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APIs · head to head

Formance vs Veem

Formance logo

Formance

APIs

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Veem logo

Veem

Accounting

Global business payments made simple

From
$14.99/month
Rated
-

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.; Veem per-transaction fees can be higher than dedicated wire transfer services for large volumes
  • They diverge on capability: Formance covers Double-entry ledger, Veem covers International payments.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Formance and Veem actually diverge.

Attributes where Formance and Veem differ
AttributeFormanceVeem
Starting priceFree$14.99/month
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feeUnknown
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, Web, APIWeb, iOS, Android
CategoryAPIsAccounting
FoundedUnknown2014

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

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
  • Payments connectivity
  • Reconciliation
  • Self-hosted deployment
  • Cloud offering
  • API and SDKs

Only in Veem

  • International payments
  • Invoice creation
  • Payment tracking
  • Accounting sync
  • QuickBooks
  • Xero
  • NetSuite
  • SOC 2

Both cover

  • Multi-currency

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 Veem
  • A fintech whose homegrown balances table produced numbers finance could not reconcile and now needs proper double-entry before an auditnot Veem
  • A payments team that wants one normalised model across several PSPs so reconciliation is not written separately for eachnot Veem
  • A company that wants its ledger under a licence it can keep running even if the vendor disappearsnot Veem

Veem

  • International vendor paymentsnot Formance
  • Cross-border transactionsnot 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.

Veem

  • Per-transaction fees can be higher than dedicated wire transfer services for large volumes
  • No free tier - even basic sending incurs transaction fees
  • Premium plan pricing at $14.99/month may not offset savings on transaction fees
  • Limited banking partnerships compared to larger financial platforms

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

Veem

$14.99/month

No published plan breakdown. See the Veem review.

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.

Choose Veem if

  • You need international payments.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want invoice creation.

Questions people ask

Is Formance or Veem better?
Neither clearly leads. Formance starts at Free and Veem at $14.99/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Formance or Veem?
Formance has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Formance and $14.99/month for Veem.
Does Formance or Veem run on more platforms?
Formance runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Web, API. Veem runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Formance for free?
Yes. Formance has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Veem starts at $14.99/month.
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 Veem is typically brought in for.
What can Formance do that Veem cannot?
Formance covers Double-entry ledger, Numscript transaction DSL, Payments connectivity, Reconciliation. Veem covers International payments, Invoice creation, Payment tracking, Accounting sync. Both handle Multi-currency.

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.

Veem: What payment methods does Veem support?

Veem supports ACH transfers, checks, wallet transfers, and international wires. Payment methods vary by destination country and user preference.

Source
Formance: Does Formance move money?

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

Veem: Is there a free tier?

No free tier. Veem charges per-transaction fees based on payment method and destination, with optional Premium Plan at $14.99/month offering enhanced features.

Source
Formance: What does the enterprise version cost?

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

Veem: What integrations does Veem have?

Veem integrates with QuickBooks, Xero, QuickBooks Online, NetSuite, Zapier, Plaid, and PopBookings for automated accounting and workflow integration.

Source
Formance: Do I have to use Numscript?

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

Veem: How does Veem handle exchange rates?

Veem uses claimed competitive exchange rates and provides transparent pricing. Transactions are routed through different payment rails (credit cards, checks, cryptocurrency) based on the destination.

Source
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