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APIs · head to head

Convoy vs TrueLayer

Convoy logo

Convoy

APIs

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
TrueLayer logo

TrueLayer

APIs

Open banking payments and data across the UK and Europe, with the largest share of UK variable recurring payments

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.; TrueLayer variable recurring payments, the strongest reason to choose TrueLayer, is a UK construct, and European businesses expecting the same capability in their market will not get it on the same timetable.
  • They diverge on capability: Convoy covers Inbound and outbound, TrueLayer covers Pay by bank.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Convoy and TrueLayer actually diverge.

Attributes where Convoy and TrueLayer differ
AttributeConvoyTrueLayer
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelPer month, flat rate regardless of volumequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, CloudWeb, iOS, Android

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 TrueLayer

  • Pay by bank
  • Variable recurring payments
  • Payouts and refunds
  • Account information
  • Account name verification
  • Signup and KYC support
  • Multi-country coverage
  • Hosted payment page

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

TrueLayer

  • A UK subscription or top-up business that wants card-like recurring collection over bank rails using variable recurring paymentsnot Convoy
  • A trading or crypto platform funding accounts instantly by bank transfer where card deposits carry chargeback risknot Convoy
  • A marketplace paying sellers out to verified bank accounts with name checking to reduce misdirected paymentsnot Convoy
  • A lender verifying income and affordability from bank transaction data rather than uploaded statementsnot 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.

TrueLayer

  • Variable recurring payments, the strongest reason to choose TrueLayer, is a UK construct, and European businesses expecting the same capability in their market will not get it on the same timetable.
  • Payment conversion varies substantially by bank, and a bank with a slow or broken authentication journey drags results down regardless of vendor, so aggregate coverage numbers say little about your actual mix.
  • Pay by bank has no chargeback mechanism, which merchants like until a customer disputes a purchase and finds no scheme protection, making it a poor fit for categories where buyers expect card style recourse.
  • Pricing is unpublished and varies by market and product, so multi-country merchants cannot model cost without a full sales engagement and often find rates differ significantly between countries.
  • Open banking authentication requires the customer to leave the checkout and authorise in their banking app, and that redirect remains the largest source of drop-off compared with a stored card.

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

TrueLayer

On request
  • TrueLayer Payments and Data$undefined/year
    • Per-payment fees quoted by volume, market and product
    • Separate commercial terms for payment initiation, VRP and account information
    • Platform and minimum commitment terms negotiated per contract

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 TrueLayer if

  • You need pay by bank.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want variable recurring payments.
TrueLayer review

Questions people ask

Is Convoy or TrueLayer better?
Neither clearly leads. Convoy starts at Free and TrueLayer at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Convoy or TrueLayer?
Convoy has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Convoy and On request for TrueLayer.
Does Convoy or TrueLayer run on more platforms?
Convoy runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud. TrueLayer runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Convoy for free?
Yes. Convoy has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. TrueLayer 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 TrueLayer is typically brought in for.
What can Convoy do that TrueLayer cannot?
Convoy covers Inbound and outbound, Broker-driven ingestion, Payload transformation, Portal links. TrueLayer covers Pay by bank, Variable recurring payments, Payouts and refunds, Account information.

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.

TrueLayer: Is VRP available outside the UK?

No. Variable recurring payments are a UK capability. EU adoption is on a slower path, with UK commercial VRP expanding into ecommerce during 2026.

Convoy: What does premium cost?

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

TrueLayer: What does TrueLayer cost?

Not published. Per-payment fees are quoted by volume, market and product, usually with a platform component and a minimum commitment.

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.

TrueLayer: Are there chargebacks on pay by bank?

No. Bank transfers have no card scheme chargeback mechanism, which removes that cost but also removes buyer recourse, so it suits some categories and not others.

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.

TrueLayer: Which countries are covered?

The UK plus a substantial set of European markets under PSD2, though bank-level coverage and conversion vary by country and should be checked for your specific mix.

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