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Cybersecurity · head to head

Keygen vs Unit21

Keygen logo

Keygen

Cybersecurity

Open, source-available software licensing API

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Unit21 logo

Unit21

Cybersecurity

No-code fraud and AML risk operations platform for fintechs and neobanks

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Keygen has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Keygen specific Active Licensed User (ALU) pricing not listed; requires interactive pricing calculator; Unit21 it is built for fintech scale rather than card issuer scale, so organisations reaching very high transaction volumes generally re-evaluate against heavier platforms and face a migration.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Keygen and Unit21 actually diverge.

Attributes where Keygen and Unit21 differ
AttributeKeygenUnit21
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelusage-basedquote
Free tierYesNo

Identical on both: platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cybersecurity).

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 Keygen

Nothing recorded that Unit21 does not also cover.

Only in Unit21

  • No-code rule builder
  • Case management
  • SAR filing
  • Backtesting
  • Identity and device signals
  • Data ingestion API

What people use each for

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

Keygen

  • Software licensing and distributionnot Unit21
  • Product release managementnot Unit21
  • API-based license verificationnot Unit21

Unit21

  • A neobank whose sponsor bank requires a documented monitoring programme before it will keep the BIN sponsorshipnot Keygen
  • A crypto exchange needing SAR filing and case management without building an internal compliance engineering teamnot Keygen
  • A payments startup where the fraud lead needs to ship a new rule the same day a new attack pattern appearsnot Keygen
  • A lender consolidating fraud alerts from three point tools into one investigator queue with a single audit trailnot Keygen

Where each one falls short

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

Keygen

  • Specific Active Licensed User (ALU) pricing not listed; requires interactive pricing calculator
  • Whitelabel API add-on costs $995/year per domain

Unit21

  • It is built for fintech scale rather than card issuer scale, so organisations reaching very high transaction volumes generally re-evaluate against heavier platforms and face a migration.
  • No-code rule authoring shifts power to the risk team, which is the point, but without governance it produces rule sprawl that nobody can explain to an examiner two years later.
  • Detection quality depends on the signals you feed it, so a thin integration produces thin results and the platform cannot compensate with proprietary consortium data the way larger vendors do.
  • Pricing is quoted by volume with an annual commitment, so a fintech whose growth stalls pays for headroom it did not use.
  • SAR filing coverage is oriented to United States FinCEN reporting, so firms filing in the United Kingdom, European Union or Asia handle those submissions outside the tool.

Pricing, plan by plan

Keygen

Free
  • DevFree
    • Up to 100 Active Licensed Users
    • 10 product releases
    • Core licensing API only
  • Std$null/month
    • Scaling with licensing volume
    • Distribution API (OCI/Docker, npm, Rubygems, PyPI, Tauri)
    • Flat monthly/yearly fees
  • Enterprise$null/month
    • Audit logs
    • SAML/SSO
    • IP filtering

Unit21

On request
  • Unit21 Platform$undefined/year
    • Priced by monitored volume and modules, annual contract
    • Fraud, AML and case management packaged separately
    • Implementation and historical data backfill quoted with the subscription

Which should you pick?

Choose Keygen if

  • You want to start without paying.
Keygen review

Choose Unit21 if

  • You need no-code rule builder.
  • You also want case management.
Unit21 review

Questions people ask

Is Keygen or Unit21 better?
Neither clearly leads. Keygen starts at Free and Unit21 at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Keygen or Unit21?
Keygen has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Keygen and On request for Unit21.
Does Keygen or Unit21 run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Keygen for free?
Yes. Keygen has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Unit21 starts at On request.
What is Keygen best used for?
Keygen is most often used for software licensing and distribution, product release management, api-based license verification. Of those, software licensing and distribution and product release management are not what Unit21 is typically brought in for.
What can Keygen do that Unit21 cannot?
Unit21 covers No-code rule builder, Case management, SAR filing, Backtesting.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Keygen: Does Keygen have a free tier?

Yes, the Dev tier is free and supports up to 100 Active Licensed Users with 10 product releases and core licensing API access.

Source
Unit21: Do we need engineers to run it?

Only for the initial data integration. After that the design intent is that risk and compliance staff author and deploy rules themselves.

Keygen: How is Keygen pricing calculated?

Keygen uses scalable, flat monthly or yearly fees based on your licensing volume (Active Licensed Users). No revenue share or transaction fees are charged.

Source
Unit21: Does it file SARs?

Yes, it generates and electronically files suspicious activity reports to FinCEN. Non-US regimes are not covered to the same depth.

Keygen: Does Keygen charge for additional features like SSO?

SAML/SSO is included in Enterprise tiers. Whitelabel API support costs $995/year per domain. Premium Support SLA is $995/month for Enterprise.

Source
Unit21: Can we test a rule before it goes live?

Yes. Backtesting against historical data to see projected alert volume is one of the more useful parts of the product, because alert volume is the real cost.

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