Is Column or Prisma better?

Neither clearly leads. Column starts at On request and Prisma at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Column or Prisma?

Prisma has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Column and Free for Prisma.

Does Column or Prisma run on more platforms?

Column runs on Web, API. Prisma runs on Node.js, TypeScript.

Can I use Prisma for free?

Yes. Prisma has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Column starts at On request.

What is Column best used for?

Column is most often used for a fintech that has been burned by a middleware provider failing and wants its deposits held by the same entity that provides the api, a payments company needing direct fedwire and swift access rather than routing through a correspondent it cannot see, a lender that wants origination, funding and deposit accounts from one chartered institution instead of three counterparties, a payroll or treasury platform where same-day settlement certainty matters more than fast onboarding. Of those, a fintech that has been burned by a middleware provider failing and wants its deposits held by the same entity that provides the api and a payments company needing direct fedwire and swift access rather than routing through a correspondent it cannot see are not what Prisma is typically brought in for.

What can Column do that Prisma cannot?

Column covers National bank charter, Direct Federal Reserve access, Ledger and accounts, International wires. Prisma covers ORM, Query builder, Auto-migrations, Node.js.

APIs · head to head

Column vs Prisma

Column

APIs

A nationally chartered US bank that ships its own API, with no middleware in between

From: On request
Rated: -

Full review Website

Prisma

APIs

Modern ORM and API client for Node.js and TypeScript

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Prisma has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: Column column publishes no pricing whatsoever, so there is no way to model cost before a sales process, and terms are negotiated per programme which favours larger, more sophisticated buyers.; Prisma prisma Postgres is billed per operation, with the free tier at 100,000 operations and 500 MB of storage
They diverge on capability: Column covers National bank charter, Prisma covers ORM.
Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Column and Prisma actually diverge.

Attributes where Column and Prisma differ
Attribute	Column	Prisma
Starting price	On request	Free
Pricing model	quote	usage-based
Free tier	No	Yes
Platforms	Web, API	Node.js, TypeScript
Founded	Unknown	2016

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 Column

National bank charter
Direct Federal Reserve access
Ledger and accounts
International wires
Real-time payments
Lending
Cheque handling
Correspondent banking

Only in Prisma

ORM
Query builder
Auto-migrations
Node.js
TypeScript
GraphQL
REST APIs
Node.js support

What people use each for

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

Column

A fintech that has been burned by a middleware provider failing and wants its deposits held by the same entity that provides the APInot Prisma
A payments company needing direct Fedwire and Swift access rather than routing through a correspondent it cannot seenot Prisma
A lender that wants origination, funding and deposit accounts from one chartered institution instead of three counterpartiesnot Prisma
A payroll or treasury platform where same-day settlement certainty matters more than fast onboardingnot Prisma

Prisma

Using a type safe ORM and query layer against a Postgres databasenot Column
Adding a managed connection pool and edge cache in front of an existing databasenot Column

Where each one falls short

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

Column

Column publishes no pricing whatsoever, so there is no way to model cost before a sales process, and terms are negotiated per programme which favours larger, more sophisticated buyers.
Onboarding is bank diligence rather than vendor sign-up, and programmes routinely spend several months on compliance review, flow of funds documentation and volume forecasting before the first live transaction.
Column selects its customers and declines many, so the charter advantage is only available to programmes it considers acceptable risk, which excludes most early-stage teams.
It is United States only, so any programme with international account or local payment needs must add a second banking relationship and reconcile across both.
Being the bank means Column also carries the bank's regulatory constraints, so product changes that affect risk, such as new customer segments or higher-risk flows, need approval rather than a configuration change.

Prisma

Prisma Postgres is billed per operation, with the free tier at 100,000 operations and 500 MB of storage
Starter at $10 a month includes 1M operations then charges $0.0080 per 1,000
Storage overage runs from $2.00 per GB on Starter down to $1.00 per GB on Business, so the unit cost depends on the plan
Accelerate charges separately per operation and per GiB of query egress beyond the first 1 KiB
Cache tag invalidations are not included below the Pro plan and are billed per thousand above it

Pricing, plan by plan

Column

On request

Column Bank Platform$undefined/year
- Deposit accounts and ledger
- ACH, wire, RTP and cheque rails
- International wires over Swift

Prisma

Free

FreeFree
- 1M requests/month
- 360 GB-hours memory
- 4 vCPU-hours
Starter$10/month
- 5M requests/month
- 1M database operations ($8 per million overage)
- 10 GB storage ($2/GB overage)
Pro$49/month
- 20M requests/month
- 10M operations ($2 per million overage)
- 50 GB storage ($1.50/GB overage)
Business$129/month
- 100M requests/month
- 50M operations ($1 per million overage)
- 100 GB storage

Which should you pick?

Choose Column if

You need national bank charter.
You work on Web, API.
You also want direct federal reserve access.

Column review

Choose Prisma if

You need orm.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Node.js, TypeScript.
You also want query builder.

Prisma review

Questions people ask

Is Column or Prisma better?: Neither clearly leads. Column starts at On request and Prisma at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Column or Prisma?: Prisma has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Column and Free for Prisma.
Does Column or Prisma run on more platforms?: Column runs on Web, API. Prisma runs on Node.js, TypeScript.
Can I use Prisma for free?: Yes. Prisma has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Column starts at On request.
What is Column best used for?: Column is most often used for a fintech that has been burned by a middleware provider failing and wants its deposits held by the same entity that provides the api, a payments company needing direct fedwire and swift access rather than routing through a correspondent it cannot see, a lender that wants origination, funding and deposit accounts from one chartered institution instead of three counterparties, a payroll or treasury platform where same-day settlement certainty matters more than fast onboarding. Of those, a fintech that has been burned by a middleware provider failing and wants its deposits held by the same entity that provides the api and a payments company needing direct fedwire and swift access rather than routing through a correspondent it cannot see are not what Prisma is typically brought in for.
What can Column do that Prisma cannot?: Column covers National bank charter, Direct Federal Reserve access, Ledger and accounts, International wires. Prisma covers ORM, Query builder, Auto-migrations, Node.js.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Column: Is Column actually a bank?

Yes. It is a nationally chartered, FDIC-insured bank, which is why there is no sponsor bank behind it.

Prisma: How much does Prisma cost?

Prisma is free to start with 1M requests/month. The Starter plan costs $10/month with 5M requests, the Pro plan $49/month with 20M requests, and the Business plan $129/month with 100M requests. All plans have usage-based overages.

Source

Column: How is that different from Synctera or Unit?

Those are technology providers that connect you to a separate sponsor bank. With Column the API provider and the depository institution are the same company.

Prisma: What is Prisma's overage pricing?

Prisma charges $1 per million requests over the included amount (Starter), $2 per million database operations overage (Pro and Starter), and $1.50-$2 per GB for storage overages depending on the plan. All plans include a hard spend limit on by default.

Source

Column: What does Column cost?

Nothing is published. Pricing is negotiated per programme.

Prisma: Does Prisma include data transfer costs?

No, Prisma includes unlimited data transfer with no egress fees on all plans. Prisma ORM remains free across all tiers.

Source

Column: How long does onboarding take?

Expect months. This is bank-grade diligence on your compliance programme, not a vendor sign-up.

Column vs Prisma

Column

Prisma

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Column

Only in Prisma

What people use each for

Column

Prisma

Where each one falls short

Column

Prisma

Pricing, plan by plan

Column

Prisma

Which should you pick?

Choose Column if

Choose Prisma if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Column

More on Prisma

Keep looking

Other head to heads