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Developer Tools · head to head

Hookdeck vs Sumsub

Hookdeck logo

Hookdeck

Developer Tools

Event gateway that receives, queues, retries and replays inbound webhooks

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Sumsub logo

Sumsub

Cybersecurity

Identity verification and AML screening priced per verification

From
$1.35/verification
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Hookdeck has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Hookdeck pricing meters delivered events, so fan-out multiplies the bill: one inbound event routed to four services counts as four deliveries.; Sumsub the published per-verification rate is undercut by a monthly minimum of 149 or 299 dollars, so low volume businesses pay a much higher effective rate than the headline suggests.
  • They diverge on capability: Hookdeck covers Ingest and persist, Sumsub covers Document verification.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Hookdeck and Sumsub actually diverge.

Attributes where Hookdeck and Sumsub differ
AttributeHookdeckSumsub
Starting priceFree$1.35/verification
Pricing modelPer month by delivered event countPer verification
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Linux, macOS, WindowsWeb, iOS, Android
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCybersecurity

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 Hookdeck

  • Ingest and persist
  • Automatic retries
  • Filters and fan-out
  • Transformations
  • Local development CLI
  • Rate limiting

Only in Sumsub

  • Document verification
  • AML screening
  • KYB verification
  • No-code flow builder
  • Transaction monitoring
  • Travel Rule
  • Fraud and duplicate detection

What people use each for

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

Hookdeck

  • A payments integration where losing a Stripe event during a deploy causes an order to go unfulfillednot Sumsub
  • Fanning one provider webhook out to several internal services without each subscribing separatelynot Sumsub
  • Debugging a partner integration by replaying the exact failing payload after shipping a fixnot Sumsub
  • Receiving production-shaped webhooks on a developer laptop without running a public tunnelnot Sumsub

Sumsub

  • A crypto exchange needing KYC plus Travel Rule handling under one contractnot Hookdeck
  • A gambling operator entering several European markets and needing document coverage without a separate vendor per countrynot Hookdeck
  • A fintech that wants a published price it can model in a business case before speaking to a salespersonnot Hookdeck
  • A marketplace verifying both individual sellers and the companies behind them without buying two productsnot Hookdeck

Where each one falls short

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

Hookdeck

  • Pricing meters delivered events, so fan-out multiplies the bill: one inbound event routed to four services counts as four deliveries.
  • Free-tier retention is three days, which is shorter than the time it typically takes to notice a failing integration, so the payloads needed for a replay are often already gone.
  • It becomes a single point of failure in front of every third-party integration, and an outage there means every provider webhook queues or fails at once.
  • The transformation layer runs JavaScript in a constrained environment, so anything that needs a database lookup or an external call has to happen downstream instead.
  • For a team already running Kafka or SQS the value is mostly the console and the replay UI, which is a hard cost to justify against infrastructure they already operate.

Sumsub

  • The published per-verification rate is undercut by a monthly minimum of 149 or 299 dollars, so low volume businesses pay a much higher effective rate than the headline suggests.
  • You are billed per verification attempt in most configurations, meaning applicant drop-off and resubmissions cost money without producing a customer.
  • Pass rates and document support vary noticeably by country, and a market that works well in Europe can produce materially worse rejection rates in parts of Africa and South East Asia.
  • The AML screening tier bundles list coverage that large institutions would normally buy separately and tune, giving less control over match thresholds than a dedicated screening vendor.
  • The company originated in Russia before restructuring to a UK entity, and some financial institutions still raise that history in vendor risk review, which can slow or block procurement at conservative banks.

Pricing, plan by plan

Hookdeck

Free
  • DeveloperFree
    • Up to ten thousand events per month
    • Three-day retention
    • One user
  • Team$39/month
    • Ten thousand events included
    • Unlimited users
    • Pay as you go metering above the included events
  • Growth$499/month
    • Ten thousand events included plus metered usage
    • Thirty-day retention
    • Uptime and latency SLAs
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Negotiated event volume
    • Custom retention
    • Dedicated support

Sumsub

$1.35/verification
  • Basic$1.35/verification
    • 149 USD minimum monthly spend
    • Document verification and liveness
    • No-code flow builder
  • Compliance$1.85/verification
    • 299 USD minimum monthly spend
    • Everything in Basic
    • AML sanctions and PEP screening
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Negotiated volume rate
    • Custom jurisdictions and languages
    • Dedicated support

Which should you pick?

Choose Hookdeck if

  • You need ingest and persist.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux, macOS, Windows.
  • You also want automatic retries.
Hookdeck review

Choose Sumsub if

  • You need document verification.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want aml screening.
Sumsub review

Questions people ask

Is Hookdeck or Sumsub better?
Neither clearly leads. Hookdeck starts at Free and Sumsub at $1.35/verification, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Hookdeck or Sumsub?
Hookdeck has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Hookdeck and $1.35/verification for Sumsub.
Does Hookdeck or Sumsub run on more platforms?
Hookdeck runs on Web, Linux, macOS, Windows. Sumsub runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Hookdeck for free?
Yes. Hookdeck has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Sumsub starts at $1.35/verification.
What is Hookdeck best used for?
Hookdeck is most often used for a payments integration where losing a stripe event during a deploy causes an order to go unfulfilled, fanning one provider webhook out to several internal services without each subscribing separately, debugging a partner integration by replaying the exact failing payload after shipping a fix, receiving production-shaped webhooks on a developer laptop without running a public tunnel. Of those, a payments integration where losing a stripe event during a deploy causes an order to go unfulfilled and fanning one provider webhook out to several internal services without each subscribing separately are not what Sumsub is typically brought in for.
What can Hookdeck do that Sumsub cannot?
Hookdeck covers Ingest and persist, Automatic retries, Filters and fan-out, Transformations. Sumsub covers Document verification, AML screening, KYB verification, No-code flow builder.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Hookdeck: Is there a free plan?

Yes, ten thousand events a month with three-day retention and one user.

Sumsub: What does a verification actually cost?

1.35 USD on Basic and 1.85 USD on Compliance, but with 149 and 299 USD monthly minimums respectively. Below roughly 110 or 160 checks a month you are paying the minimum, not the rate.

Hookdeck: How is usage counted?

By delivered events, so a single inbound webhook fanned out to three destinations counts as three.

Sumsub: Do failed verifications get charged?

Attempts are generally billable, so a poor onboarding funnel raises your bill. Confirm the exact resubmission policy in your contract.

Hookdeck: Can I replay a failed webhook?

Yes, individually or in bulk from the console, with the original payload.

Sumsub: Does it cover business verification?

Yes, KYB with company registry lookups and beneficial owner resolution is part of the platform rather than a separate product.

Hookdeck: Does it work for outbound webhooks too?

Yes, the same queueing, retry and observability applies to webhooks you send.

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