APIs · head to head
Prisma vs TrueLayer
TrueLayer
APIs
Open banking payments and data across the UK and Europe, with the largest share of UK variable recurring payments
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Prisma has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Prisma prisma Postgres is billed per operation, with the free tier at 100,000 operations and 500 MB of storage; TrueLayer variable recurring payments, the strongest reason to choose TrueLayer, is a UK construct, and European businesses expecting the same capability in their market will not get it on the same timetable.
- They diverge on capability: Prisma covers ORM, TrueLayer covers Pay by bank.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Prisma and TrueLayer actually diverge.
Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (APIs).
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 Prisma
- ORM
- Query builder
- Auto-migrations
- Node.js
- TypeScript
- GraphQL
- REST APIs
- Node.js support
Only in TrueLayer
- Pay by bank
- Variable recurring payments
- Payouts and refunds
- Account information
- Account name verification
- Signup and KYC support
- Multi-country coverage
- Hosted payment page
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Prisma
- Using a type safe ORM and query layer against a Postgres databasenot TrueLayer
- Adding a managed connection pool and edge cache in front of an existing databasenot TrueLayer
TrueLayer
- A UK subscription or top-up business that wants card-like recurring collection over bank rails using variable recurring paymentsnot Prisma
- A trading or crypto platform funding accounts instantly by bank transfer where card deposits carry chargeback risknot Prisma
- A marketplace paying sellers out to verified bank accounts with name checking to reduce misdirected paymentsnot Prisma
- A lender verifying income and affordability from bank transaction data rather than uploaded statementsnot Prisma
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Prisma
- Prisma Postgres is billed per operation, with the free tier at 100,000 operations and 500 MB of storage
- Starter at $10 a month includes 1M operations then charges $0.0080 per 1,000
- Storage overage runs from $2.00 per GB on Starter down to $1.00 per GB on Business, so the unit cost depends on the plan
- Accelerate charges separately per operation and per GiB of query egress beyond the first 1 KiB
- Cache tag invalidations are not included below the Pro plan and are billed per thousand above it
TrueLayer
- Variable recurring payments, the strongest reason to choose TrueLayer, is a UK construct, and European businesses expecting the same capability in their market will not get it on the same timetable.
- Payment conversion varies substantially by bank, and a bank with a slow or broken authentication journey drags results down regardless of vendor, so aggregate coverage numbers say little about your actual mix.
- Pay by bank has no chargeback mechanism, which merchants like until a customer disputes a purchase and finds no scheme protection, making it a poor fit for categories where buyers expect card style recourse.
- Pricing is unpublished and varies by market and product, so multi-country merchants cannot model cost without a full sales engagement and often find rates differ significantly between countries.
- Open banking authentication requires the customer to leave the checkout and authorise in their banking app, and that redirect remains the largest source of drop-off compared with a stored card.
Pricing, plan by plan
Prisma
Free- FreeFree
- 1M requests/month
- 360 GB-hours memory
- 4 vCPU-hours
- Starter$10/month
- 5M requests/month
- 1M database operations ($8 per million overage)
- 10 GB storage ($2/GB overage)
- Pro$49/month
- 20M requests/month
- 10M operations ($2 per million overage)
- 50 GB storage ($1.50/GB overage)
- Business$129/month
- 100M requests/month
- 50M operations ($1 per million overage)
- 100 GB storage
TrueLayer
On request- TrueLayer Payments and Data$undefined/year
- Per-payment fees quoted by volume, market and product
- Separate commercial terms for payment initiation, VRP and account information
- Platform and minimum commitment terms negotiated per contract
Which should you pick?
Choose Prisma if
- You need orm.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Node.js, TypeScript.
- You also want query builder.
Choose TrueLayer if
- You need pay by bank.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want variable recurring payments.
Questions people ask
- Is Prisma or TrueLayer better?
- Neither clearly leads. Prisma starts at Free and TrueLayer at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Prisma or TrueLayer?
- Prisma has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Prisma and On request for TrueLayer.
- Does Prisma or TrueLayer run on more platforms?
- Prisma runs on Node.js, TypeScript. TrueLayer runs on Web, iOS, Android.
- Can I use Prisma for free?
- Yes. Prisma has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. TrueLayer starts at On request.
- What is Prisma best used for?
- Prisma is most often used for using a type safe orm and query layer against a postgres database, adding a managed connection pool and edge cache in front of an existing database. Of those, using a type safe orm and query layer against a postgres database and adding a managed connection pool and edge cache in front of an existing database are not what TrueLayer is typically brought in for.
- What can Prisma do that TrueLayer cannot?
- Prisma covers ORM, Query builder, Auto-migrations, Node.js. TrueLayer covers Pay by bank, Variable recurring payments, Payouts and refunds, Account information.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Prisma: How much does Prisma cost?
Prisma is free to start with 1M requests/month. The Starter plan costs $10/month with 5M requests, the Pro plan $49/month with 20M requests, and the Business plan $129/month with 100M requests. All plans have usage-based overages.
SourceTrueLayer: Is VRP available outside the UK?
No. Variable recurring payments are a UK capability. EU adoption is on a slower path, with UK commercial VRP expanding into ecommerce during 2026.
Prisma: What is Prisma's overage pricing?
Prisma charges $1 per million requests over the included amount (Starter), $2 per million database operations overage (Pro and Starter), and $1.50-$2 per GB for storage overages depending on the plan. All plans include a hard spend limit on by default.
SourceTrueLayer: What does TrueLayer cost?
Not published. Per-payment fees are quoted by volume, market and product, usually with a platform component and a minimum commitment.
Prisma: Does Prisma include data transfer costs?
No, Prisma includes unlimited data transfer with no egress fees on all plans. Prisma ORM remains free across all tiers.
SourceTrueLayer: Are there chargebacks on pay by bank?
No. Bank transfers have no card scheme chargeback mechanism, which removes that cost but also removes buyer recourse, so it suits some categories and not others.
TrueLayer: Which countries are covered?
The UK plus a substantial set of European markets under PSD2, though bank-level coverage and conversion vary by country and should be checked for your specific mix.
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