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APIs · head to head

Basis Theory vs Spring Cloud Gateway

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
Spring Cloud Gateway logo

Spring Cloud Gateway

APIs

API gateway built on Project Reactor for building microservices

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Spring Cloud Gateway 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.; Spring Cloud Gateway released under the Apache 2.0 license, free and open source with no commercial tier
  • They diverge on capability: Basis Theory covers Tokenisation API, Spring Cloud Gateway covers Routing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Basis Theory and Spring Cloud Gateway actually diverge.

Attributes where Basis Theory and Spring Cloud Gateway differ
AttributeBasis TheorySpring Cloud Gateway
Starting price$995/monthFree
Pricing modelPer month by token volumeopen-source
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, LinuxJava, Spring Boot
FoundedUnknown1998

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 Spring Cloud Gateway

  • Routing
  • Path Rewriting
  • Circuit Breaker
  • Spring Boot
  • Spring Security
  • Spring Cloud
  • Java support
  • Spring Boot support

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

Spring Cloud Gateway

  • API Developmentnot Basis Theory
  • API Gatewaynot Basis Theory
  • API Testingnot Basis Theory
  • API Documentationnot Basis Theory
  • Microservicesnot 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.

Spring Cloud Gateway

  • Released under the Apache 2.0 license, free and open source with no commercial tier

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

Spring Cloud Gateway

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Core Spring Cloud Gateway
    • 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.
Basis Theory review

Choose Spring Cloud Gateway if

  • You need routing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Java, Spring Boot.
  • You also want path rewriting.
Spring Cloud Gateway review

Questions people ask

Is Basis Theory or Spring Cloud Gateway better?
Neither clearly leads. Basis Theory starts at $995/month and Spring Cloud Gateway at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Basis Theory or Spring Cloud Gateway?
Spring Cloud Gateway has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $995/month for Basis Theory and Free for Spring Cloud Gateway.
Does Basis Theory or Spring Cloud Gateway run on more platforms?
Basis Theory runs on Web, iOS, Android, Linux. Spring Cloud Gateway runs on Java, Spring Boot.
Can I use Spring Cloud Gateway for free?
Yes. Spring Cloud Gateway 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 Spring Cloud Gateway is typically brought in for.
What can Basis Theory do that Spring Cloud Gateway cannot?
Basis Theory covers Tokenisation API, Hosted elements, Outbound proxy, PCI attestation of compliance. Spring Cloud Gateway covers Routing, Path Rewriting, Circuit Breaker, Spring Boot.

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.

Spring Cloud Gateway: Is Spring Cloud Gateway free?

Yes, Spring Cloud Gateway is free and open-source software. It is part of the Spring ecosystem and available through GitHub repositories with open-source dependencies like spring-cloud-starter-gateway-server-webflux and spring-cloud-starter-gateway-server-webmvc.

Source
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.

Spring Cloud Gateway: What enterprise support is available for Spring Cloud Gateway?

Tanzu Spring provides optional enterprise support including Day 0 access to security patches for organizations requiring guaranteed support, but specific pricing is not published on the Spring Cloud Gateway project page.

Source
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.

Basis Theory: Is data stored outside the United States?

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

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