Open Banking API Cost Calculator

API integration cost from provider and call volume.

Inputs

Connected users

New connections/month

Cost per new connection ($)

Cost per active conn ($/mo)

API calls per user/mo

Cost per API call ($)

Platform fee ($/mo)

ID verifications/mo

Cost per ID verify ($)

Engineering hours/mo

Engineering rate ($/hr)

Tab to move between fields

Results

Total monthly cost

$10,000.00

≈ 7 months of rent

Annual cost

$120,000.00

≈ 8 used cars

Cost per user ($/mo)$1.00

Direct API costs$7,000.00

API call costs$1,500.00

Connection costs$3,500.00

ID verification costs$1,500.00

Engineering costs$3,000.00

Cost Per Api Call Effective$0.02

How to Use This Calculator

Enter Connected users, New connections/month, and Cost per new connection ($).
Set Cost per active conn ($/mo), API calls per user/mo, and Cost per API call ($).
Adjust Platform fee ($/mo), ID verifications/mo as needed.
Review Total monthly cost ($) and Annual cost ($).
Use Cost per user ($/mo) ($) and Direct API costs ($) to inform your decision.

How the result changes with Connected users

Connected users	Total monthly cost	Annual cost
1,000,000	$406,000.00	$4,872,000.00
3,500,000	$1,406,000.00	$16,872,000.00
6,500,000	$2,606,000.00	$31,272,000.00
9,000,000	$3,606,000.00	$43,272,000.00

What each input means

Connected users: Total number of users with linked bank accounts via open banking.
New connections/month: Number of new bank account connections established per month.
Cost per new connection ($): One-time fee per new bank account connection (Plaid: ~$0.30-1.50 depending on product).
Cost per active conn ($/mo): Monthly fee per active linked account for ongoing data access.
API calls per user/mo: Average number of API calls per user per month (balance checks, transaction pulls, etc.).
Cost per API call ($): Incremental cost per API call beyond included quota (varies by provider and product).
Platform fee ($/mo): Fixed monthly platform/subscription fee from the API provider.
ID verifications/mo: Number of identity verification checks per month (if using the provider's IDV product).
Cost per ID verify ($): Cost per identity verification check (Plaid IDV: ~$1-3 per check).
Engineering hours/mo: Monthly engineering hours for API integration maintenance, updates, and support.
Engineering rate ($/hr): Fully loaded hourly rate for engineering resources.

What each result means

Total monthly cost: All-in monthly cost including API fees, platform fees, and engineering.
Annual cost: Projected total open banking API cost over 12 months.
Cost per user ($/mo): Fully loaded monthly cost per connected user — key unit economic for pricing decisions.
Direct API costs: Monthly API provider costs (connections, calls, verifications, platform fee).
API call costs: Monthly cost from per-call API pricing.
Connection costs: Monthly cost for new and active bank account connections.
ID verification costs: Monthly cost for identity verification checks.
Engineering costs: Monthly engineering time for integration maintenance.

How this is calculated

Worked example, using the default values

Identify Input Parameters
4 parameters
Connected users = 10000, New connections/month = 2000, Cost per new connection ($) = 0.5, Cost per active conn ($/mo) = 0.25 = 11 input(s) provided
Calculate Total monthly cost
Total monthly cost = directApiCost + engineeringCost
10000 = $10,000
Calculate Annual cost
Annual cost = totalMonthlyCost * 12
120000 = $120,000
Calculate Cost per user
Cost per user = monthlyConnectedUsers > 0
1 = $1
Calculate Direct API costs
Direct API costs = newConnectionCost + activeConnectionCost + apiCallCost + idVerificationCost +...
7000 = $7,000

Engine last updated July 26, 2026.

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