Top AML KYC providers for app builders

Top AML KYC providers for app builders in 2026: one vendor or two?

Quick answer: If your app needs identity verification and AML screening, the choice is between a bundled vendor and a specialist pair. KYCAID is the cheapest bundled option at EUR 0.85 per check including screening. Sumsub is the most complete bundle. Veriff has the lowest base price but charges extra for screening. Shufti and iDenfy sit in between. ComplyAdvantage and Sanction Scanner are screening specialists you add alongside a KYC vendor. Every price was read off the vendor’s own pricing page in October 2026.

The decision that costs the most is made early and quietly. Somebody scopes “add KYC” as a sprint, integrates a document verification SDK, ships it, and discovers six weeks later that the regulator also expects sanctions and PEP screening, ongoing monitoring, and an audit trail tying each screening result to a customer record.

Now there are two vendors, two APIs, two sets of webhooks and a reconciliation problem: the identity record lives in one system, the screening result in another, and the compliance officer needs them in one view. That rework usually costs more than picking a vendor that does both on day one.

So this list is organised around that choice rather than around feature counts.

Comparison table

1. KYCAID, the cheapest bundled path

KYCAID folds AML screening into its middle tier rather than billing it per check, which is what makes the arithmetic work at small volume. Basic is EUR 0.75 for document and face verification, Standard EUR 0.85 adds AML screening, and Advanced EUR 1.10 adds address verification. Each plan includes EUR 50 upon registration, and the pricing page states no monthly minimum and no platform fee. Enterprise starts from 10,000 verifications a month.

Compare like with like and the gap is wide: a verification including sanctions and PEP screening costs EUR 0.85 here against $1.44 at Veriff, $1.80 at iDenfy and $1.85 at Sumsub. The screening covers PEPs, sanctions, watchlists, OFAC lists and regulatory AML watch lists, and former PEPs are tracked for 20 years after leaving national or intergovernmental office and five years for other positions.

For engineering teams the country checks are the interesting part. A Turkish Kimlik verification is EUR 0.05, a Brazilian CPF or Mexican CURP check EUR 0.10, an Indian Aadhaar check with SMS OTP EUR 0.60. Where your users sit in one market, a registry call through the KYC API replaces the entire document capture flow. Business onboarding comes from the same vendor too, so a roadmap with merchants or partners on it does not send you shopping for KYB providers a year later.

Pros: the lowest published cost for a check that includes screening; no monthly minimum or platform fee stated; documentless country checks remove a whole client-side flow.

Cons: its pricing and product pages state no security certification such as ISO 27001 or SOC 2, which enterprise procurement will ask about before signing; the sanctions and KYB pages publish no list or registry counts, so screening depth cannot be compared against a specialist; coverage is quoted as 200+ countries on one page and 240+ on another.

2. Sumsub, the most complete bundle

Sumsub covers document verification, liveness and face match, then adds AML screening, ongoing monitoring, address verification and Travel Rule support on its Compliance tier. Founded in 2015, it claims 220 or more countries and 14,000 or more document types, the largest document library claimed by any vendor here.

Basic is $1.35 per verification with a $149 monthly minimum; Compliance is $1.85 with $299. The trial is 14 days and 50 checks, billed on successful verifications only.

Pros: the widest bundled scope, including Travel Rule, in one contract; per-verification pricing published for both tiers; billing on success protects you from paying for bot traffic.

Cons: the $299 minimum on the AML tier is a real cost before launch; the pricing page states the full user verification cost applies even when you do not use every included feature; self-serve is card-only with no invoicing stated.

3. Veriff, the best base rate if screening is light

Veriff publishes the most granular rate card in this market. Essential is $0.80 per verification with a $49 monthly minimum, Plus $1.39 with $99, Premium $1.89 with $209, and Enterprise from 5,000 verifications a month. The trial is 15 days and up to 50 sessions with no card.

The add-ons decide whether it fits. PEP and sanctions screening is +$0.64 per verification, ongoing monitoring +$0.09, two-year retention +$0.30. If screening is occasional rather than universal, paying per use beats a bundled tier. If every customer gets screened, it is the more expensive model. Veriff is also precise about liveness: ISO/IEC 30107-3 Levels 1 and 2 as tested by iBeta, with ISO 27001:2022 and SOC 2 Type II.

Pros: the lowest published base price; every add-on priced separately, so you can model exactly what your flow costs; clear, specific certification claims.

Cons: universal screening makes it one of the pricier options; self-serve is capped at 10,000 sessions a month before enterprise sales takes over; fully automated decisions are limited to the Essential tier.

