Softwr

APIs · head to head

Codat vs Unit

Codat logo

Codat

APIs

One API for small business accounting, banking and commerce data

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Unit logo

Unit

APIs

Banking as a service platform for embedding deposit accounts, cards and payments, with a sponsor bank behind it

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Codat the accounting platforms are metering developer access themselves, with Xero introducing tiered connection based developer pricing from 2 March 2026, so a cost you do not control has been inserted between you and the data and it scales with the number of customers you connect.; Unit your product depends on a sponsor bank you do not contract with directly, and 2024 showed what that means: Thread Bank received an FDIC enforcement action naming its banking as a service programmes and Blue Ridge Bank went under an OCC consent order and offboarded fintech partners.
  • They diverge on capability: Codat covers Normalised accounting API, Unit covers Deposit accounts.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Codat and Unit actually diverge.

Attributes where Codat and Unit differ
AttributeCodatUnit
PlatformsAPI, WebWeb, iOS, Android

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), 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 Codat

  • Normalised accounting API
  • Banking and commerce data
  • Lending products
  • Write-back
  • Business verification
  • Supplier onboarding
  • Connection management
  • Data quality handling

Only in Unit

  • Deposit accounts
  • Card issuing
  • Payments
  • White label components
  • Compliance operations
  • Lending
  • Programme reporting
  • Sandbox

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Codat

  • A business lender that wants live ledger data for underwriting rather than a borrower emailing exported PDF accountsnot Unit
  • A commercial bank monitoring covenant compliance across a portfolio of small business borrowers continuously rather than quarterlynot Unit
  • A payment company verifying a merchant trading history before extending working capitalnot Unit
  • A B2B platform writing bills and payments back into a customer accounting system so reconciliation happens automaticallynot Unit

Unit

  • A vertical SaaS platform for contractors that wants to hold customer funds and issue expense cards without pursuing a charternot Codat
  • A payroll or benefits platform embedding accounts so employees can be paid ahead of schedulenot Codat
  • A marketplace that wants seller balances to sit in real accounts under its own brand rather than as ledger entries at a processornot Codat
  • A company that needs interchange revenue from a card programme to make the unit economics of its core product worknot Codat

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Codat

  • The accounting platforms are metering developer access themselves, with Xero introducing tiered connection based developer pricing from 2 March 2026, so a cost you do not control has been inserted between you and the data and it scales with the number of customers you connect.
  • Pricing is opaque and enterprise shaped for a product developers expect to evaluate technically first, so build decisions get made before anyone knows the unit economics.
  • Normalisation hides but does not remove the underlying differences between accounting systems, and edge cases in multi-currency, journals and tax handling surface as data quality problems that your team must reason about in each source system anyway.
  • Data quality depends on the small business keeping its books properly, so a lender using ledger data for underwriting inherits the bookkeeping standard of its worst borrower and needs its own validation layer regardless.
  • Connection breakage from expired tokens and platform API changes is an ongoing operational load, and a borrower whose connection lapses stops being monitored silently, which is the failure mode that matters most in a lending portfolio.

Unit

  • Your product depends on a sponsor bank you do not contract with directly, and 2024 showed what that means: Thread Bank received an FDIC enforcement action naming its banking as a service programmes and Blue Ridge Bank went under an OCC consent order and offboarded fintech partners.
  • Programme approval by the bank is a separate gate from signing with Unit, and it can add months and impose product restrictions that were not visible during the commercial conversation.
  • Compliance obligations are shared but the operational load lands on you, and platforms consistently underestimate the staffing needed for disputes, escalations and the bank ongoing oversight requests.
  • Pricing is unpublished and blends platform fees, per-account and per-transaction charges and interchange sharing, which makes it hard to model unit economics before you have volume and easy to be surprised by the minimum.
  • Migrating a live deposit programme to a different provider or bank is extremely disruptive because it involves moving customer accounts and card credentials, so switching costs are far higher than for ordinary software.

Pricing, plan by plan

Codat

On request
  • Codat Platform$undefined/year
    • Priced by connected companies, data types and products
    • Lending and verification products priced above core data access
    • Annual enterprise agreements

Unit

On request
  • Unit Banking as a Service$undefined/year
    • Platform fee plus per-account and per-transaction charges, quoted
    • Interchange sharing arrangements negotiated per programme
    • Minimum commitment typical

Which should you pick?

Choose Codat if

  • You need normalised accounting api.
  • You work on API, Web.
  • You also want banking and commerce data.
Codat review

Choose Unit if

  • You need deposit accounts.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want card issuing.
Unit review

Questions people ask

Is Codat or Unit better?
Neither clearly leads. Codat starts at On request and Unit at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Codat or Unit?
Codat starts at On request and Unit at On request.
Does Codat or Unit run on more platforms?
Codat runs on API, Web. Unit runs on Web, iOS, Android.
What is Codat best used for?
Codat is most often used for a business lender that wants live ledger data for underwriting rather than a borrower emailing exported pdf accounts, a commercial bank monitoring covenant compliance across a portfolio of small business borrowers continuously rather than quarterly, a payment company verifying a merchant trading history before extending working capital, a b2b platform writing bills and payments back into a customer accounting system so reconciliation happens automatically. Of those, a business lender that wants live ledger data for underwriting rather than a borrower emailing exported pdf accounts and a commercial bank monitoring covenant compliance across a portfolio of small business borrowers continuously rather than quarterly are not what Unit is typically brought in for.
What can Codat do that Unit cannot?
Codat covers Normalised accounting API, Banking and commerce data, Lending products, Write-back. Unit covers Deposit accounts, Card issuing, Payments, White label components.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Codat: What is changing with Xero in 2026?

Xero is introducing a tiered, usage based developer pricing model effective 2 March 2026, with tiers based on the number of customer connections an app holds. That is a new cost in the chain for anyone reading Xero data at scale, whether directly or through Codat.

Unit: Who actually holds the money?

A chartered partner bank, not Unit. Deposits sit at the sponsor bank and FDIC insurance flows from that bank, so its condition is your condition.

Codat: Can Codat write data back?

Yes. It supports pushing bills, payments and journal entries into accounting systems, not only reading from them.

Unit: What happened with Unit sponsor banks in 2024?

Thread Bank received an FDIC enforcement action that explicitly named its banking as a service and lending as a service programmes, and Blue Ridge Bank was under an OCC consent order from January 2024 and offboarded fintech partners. Blue Ridge exited the order in late 2025.

Codat: Is pricing published?

No. It is quoted by connected companies, data types and products, and users consistently describe it as opaque.

Unit: What does Unit cost?

Not published. Expect a platform fee, per-account and per-transaction charges, an interchange share and a minimum commitment.

Codat: Does it replace bank data aggregation?

Not entirely. It covers banking alongside accounting and commerce, but lenders commonly run it beside a bank aggregator for transaction level cash flow.

Unit: Do we need our own compliance team?

Yes. Unit supplies tooling and the bank sets the rules, but disputes, escalations and evidence for bank oversight require named people on your side.

Share

Related pages

More on Codat

More on Unit

Keep looking

Other head to heads