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APIs · head to head

Lithic vs Modern Treasury

Lithic logo

Lithic

APIs

API-first card issuing platform with direct Visa, Mastercard and Amex network connections

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Modern Treasury logo

Modern Treasury

Accounting

Payment operations and ledger infrastructure that sits between your product and your own bank accounts

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Lithic pricing is entirely undisclosed, so a company cannot compare total cost against Marqeta, Galileo or Highnote without a sales conversation.; Modern Treasury you must already have or be able to obtain your own bank accounts with the right connectivity, so early stage companies without a banking relationship cannot use it and are pushed towards a sponsor bank model instead.
  • They diverge on capability: Lithic covers Direct network connections, Modern Treasury covers Multi-rail payment initiation.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Lithic and Modern Treasury actually diverge.

Attributes where Lithic and Modern Treasury differ
AttributeLithicModern Treasury
PlatformsWeb, APIWeb
CategoryAPIsAccounting

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), 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 Lithic

  • Direct network connections
  • Processor Client mode
  • Lithic Program Management
  • Card lifecycle APIs
  • Sandbox environment
  • Real-time authorization controls

Only in Modern Treasury

  • Multi-rail payment initiation
  • Bank connectivity
  • Ledgers
  • Automatic reconciliation
  • Approval workflows
  • Virtual accounts
  • Compliance tooling
  • Return and exception handling

What people use each for

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

Lithic

  • A fintech wanting direct Visa or Mastercard network access rather than routing through a third-party processornot Modern Treasury
  • A company that already holds its own issuing licence and wants API access without full programme managementnot Modern Treasury
  • A neobank or expense platform wanting Lithic to manage bank and network relationships end to endnot Modern Treasury
  • A product team prototyping a card programme in sandbox before committing to a launchnot Modern Treasury

Modern Treasury

  • A marketplace paying out to thousands of sellers that needs a ledger its application can trust rather than reconciling a payments dashboard by handnot Lithic
  • A lender originating and servicing loans that must track disbursements, repayments and returns against its own bank accountsnot Lithic
  • A company that wants to move off a banking as a service provider and hold its own bank accounts after seeing sponsor banks offboard fintech programmesnot Lithic
  • An insurer handling premium collection and claims payment across several rails with approval controls and an auditable trailnot Lithic

Where each one falls short

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

Lithic

  • Pricing is entirely undisclosed, so a company cannot compare total cost against Marqeta, Galileo or Highnote without a sales conversation.
  • Choosing Processor Client mode still leaves the company responsible for holding its own issuing licence and managing the regulatory relationship, which is a substantial undertaking many teams underestimate.
  • As with any card infrastructure provider, an outage or network issue at Lithic becomes a direct outage for every card programme built on it, and a customer has limited visibility into root cause during an incident.
  • Building a card programme on API infrastructure requires real engineering investment; it is not a plug-and-play product for a non-technical team.
  • Switching card infrastructure providers after launch is a major undertaking involving card reissuance and programme migration, so the initial choice carries lasting lock-in.

Modern Treasury

  • You must already have or be able to obtain your own bank accounts with the right connectivity, so early stage companies without a banking relationship cannot use it and are pushed towards a sponsor bank model instead.
  • Pricing rests on an annual minimum commitment, and companies that miss their volume forecast pay the minimum regardless, which makes the headline per-transaction rate close to irrelevant in year one.
  • Supported bank connectivity is a finite list, so if your bank is not on it you are either waiting for an integration or changing banks, which is a far larger project than adopting the software.
  • It is software over banking, not banking, so it does not solve card issuing, deposit accounts or the licensing questions that a company embedding financial products still has to answer elsewhere.
  • The ledger is genuinely good but adopting it properly means making it the source of truth for balances in your product, which is a significant application change rather than a payments integration and is where implementations run long.

Pricing, plan by plan

Lithic

On request
  • Lithic$undefined/year
    • Volume and interchange-based pricing, not published
    • Separate Processor Client and Program Management pricing tracks
    • Custom quote required via sales

Modern Treasury

On request
  • Modern Treasury Platform$undefined/year
    • Platform access fee covering API, dashboard, infrastructure and support
    • Usage-based fees across ACH, wires, RTP, FedNow, push to card, cheques and stablecoins
    • A single annual minimum commitment that both platform and usage fees count towards

Which should you pick?

Choose Lithic if

  • You need direct network connections.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want processor client mode.
Lithic review

Choose Modern Treasury if

  • You need multi-rail payment initiation.
  • You also want bank connectivity.
Modern Treasury review

Questions people ask

Is Lithic or Modern Treasury better?
Neither clearly leads. Lithic starts at On request and Modern Treasury at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Lithic or Modern Treasury?
Lithic starts at On request and Modern Treasury at On request.
Does Lithic or Modern Treasury run on more platforms?
Lithic runs on Web, API. Modern Treasury runs on Web.
What is Lithic best used for?
Lithic is most often used for a fintech wanting direct visa or mastercard network access rather than routing through a third-party processor, a company that already holds its own issuing licence and wants api access without full programme management, a neobank or expense platform wanting lithic to manage bank and network relationships end to end, a product team prototyping a card programme in sandbox before committing to a launch. Of those, a fintech wanting direct visa or mastercard network access rather than routing through a third-party processor and a company that already holds its own issuing licence and wants api access without full programme management are not what Modern Treasury is typically brought in for.
What can Lithic do that Modern Treasury cannot?
Lithic covers Direct network connections, Processor Client mode, Lithic Program Management, Card lifecycle APIs. Modern Treasury covers Multi-rail payment initiation, Bank connectivity, Ledgers, Automatic reconciliation.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Lithic: Does Lithic publish pricing?

No, pricing is volume-based and requires a sales conversation.

Modern Treasury: Is Modern Treasury a bank or a banking as a service provider?

Neither. You hold your own bank accounts and it is software over them. That avoids sponsor bank concentration risk but means you need the bank relationship yourself.

Lithic: What is the difference between Processor Client and Program Management?

Processor Client suits companies with their own issuing licence and bank relationships; Program Management is for companies wanting Lithic to coordinate those relationships on their behalf.

Modern Treasury: What does it cost?

Not published. A platform access fee plus usage fees across rails, on an annual term with a single minimum commitment. Negotiate the minimum, not the per-transaction rate.

Lithic: Which networks does it connect to?

Visa, Mastercard and American Express directly.

Modern Treasury: Which rails are supported?

ACH, wires, RTP, FedNow, push to card, cheques and stablecoin payments, subject to what your bank supports.

Modern Treasury: Do we still need our own compliance programme?

Yes. KYB, KYC and transaction monitoring are included in the platform, but you are the one holding the accounts and the regulatory obligation sits with you and your bank.

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