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APIs · head to head

Increase vs Plaid

Increase logo

Increase

APIs

Direct banking API for ACH, wires, real-time payments, accounts and cards

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Plaid logo

Plaid

Accounting

The safer way to connect financial accounts

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Increase the published per transaction rates exclude a monthly platform fee that Increase states varies by use case, so the transparent price page cannot produce a total cost and the material part of the deal is still negotiated privately.; Plaid no dollar amount is published for any product, and the pricing page states no per request rate or minimum commitment
  • They diverge on capability: Increase covers ACH origination and receipt, Plaid covers Bank account linking.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Increase and Plaid actually diverge.

Attributes where Increase and Plaid differ
AttributeIncreasePlaid
Starting priceOn request$29/month
Pricing modelquoteusage-based
PlatformsAPI, WebApi, Web, Ios, Android
CategoryAPIsAccounting
FoundedUnknown2013

Identical on both: free tier (No), 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 Increase

  • ACH origination and receipt
  • Domestic wires
  • Real-time payments
  • Bank accounts
  • Cards
  • Cheques
  • Sandbox and simulations
  • Audit and reconciliation data

Only in Plaid

  • Bank account linking
  • Transaction data
  • Identity verification
  • Income verification
  • Asset reports
  • Venmo
  • Robinhood
  • Coinbase

What people use each for

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

Increase

  • A payroll or treasury product that needs to originate same-day ACH and wires under its own control rather than through a payment processornot Plaid
  • A marketplace that must hold seller balances in ledgered accounts with real account and routing numbersnot Plaid
  • A fintech that wants FedNow and RTP payouts so recipients are paid outside banking hoursnot Plaid
  • An engineering team that needs the underlying return codes and settlement timing visible in order to build correct reconciliation and retry logicnot Plaid

Plaid

  • Connecting bank accounts to an application for balances and transactionsnot Increase
  • Verifying account ownership and income for payments or lendingnot Increase

Where each one falls short

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

Increase

  • The published per transaction rates exclude a monthly platform fee that Increase states varies by use case, so the transparent price page cannot produce a total cost and the material part of the deal is still negotiated privately.
  • Free allowances are deliberately small at ten account numbers and five physical cards, so any programme issuing accounts or cards at volume moves to quoted pricing almost immediately.
  • Banking is provided through partner banks, so programme approval, compliance obligations and the ability to launch at all depend on a bank relationship you do not control, and post-Synapse bank risk appetite has tightened considerably.
  • The API deliberately exposes payment rail mechanics rather than smoothing them, which is correct engineering but means a team without payments expertise will build reconciliation and return handling wrongly and only discover it when funds go astray.
  • Coverage is United States only, so a company with international payout needs runs a second provider and reconciles two ledgers, and the single API argument disappears at the first cross border customer.

Plaid

  • No dollar amount is published for any product, and the pricing page states no per request rate or minimum commitment
  • Three different billing models apply depending on the product, being one time per connected account, monthly per connected account, and per successful API call
  • That mix means total cost depends on which products are combined rather than on a single unit
  • Discounted rates require the Growth plan, which is a 12 month commitment

Pricing, plan by plan

Increase

On request
  • Increase Platform$undefined/month
    • Monthly fee quoted by use case and not published
    • Next-day ACH origination listed at 0.50 US dollars per transaction
    • Same-day ACH origination listed at 2.00 per transaction

Plaid

$29/month
  • Pay-as-you-goFree
    • Bank connections
    • Transaction data
    • Account verification

Which should you pick?

Choose Increase if

  • You need ach origination and receipt.
  • You work on API, Web.
  • You also want domestic wires.
Increase review

Choose Plaid if

  • You need bank account linking.
  • You work on Api, Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want transaction data.
Plaid review

Questions people ask

Is Increase or Plaid better?
Neither clearly leads. Increase starts at On request and Plaid at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Increase or Plaid?
Increase starts at On request and Plaid at $29/month.
Does Increase or Plaid run on more platforms?
Increase runs on API, Web. Plaid runs on Api, Web, Ios, Android.
What is Increase best used for?
Increase is most often used for a payroll or treasury product that needs to originate same-day ach and wires under its own control rather than through a payment processor, a marketplace that must hold seller balances in ledgered accounts with real account and routing numbers, a fintech that wants fednow and rtp payouts so recipients are paid outside banking hours, an engineering team that needs the underlying return codes and settlement timing visible in order to build correct reconciliation and retry logic. Of those, a payroll or treasury product that needs to originate same-day ach and wires under its own control rather than through a payment processor and a marketplace that must hold seller balances in ledgered accounts with real account and routing numbers are not what Plaid is typically brought in for.
What can Increase do that Plaid cannot?
Increase covers ACH origination and receipt, Domestic wires, Real-time payments, Bank accounts. Plaid covers Bank account linking, Transaction data, Identity verification, Income verification.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Increase: Does Increase publish its pricing?

Partly. Per transaction fees for ACH, wires, RTP, FedNow and cards are listed publicly. The monthly platform fee is not, and it is described only as varying by use case.

Plaid: How much does Plaid cost?

Plaid does not publish per request rates. It offers Pay as You Go with no upfront commitment, a Growth plan on a 12 month commitment with discounts, and a Custom plan priced on volume. Figures come from its sales team.

Source
Increase: Who holds the deposits?

Partner banks, not Increase itself. That relationship determines your programme approval, your compliance obligations and your risk if the bank changes appetite.

Plaid: How does Plaid bill for its products?

Plaid uses three billing shapes: one time fee products charged once per connected account, subscription products charged monthly per connected account, and per request products charged a flat fee for every successful API call.

Source
Increase: Is it international?

No. Increase covers United States rails only, so cross border payouts require a second provider.

Plaid: Can I test Plaid for free?

Yes. Plaid's Limited Production service allows up to 200 API calls with each available product using live data, before any commitment. Plaid is also free for the consumers whose accounts are connected.

Source
Increase: How is it different from a middleware BaaS platform?

It exposes the rails rather than abstracting them, showing real return codes and settlement timing. That suits teams who understand payments and punishes teams who do not.

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