Is Sardine or Sumsub better?

Neither clearly leads. Sardine starts at On request and Sumsub at $1.35/verification, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Sardine or Sumsub?

Sardine starts at On request and Sumsub at $1.35/verification.

Does Sardine or Sumsub run on more platforms?

Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.

What is Sardine best used for?

Sardine is most often used for a neobank losing money to authorised push payment scams where the customer genuinely approved the transfer, a crypto exchange trying to detect accounts being operated by remote access rather than by their owner, a fintech seeing synthetic identity signups that pass document verification but share device characteristics, a lender wanting first party fraud signals at application time that a credit bureau file does not contain. Of those, a neobank losing money to authorised push payment scams where the customer genuinely approved the transfer and a crypto exchange trying to detect accounts being operated by remote access rather than by their owner are not what Sumsub is typically brought in for.

What can Sardine do that Sumsub cannot?

Sardine covers Device intelligence, Behaviour biometrics, Scam detection, Onboarding risk scoring. Sumsub covers Document verification, AML screening, KYB verification, No-code flow builder.

Cybersecurity · head to head

Sardine vs Sumsub

Sardine

Cybersecurity

Device intelligence and behaviour biometrics for fraud and compliance

From: On request
Rated: -

Full review Website

Sumsub

Cybersecurity

Identity verification and AML screening priced per verification

From: $1.35/verification
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: Sardine signal quality depends on the SDK being embedded in your own web and mobile clients, so fraud improvements become dependent on your app release cycle and any coverage gap is a blind spot.; Sumsub the published per-verification rate is undercut by a monthly minimum of 149 or 299 dollars, so low volume businesses pay a much higher effective rate than the headline suggests.
They diverge on capability: Sardine covers Device intelligence, Sumsub covers Document verification.
Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Sardine and Sumsub actually diverge.

Attributes where Sardine and Sumsub differ
Attribute	Sardine	Sumsub
Starting price	On request	$1.35/verification
Pricing model	quote	Per verification

Identical on both: free tier (No), platforms (Web, iOS, Android), 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 Sardine

Device intelligence
Behaviour biometrics
Scam detection
Onboarding risk scoring
AML transaction monitoring
Dispute and chargeback handling
Rules editor

Only in Sumsub

Document verification
AML screening
KYB verification
No-code flow builder
Transaction monitoring
Travel Rule
Fraud and duplicate detection

What people use each for

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

Sardine

A neobank losing money to authorised push payment scams where the customer genuinely approved the transfernot Sumsub
A crypto exchange trying to detect accounts being operated by remote access rather than by their ownernot Sumsub
A fintech seeing synthetic identity signups that pass document verification but share device characteristicsnot Sumsub
A lender wanting first party fraud signals at application time that a credit bureau file does not containnot Sumsub

Sumsub

A crypto exchange needing KYC plus Travel Rule handling under one contractnot Sardine
A gambling operator entering several European markets and needing document coverage without a separate vendor per countrynot Sardine
A fintech that wants a published price it can model in a business case before speaking to a salespersonnot Sardine
A marketplace verifying both individual sellers and the companies behind them without buying two productsnot Sardine

Where each one falls short

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

Sardine

Signal quality depends on the SDK being embedded in your own web and mobile clients, so fraud improvements become dependent on your app release cycle and any coverage gap is a blind spot.
Behavioural and device telemetry collection needs a documented lawful basis under GDPR, and EU privacy reviews frequently delay rollouts that were scoped as engineering work.
Pricing is per session or per active user, so a consumer product with many low value sessions pays in proportion to traffic rather than to fraud exposure.
As a younger private company it lacks the enforcement-tested audit history that a bank examiner expects, which makes it a harder sell inside a regulated bank than inside a fintech.
It is strongest on session-time signals and weaker as a system of record for long horizon AML typologies, so larger institutions end up running it alongside a traditional monitoring platform rather than instead of one.

