APIs · head to head
Basis Theory vs Ory Kratos
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
- -
The short version
- Only Ory Kratos 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.; Ory Kratos headless means you build every screen, which is significant work compared with a hosted login page
- They diverge on capability: Basis Theory covers Tokenisation API, Ory Kratos covers Headless API.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Basis Theory and Ory Kratos actually diverge.
| Attribute | Basis Theory | Ory Kratos |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $995/month | Free |
| Pricing model | Per month by token volume | Open-source self-hosted, with a paid managed network |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android, Linux | Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Self-hosted |
| Category | APIs | Cybersecurity |
Identical on both: 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 Ory Kratos
- Headless API
- Self-service flows
- Multi-factor authentication
- Pluggable identity schemas
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 Ory Kratos
- A merchant locked into a processor by that processor vault that wants to hold its own tokens and route to more than one acquirernot Ory Kratos
- A fintech collecting bank account and identity data that needs it isolated from its application database before an enterprise security reviewnot Ory Kratos
- 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 Ory Kratos
Ory Kratos
- Products needing complete control over the look and flow of authenticationnot Basis Theory
- Applications that must not hand user identity data to a third partynot Basis Theory
- Teams building identity as infrastructure across several servicesnot 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.
Ory Kratos
- Headless means you build every screen, which is significant work compared with a hosted login page
- More moving parts than a monolithic IAM: Kratos handles identity, and OAuth2 needs Ory Hydra alongside
- Documentation assumes real familiarity with identity concepts and is not a gentle introduction
- Self-hosting identity carries the security and availability burden that hosted providers absorb
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
Ory Kratos
Free- Self-hostedFree
- Full identity server
- All flows
- Community support
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 Ory Kratos if
- You need headless api.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Self-hosted.
- You also want self-service flows.
Questions people ask
- Is Basis Theory or Ory Kratos better?
- Neither clearly leads. Basis Theory starts at $995/month and Ory Kratos at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Basis Theory or Ory Kratos?
- Ory Kratos has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $995/month for Basis Theory and Free for Ory Kratos.
- Does Basis Theory or Ory Kratos run on more platforms?
- Basis Theory runs on Web, iOS, Android, Linux. Ory Kratos runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Self-hosted.
- Can I use Ory Kratos for free?
- Yes. Ory Kratos 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 Ory Kratos is typically brought in for.
- What can Basis Theory do that Ory Kratos cannot?
- Basis Theory covers Tokenisation API, Hosted elements, Outbound proxy, PCI attestation of compliance. Ory Kratos covers Headless API, Self-service flows, Multi-factor authentication, Pluggable identity schemas.
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.
Ory Kratos: Is Ory Kratos free?
Yes, open source and free to self-host. Ory Network is a paid managed service.
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.
Ory Kratos: What does headless mean here?
Kratos provides identity flows as APIs and no user interface. You build the login, registration and recovery screens yourself.
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.
Ory Kratos: Does Kratos do OAuth2?
No. Kratos handles user identity; OAuth2 and OpenID Connect provider functionality is Ory Hydra, a separate component.
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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- Ory Kratos vs Authelia
- Ory Kratos vs 1Password
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- Ory Kratos vs Trivy
- Ory Kratos vs LastPass
- Ory Kratos vs HashiCorp Vault
- Ory Kratos vs Bitwarden
- Ory Kratos vs Frontegg
- Ory Kratos vs Infisical
- Ory Kratos vs Semgrep
- Ory Kratos vs Envysion
- Ory Kratos vs Feedzai
- Ory Kratos vs HashiCorp Boundary
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