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APIs · head to head

Tink vs Tyk

Tink logo

Tink

APIs

European open banking platform for account data and payment initiation

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Tyk logo

Tyk

APIs

Open-source API gateway and API management platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Tyk has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Tyk professional and Enterprise plan pricing not published; contact required
  • They diverge on capability: Tink covers Account data access, Tyk covers API Gateway.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Tink and Tyk actually diverge.

Attributes where Tink and Tyk differ
AttributeTinkTyk
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquotefreemium
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsAPI, WebLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud
FoundedUnknown2013

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 Tink

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

Only in Tyk

  • API Gateway
  • Rate Limiting
  • Authentication
  • Kubernetes
  • Docker
  • AWS
  • Azure
  • Linux support

What people use each for

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

Tink

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

Tyk

  • API gateway and API management platformsnot Tink
  • Microservices architecture orchestrationnot Tink
  • High-growth teams standardizing on API platformsnot Tink
  • Enterprises requiring advanced security and governancenot Tink

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Tyk

  • Professional and Enterprise plan pricing not published; contact required
  • Core plan uses consumption-based model with variable costs
  • No upfront pricing transparency for production deployments

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Tyk

Free
  • Free TrialFree
    • Fully featured 48-hour trial
    • No credit card required
    • Tyk Cloud access
  • Core Plan$null/month
    • Usage-based flexible pricing
    • Cloud, Hybrid, or Self-managed deployment
    • Unlimited API gateways
  • Professional Plan$null/month
    • One fixed price with unlimited access
    • All deployment options
    • Unlimited APIs and requests
  • Enterprise Plan$null/month
    • Custom pricing required
    • Advanced governance and security
    • Premium support with custom SLAs

Which should you pick?

Choose Tink if

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

Choose Tyk if

  • You need api gateway.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud.
  • You also want rate limiting.
Tyk review

Questions people ask

Is Tink or Tyk better?
Neither clearly leads. Tink starts at On request and Tyk at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Tink or Tyk?
Tyk has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Tink and Free for Tyk.
Does Tink or Tyk run on more platforms?
Tink runs on API, Web. Tyk runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud.
Can I use Tyk for free?
Yes. Tyk has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Tink starts at On request.
What is Tink best used for?
Tink is most often used for a european lender that needs verified income and expense data from a borrower bank account across several eea markets under one licence, a merchant offering pay-by-bank at checkout to avoid card acceptance costs on high value baskets, a fintech that does not hold its own psd2 licence and needs to operate under an authorised provider passported across the eea, a bank building an account aggregation view of a customer external accounts without negotiating with each institution individually. Of those, a european lender that needs verified income and expense data from a borrower bank account across several eea markets under one licence and a merchant offering pay-by-bank at checkout to avoid card acceptance costs on high value baskets are not what Tyk is typically brought in for.
What can Tink do that Tyk cannot?
Tink covers Account data access, Payment initiation, EEA passporting, Categorisation. Tyk covers API Gateway, Rate Limiting, Authentication, Kubernetes.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Tink: Who owns Tink?

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

Tyk: How much does Tyk cost?

Tyk offers a free 48-hour trial with no credit card required. The Core plan uses usage-based pricing on a flexible model. Professional plan offers unlimited access at a fixed price (amount not published). Enterprise plans require custom pricing.

Source
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.

Tyk: Is there a free trial of Tyk?

Yes, Tyk provides a fully featured 48-hour free trial of Tyk Cloud that requires no credit card to start.

Source
Tink: Does Tink cover the United States?

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

Tyk: What deployment options are included in Tyk pricing?

All Tyk plans support Cloud, Hybrid, or Self-managed deployment options without feature restrictions, allowing flexible infrastructure choices across pricing tiers.

Source
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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