Spreedly vs Basis Theory: Features, Coverage and Pricing Compared (2026)
Updated November 10, 2026 · Reviewed by Benjamin Margolis
Spreedly and Basis Theory both store card data in a vault so a business can use several payment providers without re-collecting cards. Spreedly, founded in 2007, adds routing across a large gateway network in more than 100 countries. Basis Theory, founded in 2020, focuses on developer tools and a broad compliance set.
Our analysts compared the two on November 10, 2026, using each company's own product, pricing, and company pages and our full reviews of Spreedly and Basis Theory.
Choose Spreedly if
- you want a large ready-made gateway network
- you want routing to raise approval rates
- you want fraud orchestration from Dodgeball
Choose Basis Theory if
- you want highly flexible developer tools
- you need HIPAA as well as PCI Level 1, SOC 2, and ISO 27001
- you store other sensitive data besides cards
Spreedly scores 79 and Basis Theory scores 80 in our ratings. Spreedly suits merchants that want orchestration across many gateways. Basis Theory suits engineering teams that want a flexible vault.
Key Features Compared
Spreedly vs Basis Theory at a Glance, November 2026
| Feature |  Spreedly |  Basis Theory |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | ||
| Fintech Index score | 79 / 100 | 80 / 100Higher score |
| Overview | ||
| What it is | Durham, North Carolina, payment orchestration platform that vaults cards and routes payments across many gateways for online merchants | San Francisco payment vault company whose developer platform tokenizes card and other sensitive data so merchants can reuse it across payment providers |
| Who uses it | Online merchants and platforms in travel, ticketing, food ordering, and subscriptions, including BMW, HBO Max, Hopper, Priceline, and SeatGeek | Software platforms, merchants, and fintechs, including Pinterest, Melio, and MoneyGram |
| Main products | Card vault, payment orchestration across gateways, routing, network tokenization, and fraud orchestration from Dodgeball | Card and sensitive-data vault, tokenization, hosted Elements for collecting cards, and a Proxy that reshapes payloads for any provider |
| Where it operates | More than 100 countries | Global; works with multiple payment providers |
| Products and features | ||
| Processes payments itself | Vault and orchestration; gateways process | Vault only; a processor is still needed |
| Pricing | ||
| How pricing works | Vault plans starting at $750 a month | Developer plans, starting at $995 a month |
| Published prices | Vault from $750 a monthLower starting price | Starter plan from $995 a month |
| Technology and compliance | ||
| Licenses and regulation | PCI Level 1 vault with network tokenization | PCI Level 1, SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, and HIPAA; the Starter plan includes a PCI Attestation of ComplianceBroader certifications |
| Developer tools | Single API and routing tools | Developer-first API, hosted Elements, and Proxy |
| Integrations and partners | A wide network of gateways and payment methods, including mobile wallets | Works with several payment providers; leads an Agentic Commerce Consortium of more than 20 companies |
| Onboarding and support | Engineering-led integration | Self-built integration by the client's engineers |
| Company | ||
| Founded | 2007 | 2020 |
| Headquarters | Durham, North Carolina | San Francisco, California |
| Ownership | Private | Private, venture backed |
| Funding | ~$75M from Spectrum Equity in 2019 | ~$50M in total, including a $33M Series B in October 2025 led by Costanoa, with Stage 2 Capital, Moneta VC, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Kindred Ventures |
| Key leader | Justin Benson | Colin Luce |
| Scale | More than $50B a year in payments | More than 40 full-time employees in October 2025 |
Fintech Index Scores Compared
We rate every company on eight criteria from 0 to 100, four tied to what buyers in its sector need and four shared by every company, and the rating is their average. Spreedly scores 79 and Basis Theory scores 80.
Criterion Scores Out of 100
Key Differences Between Spreedly and Basis Theory
Orchestration
Spreedly connects to a wide network of gateways and payment methods and routes payments to raise approval rates. Basis Theory's Proxy reshapes payloads for any provider, which suits teams building their own routing.
Price
Spreedly's vault starts at $750 a month. Basis Theory's Starter plan starts at $995 a month.
Clients
Spreedly works with BMW, HBO Max, Hopper, Priceline, and SeatGeek. Basis Theory's customers include Pinterest, Melio, and MoneyGram.
Pros and Cons
Spreedly
Pros
- Add or switch processors without re-collecting cards
- Routing to raise approval rates
- More than 100 countries
- Published vault price from $750 a month
Cons
- Too much for a small store on one processor
- Needs an engineering team
- Not a contact-center payment tool
Basis Theory
Pros
- Avoids lock-in to one payment processor
- Strong compliance set: PCI Level 1, SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, and HIPAA
- Published starting price of $995 a month
- Highly rated developer tooling
Cons
- Needs separate payment processors
- Clients run their own integration
- Not a phone or chat payment capture tool
Who Each Is Best For
Spreedly
An online merchant or platform that uses more than one payment gateway and wants to store cards once and route each payment to the best processor.
Basis Theory
A merchant or software platform with its own engineers that wants to hold card data in an independent PCI vault and send it to any payment provider.
Alternatives to Spreedly and Basis Theory
These companies, all reviewed and rated on The Fintech Index, cover some of the same ground as Spreedly and Basis Theory.
Other Card Issuing and Processing Companies
| Company | Score | Best for | Comparisons |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCI-PAL | 70 | Contact centers that take card payments by phone or chat | PCI-PAL vs Basis Theory PCI-PAL vs Spreedly |
| Payabli | 77 | Vertical SaaS platforms that want pay-ins and payouts in one stack | Payabli vs Spreedly |
| Finix | 78 | Software platforms that want to become payment facilitators | Finix vs Spreedly |
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is cheaper to start?
Spreedly, with a vault from $750 a month against Basis Theory's $995.
Do they process payments?
No. Both pass payments on to processors.
Sources
- The Fintech Index analysis of Spreedly and Basis Theory, conducted November 2026 (As of November 10, 2026)
- Spreedly pricing: https://www.spreedly.com/pricing (As of November 10, 2026)
- Spreedly about: https://www.spreedly.com/about (As of November 10, 2026)
- PR Newswire, Spreedly acquires Dodgeball: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/spreedly-acquires-dodgeball-to-link-payment-optimization-with-fraud-prevention-302558487.html (As of November 10, 2026)
- Spreedly, Spectrum Equity investment: https://www.spreedly.com/blog/spreedly-receives-75-million-growth-investment-from-spectrum-equity (As of November 10, 2026)
- Spreedly customer story, SeatGeek: https://www.spreedly.com/customers/seatgeek (As of November 10, 2026)
- Spreedly customer story, Olo: https://www.spreedly.com/customers/olo (As of November 10, 2026)
- Basis Theory home page: https://basistheory.com/ (As of November 10, 2026)
- Basis Theory pricing: https://basistheory.com/pricing (As of November 10, 2026)
- Series B announcement: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/basis-theory-raises-33m-to-power-agentic-commerce-and-the-next-era-of-merchant-payments-302582581.html (As of November 10, 2026)
- Branch case study: https://blog.basistheory.com/case-studies/branch (As of November 10, 2026)
- Lithic, Fintech Layer Cake interview: https://www.lithic.com/blog/the-future-of-payments-is-agentic-and-tokenized-with-basis-theory-ceo-colin-luce-and-cto-james-armstead (As of November 10, 2026)