APIs · head to head
Basis Theory vs Tyk
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 Tyk 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.; Tyk professional and Enterprise plan pricing not published; contact required
- They diverge on capability: Basis Theory covers Tokenisation API, Tyk covers API Gateway.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Basis Theory and Tyk actually diverge.
| Attribute | Basis Theory | Tyk |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $995/month | Free |
| Pricing model | Per month by token volume | freemium |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android, Linux | Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud |
| Founded | Unknown | 2013 |
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 Tyk
- API Gateway
- Rate Limiting
- Authentication
- Kubernetes
- Docker
- AWS
- Azure
- Linux 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 Tyk
- A merchant locked into a processor by that processor vault that wants to hold its own tokens and route to more than one acquirernot Tyk
- A fintech collecting bank account and identity data that needs it isolated from its application database before an enterprise security reviewnot Tyk
- 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 Tyk
Tyk
- API gateway and API management platformsnot Basis Theory
- Microservices architecture orchestrationnot Basis Theory
- High-growth teams standardizing on API platformsnot Basis Theory
- Enterprises requiring advanced security and governancenot 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.
Tyk
- Professional and Enterprise plan pricing not published; contact required
- Core plan uses consumption-based model with variable costs
- No upfront pricing transparency for production deployments
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$undefined/month
- Quoted
- Additional compliance options for PII and PHI
- Responses for 95 percent of PCI SAQ D
Tyk
Free- Free TrialFree
- Fully featured 48-hour trial
- No credit card required
- Tyk Cloud access
- Core Plan$null/month
- Usage-based flexible pricing
- Cloud, Hybrid, or Self-managed deployment
- Unlimited API gateways
- Professional Plan$null/month
- One fixed price with unlimited access
- All deployment options
- Unlimited APIs and requests
- Enterprise Plan$null/month
- Custom pricing required
- Advanced governance and security
- Premium support with custom SLAs
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 Tyk if
- You need api gateway.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud.
- You also want rate limiting.
Questions people ask
- Is Basis Theory or Tyk better?
- Neither clearly leads. Basis Theory starts at $995/month and Tyk at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Basis Theory or Tyk?
- Tyk has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $995/month for Basis Theory and Free for Tyk.
- Does Basis Theory or Tyk run on more platforms?
- Basis Theory runs on Web, iOS, Android, Linux. Tyk runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud.
- Can I use Tyk for free?
- Yes. Tyk 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 Tyk is typically brought in for.
- What can Basis Theory do that Tyk cannot?
- Basis Theory covers Tokenisation API, Hosted elements, Outbound proxy, PCI attestation of compliance. Tyk covers API Gateway, Rate Limiting, Authentication, Kubernetes.
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.
Tyk: How much does Tyk cost?
Tyk offers a free 48-hour trial with no credit card required. The Core plan uses usage-based pricing on a flexible model. Professional plan offers unlimited access at a fixed price (amount not published). Enterprise plans require custom 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.
Tyk: Is there a free trial of Tyk?
Yes, Tyk provides a fully featured 48-hour free trial of Tyk Cloud that requires no credit card to start.
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.
Tyk: What deployment options are included in Tyk pricing?
All Tyk plans support Cloud, Hybrid, or Self-managed deployment options without feature restrictions, allowing flexible infrastructure choices across pricing tiers.
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
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