Identity verification is sold by the check, which makes it look simple to budget. It is not.
Two numbers decide what you actually pay, and most comparisons mention neither: the monthly minimum, which sets a floor regardless of how little you use, and the add-on rates, which can more than double the headline per-verification price.
We checked vendor pricing pages in October 2026. Two of the major platforms publish complete rates. The rest quote. Below is what the published ones charge, the arithmetic of where each becomes cheaper, and the questions that matter when a vendor will not show you a number.
Who publishes identity verification pricing
| Vendor | Entry rate per verification | Monthly minimum | Rates published? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Veriff | $0.80 | $49 | Yes, all self-serve tiers |
| Sumsub | $1.35 | $149 | Yes, two tiers |
| Persona | Not verifiable | Not verifiable | Pricing page blocked automated access |
| Onfido | Quote | Quote | No, and now trades as Entrust IDV |
| Socure | Quote | Quote | No |
| Alloy | Quote | Quote | No |
| Shufti Pro | Quote | Quote | No |
That is the same pattern we found across employment background check software: a small transparent self-serve segment, and an enterprise segment where price is a conversation.
The difference here is that the transparent vendors are genuinely usable at scale, not just entry-level. Veriff publishes rates up to its 5,000-per-month enterprise threshold, and Sumsub publishes two full tiers.
Veriff: $0.80 to $1.89, with add-ons that change the picture
Veriff publishes three self-serve plans, each with a per-verification rate and a monthly minimum:
- Essential — $0.80 per verification, $49 monthly minimum
- Plus — $1.39 per verification, $99 monthly minimum
- Premium — $1.89 per verification, $209 monthly minimum
- Enterprise — custom, for volumes above 5,000 verifications a month
$0.80 is the lowest published entry rate among the platforms we could verify. But the base check is a document and biometric verification, and most compliance programmes need more than that.
The add-on arithmetic
Veriff charges add-ons per verification, not as a flat platform fee:
- Extended data retention, two years — +$0.30
- PEP and sanctions screening — +$0.64
- Ongoing monitoring — +$0.09
- Additional data extraction fields — +$0.30 on Plus and Premium
Stack retention, PEP and sanctions, and ongoing monitoring onto Essential and the real rate becomes $1.83 per verification. That is a 129% increase on the $0.80 headline.
It also lands above Sumsub’s Compliance tier at $1.85 only by a margin of two cents, and Sumsub includes AML screening, ongoing AML monitoring and address verification in that price.
So the cheapest headline rate is not the cheapest programme once you specify what you actually need. This is the single most common budgeting error in identity verification procurement.
Sumsub: $1.35 and $1.85, and you pay only for successes
Sumsub publishes two tiers plus a custom plan:
- Basic — $1.35 per verification, $149 monthly minimum. ID verification, liveness and face match, reusable KYC, email and phone verification, travel rule
- Compliance — $1.85 per verification, $299 monthly minimum. Adds AML screening, ongoing AML monitoring and address verification
- Custom — quote. Adds non-document verification, database validation, business verification, transaction monitoring and fraud prevention
Two details on that page matter more than the rates.
First, Sumsub charges only for successful verifications. That shifts failed-attempt risk to the vendor. If your traffic includes a meaningful share of users who abandon part-way or submit unusable documents, a success-only model is materially cheaper than it looks on paper, and the difference grows with poorer document quality in your markets.
Second, there is a 14-day trial including 50 free checks, which is enough to measure your own pass rate before committing to a minimum.
Monthly minimums set a floor, and the break-even is lower than most teams assume
A monthly minimum means you pay that amount whether you use it or not. Divide the minimum by the per-verification rate and you get the volume at which you stop overpaying:
| Plan | Rate | Minimum | Break-even volume per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Veriff Essential | $0.80 | $49 | 61 verifications |
| Veriff Plus | $1.39 | $99 | 71 verifications |
| Veriff Premium | $1.89 | $209 | 110 verifications |
| Sumsub Basic | $1.35 | $149 | 110 verifications |
| Sumsub Compliance | $1.85 | $299 | 162 verifications |
Below roughly 60 verifications a month, Veriff Essential at $49 is the cheapest published way to run identity verification at all, and the per-check rate is irrelevant because you are paying the floor.
Above about 110 a month, the comparison becomes a genuine rate comparison and the add-on question starts to dominate.
Worked monthly costs at three volumes
Base rates only, excluding add-ons, using each vendor’s published figures:
| Plan | 500 per month | 2,000 per month | 5,000 per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Veriff Essential | $400 | $1,600 | $4,000 |
| Veriff Plus | $695 | $2,780 | $6,950 |
| Sumsub Basic | $675 | $2,700 | $6,750 |
| Veriff Premium | $945 | $3,780 | $9,450 |
| Sumsub Compliance | $925 | $3,700 | $9,250 |
Now the same table with a realistic compliance configuration — Veriff Essential plus PEP and sanctions, ongoing monitoring and extended retention at $1.83, against Sumsub Compliance at $1.85 which includes equivalent AML coverage:
| Configuration | 500 per month | 2,000 per month | 5,000 per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Veriff Essential, fully loaded, $1.83 | $915 | $3,660 | $9,150 |
| Sumsub Compliance, $1.85 | $925 | $3,700 | $9,250 |
The gap closes to about 1%. At that point the decision is not price at all — it is pass rates, coverage in your markets, whether you pay for failures, and integration effort.
That is the useful conclusion. Teams spend weeks negotiating per-check rates that converge anyway, and minutes on pass rates that vary far more.
Pass rates move the bill more than the rate card
A verification that fails still costs you something at most vendors, and it always costs you a user.
