APIs · head to head
Basis Theory vs Redocly
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
- -
Redocly
Documentation
API documentation and OpenAPI governance platform
- 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.; Redocly only as useful as your commitment to OpenAPI; teams without a maintained spec get little from it
- They diverge on capability: Basis Theory covers Tokenisation API, Redocly covers OpenAPI reference docs.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Basis Theory and Redocly actually diverge.
| Attribute | Basis Theory | Redocly |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $995/month | On request |
| Pricing model | Per month by token volume | Free open-source CLI and Redoc renderer; paid plans for the portal, published on the vendor site |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android, Linux | Web, Cloud, Self-hosted |
| Category | APIs | Documentation |
Identical on both: free tier (No), 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 Redocly
- OpenAPI reference docs
- Spec linting
- Developer portal
- Versioning
- Try it
- Git workflow
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 Redocly
- A merchant locked into a processor by that processor vault that wants to hold its own tokens and route to more than one acquirernot Redocly
- A fintech collecting bank account and identity data that needs it isolated from its application database before an enterprise security reviewnot Redocly
- 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 Redocly
Redocly
- API teams whose reference docs are thin because the spec is thinnot Basis Theory
- Organisations enforcing API style rules across many teamsnot Basis Theory
- Developer portals combining guides with generated referencenot 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.
Redocly
- Only as useful as your commitment to OpenAPI; teams without a maintained spec get little from it
- The portal and governance features are paid, while the open-source renderer covers only reference rendering
- Linting rules are another thing to configure and argue about before value appears
- Narrower than a general documentation platform, by design
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
Redocly
On requestNo published plan breakdown. See the Redocly review.
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 Redocly if
- You need openapi reference docs.
- You work on Web, Cloud, Self-hosted.
- You also want spec linting.
Questions people ask
- Is Basis Theory or Redocly better?
- Neither clearly leads. Basis Theory starts at $995/month and Redocly at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Basis Theory or Redocly?
- Basis Theory starts at $995/month and Redocly at On request.
- Does Basis Theory or Redocly run on more platforms?
- Basis Theory runs on Web, iOS, Android, Linux. Redocly runs on Web, Cloud, Self-hosted.
- 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 Redocly is typically brought in for.
- What can Basis Theory do that Redocly cannot?
- Basis Theory covers Tokenisation API, Hosted elements, Outbound proxy, PCI attestation of compliance. Redocly covers OpenAPI reference docs, Spec linting, Developer portal, Versioning.
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.
Redocly: Is Redocly free?
The Redoc renderer and CLI are open source and free. The developer portal and governance features are paid, with pricing published on the vendor site.
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.
Redocly: What does the linter do?
It enforces rules on the OpenAPI spec itself in CI — missing descriptions, naming, examples — so a poor spec fails the build rather than becoming poor documentation.
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.
Redocly: Do I need OpenAPI to use it?
Effectively yes. Without a maintained specification there is little for it to work with.
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
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