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APIs · head to head

Salt Edge vs Solaris

Salt Edge logo

Salt Edge

APIs

Independent open banking aggregator covering Europe by PSD2 API and other markets by direct connection

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Solaris logo

Solaris

APIs

German banking as a service with a full banking licence and a live regulatory problem

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Salt Edge coverage outside regulated open banking markets is not all direct bank API, and connections that are not regulated interfaces break when a bank changes its systems, so a headline country count overstates the reliability you will actually experience.; Solaris baFin appointed a special representative in 2022 and extended the mandate in July 2024, so a partner is joining a bank under active supervisory monitoring, with slower approvals and heavier compliance demands as a direct consequence.
  • They diverge on capability: Salt Edge covers Account information, Solaris covers German banking licence.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Salt Edge and Solaris actually diverge.

Attributes where Salt Edge and Solaris differ
AttributeSalt EdgeSolaris

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), platforms (Web, API), 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 Salt Edge

  • Account information
  • Payment initiation
  • Wide country coverage
  • Open Banking Gateway
  • Categorisation and enrichment
  • Consent management
  • Partner and white label
  • Sandbox

Only in Solaris

  • German banking licence
  • IBAN accounts
  • Card issuing
  • Lending as a service
  • Digital assets and custody
  • SEPA payments
  • KYC and onboarding
  • Deposit protection

What people use each for

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

Salt Edge

  • A lender operating across several European and non-EU markets that needs one aggregation contract rather than a different provider per countrynot Solaris
  • A fintech that wants an aggregator not owned by a card network because its use case competes with card productsnot Solaris
  • An accounting or treasury product that needs bank feeds in markets the large aggregators do not servenot Solaris
  • A bank that must publish PSD2-compliant APIs and would rather buy the compliance layer than build itnot Solaris

Solaris

  • A retailer or platform launching a German current account or card product without applying for its own licencenot Salt Edge
  • A fintech that needs deposit taking and lending, which an e-money licence cannot providenot Salt Edge
  • A European business needing German IBANs because customers reject foreign IBANs for salary and direct debitnot Salt Edge
  • A company requiring German statutory deposit protection on customer balances as a product claimnot Salt Edge

Where each one falls short

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

Salt Edge

  • Coverage outside regulated open banking markets is not all direct bank API, and connections that are not regulated interfaces break when a bank changes its systems, so a headline country count overstates the reliability you will actually experience.
  • Pricing is not published and is usage-based, so two providers cannot be compared without running both sales processes, and cost grows with the connected user base rather than with revenue.
  • Support and engineering are distributed across Eastern Europe and Canada, and buyers in other time zones report slower turnaround on connection-specific breakages than they get from a domestic provider.
  • PSD2 consent rules require customers to reauthenticate periodically, and Salt Edge cannot change that, so any product depending on continuous data must design for consent expiry and the drop-off it causes.
  • United States coverage is weaker than Plaid or Mastercard Open Banking, so a company with meaningful US volume ends up running two aggregators and normalising between them.

Solaris

  • BaFin appointed a special representative in 2022 and extended the mandate in July 2024, so a partner is joining a bank under active supervisory monitoring, with slower approvals and heavier compliance demands as a direct consequence.
  • BaFin fined Solaris EUR 6.5 million in March 2024 for systematically late suspicious activity reports and EUR 500,000 for breaching large exposure limits between January 2022 and March 2024, which is a track record a partner inherits reputationally.
  • Solaris has previously needed BaFin approval before onboarding new corporate clients, which can turn a commercial decision to launch into a regulatory timetable outside your control.
  • The 2024 restructuring involved job cuts and the closure of parts of a business unit, so product lines a partner depends on may not have the engineering behind them that the sales process implies.
  • SBI Holdings acquired majority control in 2025, so strategic direction now sits with a Japanese financial group whose priorities for the European business may differ from the roadmap you were sold.

Pricing, plan by plan

Salt Edge

On request
  • Salt Edge Open Banking API$undefined/year
    • Account information and payment initiation
    • Coverage across 50 plus countries
    • Consent management and enrichment

Solaris

On request
  • Solaris banking as a service$undefined/year
    • Quoted per partner, typically setup fee plus monthly platform fee
    • Per account, per card and per transaction charges on top
    • Interchange sharing arrangements negotiated per programme

Which should you pick?

Choose Salt Edge if

  • You need account information.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want payment initiation.
Salt Edge review

Choose Solaris if

  • You need german banking licence.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want iban accounts.
Solaris review

Questions people ask

Is Salt Edge or Solaris better?
Neither clearly leads. Salt Edge starts at On request and Solaris at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Salt Edge or Solaris?
Salt Edge starts at On request and Solaris at On request.
Does Salt Edge or Solaris run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, API, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
What is Salt Edge best used for?
Salt Edge is most often used for a lender operating across several european and non-eu markets that needs one aggregation contract rather than a different provider per country, a fintech that wants an aggregator not owned by a card network because its use case competes with card products, an accounting or treasury product that needs bank feeds in markets the large aggregators do not serve, a bank that must publish psd2-compliant apis and would rather buy the compliance layer than build it. Of those, a lender operating across several european and non-eu markets that needs one aggregation contract rather than a different provider per country and a fintech that wants an aggregator not owned by a card network because its use case competes with card products are not what Solaris is typically brought in for.
What can Salt Edge do that Solaris cannot?
Salt Edge covers Account information, Payment initiation, Wide country coverage, Open Banking Gateway. Solaris covers German banking licence, IBAN accounts, Card issuing, Lending as a service.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Salt Edge: Who owns Salt Edge?

It is independently owned, unlike Tink (Visa), Finicity (Mastercard) or Yodlee (Envestnet), which matters if your use case competes with the owner.

Solaris: Does Solaris have a real banking licence?

Yes. Solaris SE is a German credit institution, which is why it can offer deposits and lending, unlike e-money based competitors.

Salt Edge: Is all coverage direct bank API?

No. Inside PSD2 markets connections use regulated APIs; elsewhere coverage relies on direct connections whose reliability depends on the bank not changing its systems. Ask for a per-institution answer.

Solaris: Is the BaFin action still live?

The special representative appointed in 2022 had the mandate extended in July 2024, and fines were issued in March 2024. Treat supervisory oversight as an active condition in your diligence.

Salt Edge: Does it do payments as well as data?

Yes, payment initiation is supported in European markets where PSD2 applies.

Solaris: Who owns Solaris now?

SBI Holdings of Japan agreed in December 2024 and January 2025 to take a majority stake of over seventy per cent for around EUR 100 million.

Salt Edge: What does it cost?

Not published. Pricing is usage-based and quoted, though the sandbox is free.

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