Consider 2,000 attempted verifications a month at $1.35. If your pass rate is 95%, you have acquired 1,900 verified users for $2,700, or $1.42 per verified user. At an 80% pass rate you have acquired 1,600 for the same $2,700, which is $1.69 per verified user — a 19% increase from a number that appears nowhere on a pricing page.
Under Sumsub’s success-only model the arithmetic differs again, because unsuccessful attempts are not billed. That is why measuring your own pass rate during a trial matters more than negotiating the headline rate. Sumsub’s 50 free checks and Veriff’s self-serve entry tier both make that measurable before you sign.
Ask every vendor two things: what pass rate do comparable customers see in our primary markets, and are we billed for failed attempts.
Onfido now trades as Entrust IDV
Onfido was acquired by Entrust and the product is presented as Entrust IDV. Vendor lists and procurement documents still frequently say Onfido, so expect the two names to refer to the same platform.
It publishes no self-serve rates. Industry reporting puts enterprise contracts in a wide band, and we could not verify any figure against Entrust’s own documentation, so none is reproduced here.
If Onfido is on your list, treat it as an enterprise procurement track rather than something you can price in an afternoon.
This is the same catalogue-drift problem we flagged with ClearChecks in our background check software comparison: vendor identities change faster than the lists people buy from.
A note on Persona
Persona’s pricing page blocked automated access when we checked in October 2026, returning a 403 response. Third-party sources report an Essential plan with a monthly commitment and quote-only tiers above it, but we hold to verifying rates at the vendor before publishing them, so no figure appears in the table above.
If you are evaluating Persona, request current rates directly and ask specifically whether the monthly figure is a minimum spend or a platform fee charged on top of per-verification costs. The two produce very different bills.
Matching a platform to your situation
Low volume, under about 60 verifications a month. Veriff Essential at a $49 minimum is the cheapest published route. The per-check rate is academic at that volume.
Growing, non-regulated, needs fraud deterrence rather than AML. Veriff Essential or Sumsub Basic. Compare on pass rate, not rate card, because the prices are close.
Regulated, needs AML screening and ongoing monitoring. Sumsub Compliance bundles it at $1.85. Veriff reaches equivalent coverage at about $1.83 with add-ons. Decide on coverage in your markets and on billing for failures.
High volume, above 5,000 a month, or complex jurisdictions. You are in enterprise territory at every vendor, including the transparent ones. Veriff’s enterprise tier, Sumsub Custom, Entrust IDV, Socure and Alloy all quote.
Hiring rather than customer onboarding. Identity verification is not employment screening. If you need criminal record and employment history checks, see our comparison of employment background check software instead.
Eight questions to ask before signing
- Is the monthly figure a minimum spend or a platform fee on top of per-verification charges? A $149 minimum you consume is very different from a $149 fee you pay regardless.
- Are we billed for failed or abandoned verifications? Sumsub states it charges only for successes. Confirm the policy in writing with every vendor.
- Which add-ons are priced per verification rather than per month? Per-verification add-ons scale with growth and are where budgets break.
- What pass rate do comparable customers see in our primary markets? Document quality varies by country and moves cost per verified user more than the rate does.
- What is the data retention period at the base price, and what does extending it cost? Veriff charges $0.30 per verification for two-year retention. Retention is often a regulatory requirement, not an option.
- Is PEP and sanctions screening included or an add-on? At Veriff it is +$0.64. At Sumsub Compliance it is included. This single line can decide the comparison.
- What happens to the rate if we exceed or fall short of the committed volume? Ask for the overage rate and whether unused volume rolls over.
- How long is the integration, and is there a sandbox? Both Veriff and Sumsub offer self-serve entry, which means you can test integration effort before committing.
Frequently asked questions
How much does identity verification software cost per check?
Among vendors publishing rates in October 2026, Veriff charges $0.80 per verification on Essential, $1.39 on Plus and $1.89 on Premium. Sumsub charges $1.35 on Basic and $1.85 on Compliance. Onfido, now Entrust IDV, along with Socure and Alloy, quote on request.
Which identity verification vendors publish their pricing?
Veriff publishes all three self-serve tiers with monthly minimums. Sumsub publishes two tiers. Onfido, Socure, Alloy and Shufti Pro quote on request. Persona’s pricing page blocked automated access when we checked.
What is the cheapest identity verification platform?
By published headline rate, Veriff Essential at $0.80 per verification. Once PEP and sanctions screening, ongoing monitoring and extended retention are added it reaches roughly $1.83, which is within about 1% of Sumsub Compliance at $1.85 with comparable AML coverage included. The cheapest headline rate and the cheapest programme are not the same thing.
Do I pay for failed identity verifications?
It depends on the vendor. Sumsub states that charges apply only for successful verifications. Others may bill attempts. Because pass rates vary by market and document quality, this term can affect your bill more than the per-check rate, so confirm it in writing.
Is Onfido the same as Entrust IDV?
Yes. Onfido was acquired by Entrust and the product is presented as Entrust IDV. Both names refer to the same platform, and vendor lists frequently still use the original name.
What is a monthly minimum in identity verification pricing?
A floor on your monthly spend. Veriff Essential has a $49 minimum at $0.80 per verification, so you pay $49 whether you run one check or 61. Above 61 checks you pay the per-verification rate. Dividing the minimum by the rate gives the volume at which the minimum stops costing you anything extra.
Pricing verified against veriff.com/pricing and sumsub.com/pricing on 2 October 2026. Persona’s pricing page returned a 403 response to automated access. Rates and add-on charges change, so confirm current figures with the vendor before you commit.
