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APIs · head to head

Convoy vs Tribe Payments

Convoy logo

Convoy

APIs

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Tribe Payments logo

Tribe Payments

APIs

Combined issuer and acquirer processing platform for fintechs, banks and acquirers

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.; Tribe Payments running both issuing and acquiring through one vendor concentrates operational risk, since a platform fault affects both sides of a client's card business at once rather than just one.
  • They diverge on capability: Convoy covers Inbound and outbound, Tribe Payments covers ISAAC core platform.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Convoy and Tribe Payments actually diverge.

Attributes where Convoy and Tribe Payments differ
AttributeConvoyTribe Payments
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelPer month, flat rate regardless of volumequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, CloudWeb, 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 Tribe Payments

  • ISAAC core platform
  • Issuer processing
  • Acquirer processing
  • Multi-scheme connectivity
  • Open banking module
  • 3D Secure and fraud tooling

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 Tribe Payments
  • A high-volume platform for which per-message webhook pricing costs more than the flat premium licencenot Tribe Payments
  • A team that also receives webhooks from many providers and wants ingestion, verification and deduplication in the same gatewaynot Tribe Payments
  • An engineering group that wants webhook delivery driven directly from an existing Kafka or SQS topicnot Tribe Payments

Tribe Payments

  • A bank or fintech wanting to run both card issuing and merchant acquiring on one processing platformnot Convoy
  • A payment facilitator consolidating separate issuing and acquiring vendor relationships into one contractnot Convoy
  • A company needing multi-scheme processing across Visa, Mastercard and regional networks like UnionPaynot Convoy
  • An Asia-Pacific expansion where Tribe's Singapore office provides regional supportnot 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.

Tribe Payments

  • Running both issuing and acquiring through one vendor concentrates operational risk, since a platform fault affects both sides of a client's card business at once rather than just one.
  • Pricing for either the issuing or acquiring modules is not published, so budgeting requires a sales conversation.
  • With roughly 60-plus customers, it is smaller scale than Visa or Mastercard-owned processing infrastructure, which is a factor for a client prioritising vendor size and track record.
  • Its client base and support depth are concentrated in the UK and continental Europe, and the Asia-Pacific presence via Singapore is comparatively newer and less proven.
  • As with any combined issuing and acquiring platform, a client that only needs one side still evaluates and pays for a vendor built around doing both, which may not be the most specialised option available.

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

Tribe Payments

On request
  • Tribe Payments$undefined/year
    • Pricing not published for issuing or acquiring modules
    • Custom quote required via sales

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 Tribe Payments if

  • You need isaac core platform.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want issuer processing.
Tribe Payments review

Questions people ask

Is Convoy or Tribe Payments better?
Neither clearly leads. Convoy starts at Free and Tribe Payments at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Convoy or Tribe Payments?
Convoy has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Convoy and On request for Tribe Payments.
Does Convoy or Tribe Payments run on more platforms?
Convoy runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud. Tribe Payments runs on Web, API.
Can I use Convoy for free?
Yes. Convoy has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Tribe Payments 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 Tribe Payments is typically brought in for.
What can Convoy do that Tribe Payments cannot?
Convoy covers Inbound and outbound, Broker-driven ingestion, Payload transformation, Portal links. Tribe Payments covers ISAAC core platform, Issuer processing, Acquirer processing, Multi-scheme connectivity.

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.

Tribe Payments: Does Tribe do both issuing and acquiring?

Yes, its ISAAC platform supports both, built for issuing in 2019 and acquiring from 2020.

Convoy: What does premium cost?

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

Tribe Payments: How many card schemes does it support?

Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover, JCB and UnionPay.

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.

Tribe Payments: Where is its customer base concentrated?

The UK and continental Europe, with a newer Singapore office serving Asia-Pacific.

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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