
- Programme revenue depends heavily on interchange, which means regulated debit interchange caps and European interchange caps materially change the business case by market.
- Disputes, chargebacks and fraud losses sit with the programme, and teams that assumed the processor absorbed them discover a real operations headcount requirement.
- Just-in-time funding makes your own authorisation endpoint a hard availability dependency; if it is slow or down, cards decline at the point of sale.
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$undefined/month
- Quoted
- Additional compliance options for PII and PHI
- Responses for 95 percent of PCI SAQ D
Marqeta
On request- Marqeta card issuing$undefined/year
- Minimum monthly platform fee plus per-transaction and per-active-card charges
- Interchange share negotiated between programme, processor and sponsor bank
- Sponsor bank required, with its own fees and approval process
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 Marqeta if
- You need just-in-time funding.
- You work on Web, REST API.
- You also want virtual and physical issuing.
Questions people ask
- Is Basis Theory or Marqeta better?
- Neither clearly leads. Basis Theory starts at $995/month and Marqeta at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Basis Theory or Marqeta?
- Basis Theory starts at $995/month and Marqeta at On request.
- Does Basis Theory or Marqeta run on more platforms?
- Basis Theory runs on Web, iOS, Android, Linux. Marqeta runs on Web, REST API.
- 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 Marqeta is typically brought in for.
- What can Basis Theory do that Marqeta cannot?
- Basis Theory covers Tokenisation API, Hosted elements, Outbound proxy, PCI attestation of compliance. Marqeta covers Just-in-time funding, Virtual and physical issuing, Spend controls, Programme management tools.
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.
Marqeta: Do I need a sponsor bank?
Yes. Marqeta is an issuer processor, not a bank. Card programmes run on a sponsor bank BIN, and that bank approves and supervises your programme.
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.
Marqeta: How does the pricing really work?
A minimum monthly platform fee plus per-transaction and per-active-card charges, offset by a negotiated share of interchange. The interchange split is the substance of the deal.
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.
Marqeta: What is just-in-time funding?
Marqeta calls your endpoint at authorisation so you decide and fund each transaction, rather than pre-loading balances onto cards.
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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