Sumsub

The published per-verification rate is undercut by a monthly minimum of 149 or 299 dollars, so low volume businesses pay a much higher effective rate than the headline suggests.
You are billed per verification attempt in most configurations, meaning applicant drop-off and resubmissions cost money without producing a customer.
Pass rates and document support vary noticeably by country, and a market that works well in Europe can produce materially worse rejection rates in parts of Africa and South East Asia.
The AML screening tier bundles list coverage that large institutions would normally buy separately and tune, giving less control over match thresholds than a dedicated screening vendor.
The company originated in Russia before restructuring to a UK entity, and some financial institutions still raise that history in vendor risk review, which can slow or block procurement at conservative banks.

Pricing, plan by plan

Sardine

On request

Sardine$undefined/year
- Priced per user session or per monthly active user
- Annual contract with volume commitment
- SDK for web, iOS and Android

Sumsub

$1.35/verification

Basic$1.35/verification
- 149 USD minimum monthly spend
- Document verification and liveness
- No-code flow builder
Compliance$1.85/verification
- 299 USD minimum monthly spend
- Everything in Basic
- AML sanctions and PEP screening
Enterprise$undefined/year
- Negotiated volume rate
- Custom jurisdictions and languages
- Dedicated support

Which should you pick?

Choose Sardine if

You need device intelligence.
You work on Web, iOS, Android.
You also want behaviour biometrics.

Sardine review

Choose Sumsub if

You need document verification.
You work on Web, iOS, Android.
You also want aml screening.

Sumsub review

Questions people ask

Is Sardine or Sumsub better?: Neither clearly leads. Sardine starts at On request and Sumsub at $1.35/verification, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Sardine or Sumsub?: Sardine starts at On request and Sumsub at $1.35/verification.
Does Sardine or Sumsub run on more platforms?: Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
What is Sardine best used for?: Sardine is most often used for a neobank losing money to authorised push payment scams where the customer genuinely approved the transfer, a crypto exchange trying to detect accounts being operated by remote access rather than by their owner, a fintech seeing synthetic identity signups that pass document verification but share device characteristics, a lender wanting first party fraud signals at application time that a credit bureau file does not contain. Of those, a neobank losing money to authorised push payment scams where the customer genuinely approved the transfer and a crypto exchange trying to detect accounts being operated by remote access rather than by their owner are not what Sumsub is typically brought in for.
What can Sardine do that Sumsub cannot?: Sardine covers Device intelligence, Behaviour biometrics, Scam detection, Onboarding risk scoring. Sumsub covers Document verification, AML screening, KYB verification, No-code flow builder.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Sardine: Does Sardine do document verification?

It focuses on device, behavioural and transaction signals, and integrates identity verification providers rather than being one. Treat it as complementary to a KYC vendor.

Sumsub: What does a verification actually cost?

1.35 USD on Basic and 1.85 USD on Compliance, but with 149 and 299 USD monthly minimums respectively. Below roughly 110 or 160 checks a month you are paying the minimum, not the rate.

Sardine: What does it need from us to work?

An SDK in your web and mobile applications plus transaction feeds. Without the client side collector you lose the signals that differentiate it.

Sumsub: Do failed verifications get charged?

Attempts are generally billable, so a poor onboarding funnel raises your bill. Confirm the exact resubmission policy in your contract.

Sardine: Is pricing published?

No. It is quoted, typically per session or per monthly active user with an annual volume commitment.

Sumsub: Does it cover business verification?

Yes, KYB with company registry lookups and beneficial owner resolution is part of the platform rather than a separate product.

Sardine vs Sumsub

Sardine

Sumsub

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Sardine

Only in Sumsub

What people use each for

Sardine

Sumsub

Where each one falls short

Sardine

Sumsub

Pricing, plan by plan

Sardine

Sumsub

Which should you pick?

Choose Sardine if

Choose Sumsub if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Sardine

More on Sumsub

Keep looking

Other head to heads