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APIs · head to head

Enable Banking vs Unit

Enable Banking logo

Enable Banking

APIs

European bank API aggregation with a free restricted production tier for your own accounts

From
Free
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

  • Only Enable Banking has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Enable Banking production pricing is quoted per connected account and call volume with no published rate card, so a free proof of concept gives you no idea of cost at scale.; 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: Enable Banking covers European bank coverage, Unit covers Deposit accounts.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Enable Banking and Unit actually diverge.

Attributes where Enable Banking and Unit differ
AttributeEnable BankingUnit
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelPer connected account per monthquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, REST APIWeb, 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 Enable Banking

  • European bank coverage
  • Free sandbox
  • Restricted production
  • TPP infrastructure as a service
  • Consent handling
  • Payment initiation

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.

Enable Banking

  • A small fintech that needs to operate as an agent rather than wait a year for its own AISP authorisationnot Unit
  • An accounting software vendor pulling bank transactions across several European countriesnot Unit
  • A treasury tool building and testing a real integration before committing to a contractnot Unit
  • A lender verifying applicant income from bank data across the Nordics and the EUnot Unit

Unit

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

Where each one falls short

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

Enable Banking

  • Production pricing is quoted per connected account and call volume with no published rate card, so a free proof of concept gives you no idea of cost at scale.
  • Coverage is European, which rules it out as a single supplier for anyone needing UK plus North American bank data as well.
  • Operating as an agent under the Enable Banking licence means your regulatory permission depends on another company remaining authorised and willing to sponsor you.
  • Bank API quality varies widely across Europe, and outages or degraded endpoints at individual institutions surface as failures in your own product.
  • It is a small Finnish company selling into regulated financial services, so enterprise procurement and vendor resilience reviews are a recurring obstacle.

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

Enable Banking

Free
  • Sandbox and restricted productionFree
    • Mock and real bank sandbox access
    • Production access limited to accounts you link yourself
    • Full API surface for development and certification
  • Production$undefined/year
    • Quoted by connected accounts per month and call volume
    • Priced by number of institutions and markets in scope
    • Different rates under your own licence or as an agent

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 Enable Banking if

  • You need european bank coverage.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, REST API.
  • You also want free sandbox.
Enable Banking 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 Enable Banking or Unit better?
Neither clearly leads. Enable Banking starts at Free and Unit at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Enable Banking or Unit?
Enable Banking has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Enable Banking and On request for Unit.
Does Enable Banking or Unit run on more platforms?
Enable Banking runs on Web, REST API. Unit runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Enable Banking for free?
Yes. Enable Banking has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Unit starts at On request.
What is Enable Banking best used for?
Enable Banking is most often used for a small fintech that needs to operate as an agent rather than wait a year for its own aisp authorisation, an accounting software vendor pulling bank transactions across several european countries, a treasury tool building and testing a real integration before committing to a contract, a lender verifying applicant income from bank data across the nordics and the eu. Of those, a small fintech that needs to operate as an agent rather than wait a year for its own aisp authorisation and an accounting software vendor pulling bank transactions across several european countries are not what Unit is typically brought in for.
What can Enable Banking do that Unit cannot?
Enable Banking covers European bank coverage, Free sandbox, Restricted production, TPP infrastructure as a service. Unit covers Deposit accounts, Card issuing, Payments, White label components.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Enable Banking: Is there really a free tier?

Yes, sandbox plus restricted production against accounts you link yourself. Commercial third-party access is quoted separately.

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.

Enable Banking: Do I need my own AISP licence?

No. Enable Banking offers third-party provider infrastructure as a service so you can operate as an agent under its authorisation.

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.

Enable Banking: How is production priced?

By connected accounts per month and call volume, adjusted for markets in scope and whether you use your own licence.

Unit: What does Unit cost?

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

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.

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