APIs · head to head
Basis Theory vs Volt
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
- -
Volt
APIs
Account-to-account pay by bank across Europe, the UK, Brazil and Australia
- 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.; Volt account-to-account payments carry no chargeback mechanism, so consumers lose scheme dispute protection and merchants lose a familiar framework for handling claims.
- They diverge on capability: Basis Theory covers Tokenisation API, Volt covers Pay by bank.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Basis Theory and Volt actually diverge.
| Attribute | Basis Theory | Volt |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $995/month | On request |
| Pricing model | Per month by token volume | quote |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android, Linux | Web, REST API |
Identical on both: free tier (No), 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 Volt
- Pay by bank
- Circuit Breaker
- Virtual IBANs
- Payouts and refunds
- Verify
- Stablecoin checkout
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 Volt
- A merchant locked into a processor by that processor vault that wants to hold its own tokens and route to more than one acquirernot Volt
- A fintech collecting bank account and identity data that needs it isolated from its application database before an enterprise security reviewnot Volt
- 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 Volt
Volt
- A travel seller with high average order values paying percentage card fees it wants to replace with flat transfer feesnot Basis Theory
- An iGaming operator needing fast deposits and payouts where card acceptance is restrictednot Basis Theory
- A merchant with heavy card fraud that wants strongly authenticated irreversible paymentsnot Basis Theory
- A marketplace verifying seller bank accounts before paying outnot 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.
Volt
- Account-to-account payments carry no chargeback mechanism, so consumers lose scheme dispute protection and merchants lose a familiar framework for handling claims.
- Refunds are outbound payments rather than reversals, which changes treasury handling and means a refund can fail for reasons a card refund never would.
- Conversion is lower than a stored card because the shopper must complete a bank authentication journey, and drop-off varies significantly by bank.
- Core pay by bank pricing is per transaction but refunds, payouts, virtual IBANs, Verify and fraud tooling are billed separately, so the real cost is a stack of line items.
- Bank API availability and quality vary across markets, and an outage at a major bank removes a slice of your checkout with no fallback unless you keep cards live.
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$undefined/month
- Quoted
- Additional compliance options for PII and PHI
- Responses for 95 percent of PCI SAQ D
Volt
On request- Volt pay by bank$undefined/year
- Per successful transaction fee, quoted by volume and market
- Separate charges for refunds, payouts, virtual IBANs and Verify
- Circuit Breaker fraud tooling priced as an add-on
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 Volt if
- You need pay by bank.
- You work on Web, REST API.
- You also want circuit breaker.
Questions people ask
- Is Basis Theory or Volt better?
- Neither clearly leads. Basis Theory starts at $995/month and Volt at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Basis Theory or Volt?
- Basis Theory starts at $995/month and Volt at On request.
- Does Basis Theory or Volt run on more platforms?
- Basis Theory runs on Web, iOS, Android, Linux. Volt runs on Web, REST API.
- 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 Volt is typically brought in for.
- What can Basis Theory do that Volt cannot?
- Basis Theory covers Tokenisation API, Hosted elements, Outbound proxy, PCI attestation of compliance. Volt covers Pay by bank, Circuit Breaker, Virtual IBANs, Payouts and refunds.
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.
Volt: Are there chargebacks?
No. Bank transfers are irrevocable, so disputes are handled commercially between merchant and customer, not through a card scheme.
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.
Volt: How do refunds work?
As a separate outbound payment initiated by the merchant, which Volt charges for separately from the inbound transaction.
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.
Volt: Which markets are covered?
Europe and the UK, plus Brazil and Australia, on a single API integration.
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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