4. iDenfy, documented terms and narrow registry coverage

iDenfy publishes $1.35 per verification with a $135 monthly minimum, sanctions and PEP screening at +$0.45, proof of address +$0.90, 3D liveness +$0.20, and an enterprise rate the FAQ says can reach $0.50. The trial is 14 days or 10 checks with no card.

Read the coverage detail before committing. It claims over 3,000 document types across more than 200 countries and 180 or more company registries, but its registry checks run only for Lithuania, Hungary and the US, its criminal background check and AAMVA verification are US-only, and its lost or stolen document check is Lithuania-only.

Pros: modest published commitment; add-on prices itemised; terms published in developer documentation rather than hidden behind sales.

Cons: documented registry coverage is far narrower than the headline country number implies; unused verifications expire monthly; the vendor discloses a team of 50 or more people, which is worth weighing against enterprise support expectations.

5. Shufti, the one you can integrate today

Shufti publishes a Free Forever tier of up to 10 verifications a month and Essentials from $1.50 per verification for up to 20,000 checks. It claims 240 or more countries, 10,000 or more document types and screening against 1,700 or more global watchlists, and it is one of only two vendors in this research claiming iBeta Level 3 liveness conformance.

Ten checks a month is not a production allowance, but it removes the most irritating blocker in procurement: being unable to estimate integration effort until a contract is signed.

Pros: a free tier with no expiry; the strongest published liveness conformance claim here; a published watchlist count, which most bundled vendors do not give.

Cons: the highest published entry price per verification; no volume curve disclosed behind “starting from”; ISO 27001 is not among its stated certifications, while several peers claim it.

6. ComplyAdvantage, the screening specialist you can still self-serve

ComplyAdvantage, founded in London in 2014, sells customer, company and payment screening, sanctions and watchlist coverage, PEP and RCA data, adverse media and transaction monitoring. It does not sell document verification, so it is a second vendor rather than a replacement for one.

It is the rare specialist with a published entry price: a Starter plan from $99 per month, priced per monitored entity in tiers from 100 to 2,000 entities, with self-service signup and setup stated as within one business day. Enterprise is price on application.

Pros: screening and monitoring as the core product rather than an add-on; a published starting price and self-service signup, which no other specialist here offers; payment screening, which bundled KYC vendors generally do not cover.

Cons: no published count of sanctions lists, watchlists or adverse media sources anywhere on the site; the Starter tier caps at 2,000 monitored entities before pricing disappears behind sales; its headline automation figures, 95% of reviews and up to 85% of routine alerts, come with no published methodology.

7. Sanction Scanner, published pricing, higher floor

Sanction Scanner, established in 2019, publishes Starter at EUR 990 per month for 100 entities screened, covering individual, company, vessel, crypto wallet and aircraft screening, sanctions and watchlist screening, PEP and RCA screening, adverse media, daily ongoing monitoring and basic API access. Transaction monitoring and the enterprise API sit on the custom-priced tier.

Pros: a published price in a market that hides them; daily ongoing monitoring at the entry tier; unusual entity types such as vessels and crypto wallets.

Cons: EUR 990 a month is a high floor for an early-stage product, and 100 entities is a low ceiling with overage billed at standard rates; no free trial is published; its own about page states 200+ country lists in one section and 220+ countries in another.

Should you buy KYC and AML from one vendor or two?

Buy from one if volumes are modest and the scope is standard onboarding plus sanctions and PEP screening. One vendor means one integration, one audit trail and one invoice. Buy from two when screening is the regulated core of the business, such as a payments firm needing payment screening and transaction monitoring, where a specialist’s depth outweighs the integration cost. A useful tiebreaker: if you cannot name the sanctions lists you are required to screen against, you do not yet need a specialist.

How long does a KYC API integration actually take?

Plan for the parts that are not the API call. The SDK and webhook handling are usually days. What stretches the timeline is the state machine around them: pending, resubmission required, manual review, approved, rejected and re-verification, each with a user-facing screen. Vendors with a free tier or no-card trial let you build that before procurement finishes, which is the single biggest schedule saver on this list.

What does AML screening actually cover?

Sanctions lists, politically exposed persons with their relatives and close associates, watchlists and adverse media, usually with ongoing monitoring that re-screens customers as lists change. It does not cover document authenticity or biometric liveness. That is precisely why a product needing both ends up with a bundled vendor or two integrations.

Which regulations should drive the decision?

For EU-facing products, the AML package published in the Official Journal on 19 June 2024: the AMLA Regulation (EU) 2024/1620, the Single Rulebook Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 and AMLD6 (EU) 2024/1640. The Single Rulebook applies in principle from 10 July 2027, which is close enough that anything architected now should assume it.

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