Softwr

APIs · head to head

Convoy vs Marqeta

Convoy logo

Convoy

APIs

Open source webhooks gateway you self-host, handling both sending and receiving

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Marqeta logo

Marqeta

APIs

Card issuing and transaction processing APIs with just-in-time funding

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Convoy has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Convoy the default deployment is self-hosted, so you operate Convoy plus Postgres and Redis and carry the on-call burden for the system that delivers your customers' events.; Marqeta you still need a sponsor bank and a BIN, so the timeline and compliance burden of launching are set by a bank you must separately court and satisfy.
  • They diverge on capability: Convoy covers Inbound and outbound, Marqeta covers Just-in-time funding.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Convoy and Marqeta actually diverge.

Attributes where Convoy and Marqeta differ
AttributeConvoyMarqeta
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelPer month, flat rate regardless of volumequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, CloudWeb, REST API

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 Convoy

  • Inbound and outbound
  • Broker-driven ingestion
  • Payload transformation
  • Portal links
  • Circuit breaking
  • Retry policies
  • OpenTelemetry export
  • Role-based access control

Only in Marqeta

  • Just-in-time funding
  • Virtual and physical issuing
  • Spend controls
  • Programme management tools
  • Multi-region issuing
  • Webhooks and ledger data

What people use each for

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

Convoy

  • A fintech that cannot route customer webhook traffic through a third-party SaaS for compliance reasonsnot Marqeta
  • A high-volume platform for which per-message webhook pricing costs more than the flat premium licencenot Marqeta
  • A team that also receives webhooks from many providers and wants ingestion, verification and deduplication in the same gatewaynot Marqeta
  • An engineering group that wants webhook delivery driven directly from an existing Kafka or SQS topicnot Marqeta

Marqeta

  • A delivery marketplace funding courier cards only at the moment a courier pays for the ordernot Convoy
  • An expense platform issuing a virtual card per subscription with merchant locksnot Convoy
  • A lender issuing a card that draws on an approved credit line rather than a stored balancenot Convoy
  • A fintech wanting the same issuing stack across US and European programmesnot Convoy

Where each one falls short

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

Convoy

  • The default deployment is self-hosted, so you operate Convoy plus Postgres and Redis and carry the on-call burden for the system that delivers your customers' events.
  • Frain Technologies is a small startup, and putting customer-facing delivery infrastructure on it means accepting real vendor continuity risk on a component that is hard to swap out quickly.
  • The premium tier at a flat 999 US dollars a month is poor value below substantial volume, while the community edition omits the portal, transformations and RBAC that most production deployments end up wanting.
  • The hosted cloud trial is capped at one project and 100 events a day, which is too small to properly evaluate the service before committing.
  • Documentation and the third-party ecosystem are thinner than the established webhook services, so unusual configurations often mean reading the Go source.

Marqeta

  • You still need a sponsor bank and a BIN, so the timeline and compliance burden of launching are set by a bank you must separately court and satisfy.
  • Pricing carries minimum monthly platform commitments, so a programme with modest card volume pays for capacity it never uses.
  • Programme revenue depends heavily on interchange, which means regulated debit interchange caps and European interchange caps materially change the business case by market.
  • Disputes, chargebacks and fraud losses sit with the programme, and teams that assumed the processor absorbed them discover a real operations headcount requirement.
  • Just-in-time funding makes your own authorisation endpoint a hard availability dependency; if it is slow or down, cards decline at the point of sale.

Pricing, plan by plan

Convoy

Free
  • CommunityFree
    • Self-hosted open source gateway
    • Inbound and outbound webhooks
    • Automatic retries and message broker support
  • Premium$999/month
    • Flat rate irrespective of message volume
    • Portal links and payload transformation
    • RBAC, circuit breaking and white labelling
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • SAML SSO
    • Dedicated support with SLA
    • On-premises deployment assistance
  • Cloud$undefined/month
    • Hosted by Convoy
    • 14 day trial limited to one project and 100 events a day
    • Usage-based tiers above the trial

Marqeta

On request
  • Marqeta card issuing$undefined/year
    • Minimum monthly platform fee plus per-transaction and per-active-card charges
    • Interchange share negotiated between programme, processor and sponsor bank
    • Sponsor bank required, with its own fees and approval process

Which should you pick?

Choose Convoy if

  • You need inbound and outbound.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud.
  • You also want broker-driven ingestion.
Convoy review

Choose Marqeta if

  • You need just-in-time funding.
  • You work on Web, REST API.
  • You also want virtual and physical issuing.
Marqeta review

Questions people ask

Is Convoy or Marqeta better?
Neither clearly leads. Convoy starts at Free and Marqeta at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Convoy or Marqeta?
Convoy has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Convoy and On request for Marqeta.
Does Convoy or Marqeta run on more platforms?
Convoy runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud. Marqeta runs on Web, REST API.
Can I use Convoy for free?
Yes. Convoy has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Marqeta starts at On request.
What is Convoy best used for?
Convoy is most often used for a fintech that cannot route customer webhook traffic through a third-party saas for compliance reasons, a high-volume platform for which per-message webhook pricing costs more than the flat premium licence, a team that also receives webhooks from many providers and wants ingestion, verification and deduplication in the same gateway, an engineering group that wants webhook delivery driven directly from an existing kafka or sqs topic. Of those, a fintech that cannot route customer webhook traffic through a third-party saas for compliance reasons and a high-volume platform for which per-message webhook pricing costs more than the flat premium licence are not what Marqeta is typically brought in for.
What can Convoy do that Marqeta cannot?
Convoy covers Inbound and outbound, Broker-driven ingestion, Payload transformation, Portal links. Marqeta covers Just-in-time funding, Virtual and physical issuing, Spend controls, Programme management tools.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Convoy: Is Convoy really open source?

Yes, the community edition is open source and self-hostable, covering both inbound and outbound webhooks with retries.

Marqeta: Do I need a sponsor bank?

Yes. Marqeta is an issuer processor, not a bank. Card programmes run on a sponsor bank BIN, and that bank approves and supervises your programme.

Convoy: What does premium cost?

A flat 999 US dollars a month, self-hosted, regardless of message volume.

Marqeta: How does the pricing really work?

A minimum monthly platform fee plus per-transaction and per-active-card charges, offset by a negotiated share of interchange. The interchange split is the substance of the deal.

Convoy: Does it receive webhooks as well as send them?

Yes, inbound ingestion with verification and deduplication is a first-class feature, unlike most webhook services.

Marqeta: What is just-in-time funding?

Marqeta calls your endpoint at authorisation so you decide and fund each transaction, rather than pre-loading balances onto cards.

Convoy: Do I have to self-host?

No, there is a hosted cloud, but the trial is capped at 100 events a day and self-hosting is the primary model.

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