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APIs · head to head

Formance vs Ozone API

Formance logo

Formance

APIs

Open source double-entry ledger and payment orchestration for money-moving software

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Ozone API logo

Ozone API

APIs

Standards-compliant open banking API layer for banks and regulators

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Formance has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Formance formance holds no money and provides no regulatory cover, so it must be paired with a payments provider or bank, and buyers occasionally mistake a ledger for a treasury system and discover the gap late.; Ozone API it provides the API layer, not the core connectivity, so the bulk of the project is still integrating your own core banking systems and that cost is not in the licence.
  • They diverge on capability: Formance covers Double-entry ledger, Ozone API covers Multi-standard support.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Formance and Ozone API actually diverge.

Attributes where Formance and Ozone API differ
AttributeFormanceOzone API
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, Web, APIWeb, REST API, Linux

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 Formance

  • Double-entry ledger
  • Numscript transaction DSL
  • Multi-currency
  • Payments connectivity
  • Reconciliation
  • Self-hosted deployment
  • Cloud offering
  • API and SDKs

Only in Ozone API

  • Multi-standard support
  • Consent management
  • Developer portal
  • Regulatory reporting
  • Premium API monetisation
  • Deployment flexibility

What people use each for

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

Formance

  • A marketplace splitting a single customer payment between seller, platform fee and tax that needs the split to be atomic and auditablenot Ozone API
  • A fintech whose homegrown balances table produced numbers finance could not reconcile and now needs proper double-entry before an auditnot Ozone API
  • A payments team that wants one normalised model across several PSPs so reconciliation is not written separately for eachnot Ozone API
  • A company that wants its ledger under a licence it can keep running even if the vendor disappearsnot Ozone API

Ozone API

  • A building society facing an open banking compliance deadline with no API team of its ownnot Formance
  • A bank operating in several jurisdictions that must satisfy different open banking standards at oncenot Formance
  • A regulator or standards body building national open finance infrastructurenot Formance
  • A bank wanting to sell premium APIs beyond the regulatory minimum without building entitlement plumbingnot Formance

Where each one falls short

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

Formance

  • Formance holds no money and provides no regulatory cover, so it must be paired with a payments provider or bank, and buyers occasionally mistake a ledger for a treasury system and discover the gap late.
  • Numscript is a domain-specific language your team must learn, and while it makes complex splits expressible it also means transaction logic sits outside the languages your engineers already debug well.
  • Self-hosting a ledger that must never lose or duplicate a transaction is a serious operational commitment covering backups, upgrades and Postgres tuning, which is real cost the zero licence fee hides.
  • Enterprise pricing is not published, so the difference between the free path and the supported path cannot be evaluated without a sales conversation.
  • The company is much smaller than the incumbent alternatives, and while the MIT licence protects the code it does not protect the roadmap, so features on the hosted side may arrive slowly or change direction.

Ozone API

  • It provides the API layer, not the core connectivity, so the bulk of the project is still integrating your own core banking systems and that cost is not in the licence.
  • Value is driven by regulatory obligation, so an institution not under a mandate struggles to build a business case for the spend.
  • It is a small UK vendor selling to large regulated institutions, which raises procurement and vendor viability questions during bank due diligence.
  • Premium API monetisation is a genuine capability but few banks have found real demand, so revenue projections used to justify the purchase often do not materialise.
  • Standards evolve continuously and each revision means a change programme in your own systems, even where Ozone absorbs the specification work at the API edge.

Pricing, plan by plan

Formance

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • MIT licensed core ledger
    • Numscript transaction DSL
    • Multi-currency tracking
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Managed or private deployment
    • Payments connectivity and reconciliation
    • Support with response commitments

Ozone API

On request
  • Ozone API$undefined/year
    • Annual licence or managed service subscription, quoted
    • Scaling by institution size, standards in scope and API call volume
    • Implementation and core integration charged separately

Which should you pick?

Choose Formance if

  • You need double-entry ledger.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Web, API.
  • You also want numscript transaction dsl.
Formance review

Choose Ozone API if

  • You need multi-standard support.
  • You work on Web, REST API, Linux.
  • You also want consent management.
Ozone API review

Questions people ask

Is Formance or Ozone API better?
Neither clearly leads. Formance starts at Free and Ozone API at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Formance or Ozone API?
Formance has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Formance and On request for Ozone API.
Does Formance or Ozone API run on more platforms?
Formance runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Web, API. Ozone API runs on Web, REST API, Linux.
Can I use Formance for free?
Yes. Formance has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Ozone API starts at On request.
What is Formance best used for?
Formance is most often used for a marketplace splitting a single customer payment between seller, platform fee and tax that needs the split to be atomic and auditable, a fintech whose homegrown balances table produced numbers finance could not reconcile and now needs proper double-entry before an audit, a payments team that wants one normalised model across several psps so reconciliation is not written separately for each, a company that wants its ledger under a licence it can keep running even if the vendor disappears. Of those, a marketplace splitting a single customer payment between seller, platform fee and tax that needs the split to be atomic and auditable and a fintech whose homegrown balances table produced numbers finance could not reconcile and now needs proper double-entry before an audit are not what Ozone API is typically brought in for.
What can Formance do that Ozone API cannot?
Formance covers Double-entry ledger, Numscript transaction DSL, Multi-currency, Payments connectivity. Ozone API covers Multi-standard support, Consent management, Developer portal, Regulatory reporting.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Formance: Is Formance really open source?

Yes. The core ledger is MIT licensed with full source access and no deployment restrictions.

Ozone API: Is this a competitor to Plaid or TrueLayer?

No, the opposite side. Ozone is bought by the bank exposing data; Plaid and TrueLayer consume it on behalf of third parties.

Formance: Does Formance move money?

No. It records and orchestrates movements; the actual payments happen at a PSP or bank you connect.

Ozone API: Does it connect to my core banking system?

It provides the standards-compliant API surface and adapters, but connecting your core is an integration project you scope separately.

Formance: What does the enterprise version cost?

Not published. It is an annual subscription quoted per customer.

Ozone API: Which standards does it support?

UK Open Banking, Berlin Group, FDX, Consumer Data Right and Gulf regional standards, among others, from one platform.

Formance: Do I have to use Numscript?

Yes for anything beyond the simplest transfers. It is how multi-party transactions are expressed atomically.

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