APIs · head to head
Prisma vs Unit
Unit
APIs
Banking as a service platform for embedding deposit accounts, cards and payments, with a sponsor bank behind it
- 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; Unit your product depends on a sponsor bank you do not contract with directly, and 2024 showed what that means: Thread Bank received an FDIC enforcement action naming its banking as a service programmes and Blue Ridge Bank went under an OCC consent order and offboarded fintech partners.
- They diverge on capability: Prisma covers ORM, Unit covers Deposit accounts.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Prisma and Unit 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 Unit
- Deposit accounts
- Card issuing
- Payments
- White label components
- Compliance operations
- Lending
- Programme reporting
- Sandbox
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 Unit
- Adding a managed connection pool and edge cache in front of an existing databasenot Unit
Unit
- A vertical SaaS platform for contractors that wants to hold customer funds and issue expense cards without pursuing a charternot Prisma
- A payroll or benefits platform embedding accounts so employees can be paid ahead of schedulenot Prisma
- A marketplace that wants seller balances to sit in real accounts under its own brand rather than as ledger entries at a processornot Prisma
- A company that needs interchange revenue from a card programme to make the unit economics of its core product worknot 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
Unit
- Your product depends on a sponsor bank you do not contract with directly, and 2024 showed what that means: Thread Bank received an FDIC enforcement action naming its banking as a service programmes and Blue Ridge Bank went under an OCC consent order and offboarded fintech partners.
- Programme approval by the bank is a separate gate from signing with Unit, and it can add months and impose product restrictions that were not visible during the commercial conversation.
- Compliance obligations are shared but the operational load lands on you, and platforms consistently underestimate the staffing needed for disputes, escalations and the bank ongoing oversight requests.
- Pricing is unpublished and blends platform fees, per-account and per-transaction charges and interchange sharing, which makes it hard to model unit economics before you have volume and easy to be surprised by the minimum.
- Migrating a live deposit programme to a different provider or bank is extremely disruptive because it involves moving customer accounts and card credentials, so switching costs are far higher than for ordinary software.
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 ($1 per million overage)
- 100 GB storage
Unit
On request- Unit Banking as a Service$undefined/year
- Platform fee plus per-account and per-transaction charges, quoted
- Interchange sharing arrangements negotiated per programme
- Minimum commitment typical
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 Unit if
- You need deposit accounts.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want card issuing.
Questions people ask
- Is Prisma or Unit better?
- Neither clearly leads. Prisma starts at Free and Unit at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Prisma or Unit?
- Prisma has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Prisma and On request for Unit.
- Does Prisma or Unit run on more platforms?
- Prisma runs on Node.js, TypeScript. Unit runs on Web, iOS, Android.
- Can I use Prisma for free?
- Yes. Prisma has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Unit 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 Unit is typically brought in for.
- What can Prisma do that Unit cannot?
- Prisma covers ORM, Query builder, Auto-migrations, Node.js. Unit covers Deposit accounts, Card issuing, Payments, White label components.
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.
SourceUnit: Who actually holds the money?
A chartered partner bank, not Unit. Deposits sit at the sponsor bank and FDIC insurance flows from that bank, so its condition is your condition.
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.
SourceUnit: What happened with Unit sponsor banks in 2024?
Thread Bank received an FDIC enforcement action that explicitly named its banking as a service and lending as a service programmes, and Blue Ridge Bank was under an OCC consent order from January 2024 and offboarded fintech partners. Blue Ridge exited the order in late 2025.
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.
SourceUnit: What does Unit cost?
Not published. Expect a platform fee, per-account and per-transaction charges, an interchange share and a minimum commitment.
Unit: Do we need our own compliance team?
Yes. Unit supplies tooling and the bank sets the rules, but disputes, escalations and evidence for bank oversight require named people on your side.
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