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APIs · head to head

Sila vs Tink

Sila logo

Sila

APIs

US money movement API for ACH, RTP and FedNow with KYC and ledgering built in

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Tink logo

Tink

APIs

European open banking platform for account data and payment initiation

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Sila no pricing is published, so you cannot compare Sila against Moov or Dwolla without entering two sales processes, and small programmes frequently find the monthly minimum dominates their cost at low volume.; Tink visa owns Tink, and pay-by-bank exists to move payments off card rails, so the roadmap and pricing of the product you are using to reduce interchange are set by the company that earns the interchange.
  • They diverge on capability: Sila covers ACH origination, Tink covers Account data access.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Sila and Tink actually diverge.

Attributes where Sila and Tink differ
AttributeSilaTink
PlatformsWeb, APIAPI, Web

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), 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 Sila

  • ACH origination
  • Instant rails
  • KYC and KYB
  • Virtual accounts
  • Ledger
  • Wallets and holds
  • Webhooks
  • Bank-side deployment

Only in Tink

  • Account data access
  • Payment initiation
  • EEA passporting
  • Categorisation
  • Account verification
  • Risk and affordability signals
  • Variable recurring payments support
  • Consent management

What people use each for

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

Sila

  • A small fintech that needs ACH, identity verification and a ledger from one vendor because it has no compliance team to assemble threenot Tink
  • A marketplace paying out to sellers that wants same-day ACH and instant push options without becoming a money transmitter itselfnot Tink
  • A community bank replacing batch file ACH processing with an API so it can offer real-time payments to business customersnot Tink
  • A lending platform that must verify business identity, disburse funds and collect repayments on a schedule from a single integrationnot Tink

Tink

  • A European lender that needs verified income and expense data from a borrower bank account across several EEA markets under one licencenot Sila
  • A merchant offering pay-by-bank at checkout to avoid card acceptance costs on high value basketsnot Sila
  • A fintech that does not hold its own PSD2 licence and needs to operate under an authorised provider passported across the EEAnot Sila
  • A bank building an account aggregation view of a customer external accounts without negotiating with each institution individuallynot Sila

Where each one falls short

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

Sila

  • No pricing is published, so you cannot compare Sila against Moov or Dwolla without entering two sales processes, and small programmes frequently find the monthly minimum dominates their cost at low volume.
  • Sila is materially smaller and less well capitalised than the banking-as-a-service names it competes with, which matters because your customer funds and your payment rails depend on the vendor still trading in three years.
  • The sponsor bank behind your programme determines what you can offer and how fast you can change it, and bank partnerships in this sector have been reshuffled repeatedly since 2023, so a bank change during your contract is a realistic risk rather than a theoretical one.
  • Coverage is United States only, so any product with cross-border ambitions needs a second payments vendor and a second reconciliation process from the outset.
  • Onboarding involves compliance diligence on your own programme, and teams routinely underestimate this, with weeks lost between signing and first live transaction while policies, flow of funds diagrams and BSA arrangements are reviewed.

Tink

  • Visa owns Tink, and pay-by-bank exists to move payments off card rails, so the roadmap and pricing of the product you are using to reduce interchange are set by the company that earns the interchange.
  • Coverage is Europe only, so a product serving both European and United States users runs a second aggregator with a different data model and a separate contract.
  • PSD2 connection quality varies sharply by bank, and headline connection counts hide wide differences in success rate, consent lifetime and re-authentication frequency that determine what users actually experience.
  • Consent under PSD2 expires and requires periodic re-authentication, so any product depending on continuous data access has a recurring user friction it cannot design away, and drop-off at re-consent is a real product problem.
  • Pricing is quoted with data access and payment initiation priced separately, and there is no published rate card, so small merchants cannot compare pay-by-bank economics against card acceptance without a sales process.

Pricing, plan by plan

Sila

On request
  • Sila Payments Platform$undefined/month
    • ACH, RTP and FedNow
    • KYC and KYB verification
    • Virtual accounts and ledger

Tink

On request
  • Tink Platform$undefined/year
    • Priced by product, market and volume
    • Data access and payment initiation priced separately
    • Annual commitments typical for enterprise agreements

Which should you pick?

Choose Sila if

  • You need ach origination.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want instant rails.
Sila review

Choose Tink if

  • You need account data access.
  • You work on API, Web.
  • You also want payment initiation.
Tink review

Questions people ask

Is Sila or Tink better?
Neither clearly leads. Sila starts at On request and Tink at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Sila or Tink?
Sila starts at On request and Tink at On request.
Does Sila or Tink run on more platforms?
Sila runs on Web, API. Tink runs on API, Web.
What is Sila best used for?
Sila is most often used for a small fintech that needs ach, identity verification and a ledger from one vendor because it has no compliance team to assemble three, a marketplace paying out to sellers that wants same-day ach and instant push options without becoming a money transmitter itself, a community bank replacing batch file ach processing with an api so it can offer real-time payments to business customers, a lending platform that must verify business identity, disburse funds and collect repayments on a schedule from a single integration. Of those, a small fintech that needs ach, identity verification and a ledger from one vendor because it has no compliance team to assemble three and a marketplace paying out to sellers that wants same-day ach and instant push options without becoming a money transmitter itself are not what Tink is typically brought in for.
What can Sila do that Tink cannot?
Sila covers ACH origination, Instant rails, KYC and KYB, Virtual accounts. Tink covers Account data access, Payment initiation, EEA passporting, Categorisation.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Sila: Does Sila require a sponsor bank?

Yes. Funds sit at a partner bank, and which bank that is affects your product features and your regulatory exposure, so ask before signing.

Tink: Who owns Tink?

Visa, since 2022. That is directly relevant if you are adopting pay-by-bank specifically to reduce card costs.

Sila: Is Sila still operating?

Yes. It continues to trade and announced an API integration with GBank in 2025 covering ACH, RTP and FedNow.

Tink: Do I need my own PSD2 licence?

No. Tink holds AIS and PIS licences from the Swedish FSA passported across the EEA, and customers can operate as its agent rather than obtaining their own authorisation.

Sila: What does it cost?

Sila does not publish rates. Expect per-transaction pricing plus a monthly minimum, quoted after a compliance conversation.

Tink: Does Tink cover the United States?

No. It is a European platform. US coverage requires a separate provider.

Sila: Can I use it outside the United States?

No. Sila covers US rails only.

Tink: How reliable are the bank connections?

It varies by institution far more than the headline count of roughly 6,000 connections suggests. Ask for per market and per bank success rates and consent lifetimes for the banks your users actually hold accounts with.

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