APIs · head to head
Basis Theory vs Typesense
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
- -
Typesense
Databases
Open-source typo-tolerant search engine as an Algolia alternative
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Typesense 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.; Typesense holding the index in memory caps dataset size by available RAM, which becomes expensive at scale
- They diverge on capability: Basis Theory covers Tokenisation API, Typesense covers In-memory index.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Basis Theory and Typesense actually diverge.
| Attribute | Basis Theory | Typesense |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $995/month | Free |
| Pricing model | Per month by token volume | Open source, no licence fee; managed cloud billed separately |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android, Linux | Linux, macOS, Docker, Self-hosted |
| Category | APIs | Databases |
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 Typesense
- In-memory index
- Typo tolerance
- Faceting and filtering
- Vector search
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 Typesense
- A merchant locked into a processor by that processor vault that wants to hold its own tokens and route to more than one acquirernot Typesense
- A fintech collecting bank account and identity data that needs it isolated from its application database before an enterprise security reviewnot Typesense
- 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 Typesense
Typesense
- Replacing Algolia when per-search pricing outgrows the valuenot Basis Theory
- Instant search over a product catalogue or documentation sitenot Basis Theory
- Hybrid keyword and vector search without running two systemsnot 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.
Typesense
- Holding the index in memory caps dataset size by available RAM, which becomes expensive at scale
- Narrower than Elasticsearch by design: no log analytics or complex aggregation pipelines
- Smaller ecosystem and community than Algolia or Elasticsearch, so fewer integrations exist off the shelf
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
Typesense
Free- TypesenseFree
- Full functionality
- Self-hosted
- No usage limits
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 Typesense if
- You need in-memory index.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux, macOS, Docker, Self-hosted.
- You also want typo tolerance.
Questions people ask
- Is Basis Theory or Typesense better?
- Neither clearly leads. Basis Theory starts at $995/month and Typesense at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Basis Theory or Typesense?
- Typesense has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $995/month for Basis Theory and Free for Typesense.
- Does Basis Theory or Typesense run on more platforms?
- Basis Theory runs on Web, iOS, Android, Linux. Typesense runs on Linux, macOS, Docker, Self-hosted.
- Can I use Typesense for free?
- Yes. Typesense 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 Typesense is typically brought in for.
- What can Basis Theory do that Typesense cannot?
- Basis Theory covers Tokenisation API, Hosted elements, Outbound proxy, PCI attestation of compliance. Typesense covers In-memory index, Typo tolerance, Faceting and filtering, Vector search.
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.
Typesense: Is Typesense free?
The engine is open source and free to self-host. Typesense Cloud is a paid managed option.
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.
Typesense: Why choose Typesense over Algolia?
Cost and control. Algolia charges per search and per record; Typesense can be self-hosted with no per-query fee, at the cost of running it 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.
Typesense: Does Typesense support vector search?
Yes, including hybrid search combining keyword and semantic matching in one query.
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
Other head to heads
- Basis Theory vs Skyflow
- Basis Theory vs Increase
- Basis Theory vs Lithic
- Basis Theory vs Volt
- Basis Theory vs Swan
- Basis Theory vs Moov
- Basis Theory vs Trustly
- Basis Theory vs Vodeno
- Basis Theory vs TrueLayer
- Basis Theory vs Paymentology
- Basis Theory vs Akoya
- Basis Theory vs Sila
- Basis Theory vs Backbase
- Basis Theory vs Enfuce
- Basis Theory vs Griffin
- Basis Theory vs Stoplight
- Basis Theory vs Meilisearch
- Basis Theory vs Elasticsearch
- Basis Theory vs Marqo
- Basis Theory vs OpenSearch
- Basis Theory vs Apache Solr
- Basis Theory vs DuckDB
- Basis Theory vs Vespa
- Basis Theory vs Zilliz
- Basis Theory vs QuestDB
- Basis Theory vs Tinybird
- Basis Theory vs Presto
- Basis Theory vs StarRocks
- Basis Theory vs Xata
- Basis Theory vs YugabyteDB
- Basis Theory vs NATS
- Basis Theory vs Apache Flink
- Typesense vs Skyflow
- Typesense vs Increase
- Typesense vs Lithic
- Typesense vs Volt
- Typesense vs Swan
- Typesense vs Moov
- Typesense vs Trustly
- Typesense vs Vodeno
- Typesense vs TrueLayer
- Typesense vs Paymentology
- Typesense vs Akoya
- Typesense vs Sila
- Typesense vs Backbase
- Typesense vs Enfuce
- Typesense vs Griffin
- Typesense vs Stoplight
- Typesense vs Meilisearch
- Typesense vs Elasticsearch
- Typesense vs Marqo
- Typesense vs OpenSearch
- Typesense vs Apache Solr
- Typesense vs DuckDB
- Typesense vs Vespa
- Typesense vs Zilliz
- Typesense vs QuestDB
- Typesense vs Tinybird
- Typesense vs Presto
- Typesense vs StarRocks
- Typesense vs Xata
- Typesense vs YugabyteDB
- Typesense vs NATS
- Typesense vs Apache Flink