KYC Alternatives: Establish Trust Without Collecting IDs
Onfido, Jumio, Veriff, Sumsub, Persona, and Ondato are real KYC/AML platforms — the right choice when the law requires legal identity. Proof Holdings runs alongside as the pre-KYC layer: prove control of an asset with no ID and no PII — filter fraud cheaply before full KYC, or establish trust where KYC was never needed.
Most 'verify the user' moments need a trust signal, not a passport. Proof delivers it for €0.0079 — under a cent, where identity checks cost euros — with zero PII. And when the law does require KYC, it hands cleaner traffic to the vendors built for that.
One API · One key
One key does what a stack of vendors does
Every vendor on this page verifies legal identity. Proof is a single API for the lighter job — proving control of an asset, with a signed, offline-verifiable ES256 token for each of these:
Flat price · Any asset
One flat price for every asset — phone, email, and domain today, with wallet and social coming soon. No per-seat, no per-MAU, no per-verification tiers — the meter that makes every rival's bill jump.
- Free every month
- 300 proofs
- Pay as you go
- €0.03 / proof
- At volume
- €0.0079 / proof
Feature Matrix
Swipe to compare all 7 providers →
| Feature | Proof | Onfido (Entrust) | Jumio | Veriff | Sumsub | Persona | Ondato |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Job | Prove asset control | Verify legal identity (KYC) | Verify legal identity (KYC) | Verify legal identity (KYC) | Verify legal identity (KYC) | Verify legal identity (KYC) | Verify legal identity (KYC) |
| Government ID document check | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Biometric liveness / face match | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AML / sanctions / PEP screening | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Collects PII (name, ID, selfie) | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Proves control of phone / email / domain | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Works with no name / no ID | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Portable proof token (offline) | ES256 JWT | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Regulatory KYC/AML fit | No — pre-KYC | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Public pricing | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes |
Pricing Comparison
Swipe for pricing notes →
| Provider | Model | Price | Free Tier | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proof Holdings | Per-proof (asset control) | From €0.0079 | 300 proofs/mo | No documents, no PII — a trust signal, not regulatory KYC |
| Veriff | Per-verification | $0.80–$1.89 | 15-day trial | Public pricing; $49–$209/mo minimums. PEP & Sanctions +$0.64. Estonian, 230+ countries |
| Sumsub | Per-verification | $1.35–$1.85 | 50 checks | Public pricing; $149/$299 mo min. Its own tiers split non-regulated (Basic) vs regulated (Compliance) + KYB |
| Ondato | Per-verification | €0.50–€1.40 | None | Public per-verification (from €0.50); AML €0.04–€0.45/check; KYB from €600. EU-focused (Lithuania) |
| Persona | Plan + usage | $250/mo (Essential) | 60-day trial | Configurable 'building blocks'; 500 services/mo included in Essential; Growth/Enterprise contact sales |
| Onfido (Entrust IDV) | Sales-led | Contact sales | None | Now Entrust IDV (Entrust acquired Onfido, reportedly ~$650M, 2024). No public per-verification rate |
| Jumio | Sales-led | Contact sales | None | Enterprise incumbent; KYX platform. TCO calculator only — no published per-verification rate |
This isn't like-for-like: the per-verification prices are for a full regulatory identity check (government ID + biometric liveness + AML screening + PII), and two vendors (Onfido/Entrust, Jumio) are sales-led with no public rate — treat circulating per-check figures for them as unofficial. Proof's per-proof price buys a different thing entirely: proof that someone controls an asset, with no document and no PII collected. Use the KYC vendors when the law requires identity; use Proof when it doesn't.
Category Winners
Proof Holdings
Proves control of a phone, email, or domain with no ID and no PII — a trust signal for onboarding, anti-abuse, and account recovery where full KYC/AML is overkill. Even Sumsub's own pricing concedes a 'non-regulated' segment.
Veriff
Transparent $0.80–$1.89 per verification with published monthly minimums and a free trial — rare clarity in a mostly sales-led category, for genuine regulatory KYC.
Sumsub
Full-cycle identity, AML screening, ongoing monitoring, and business verification under one configurable platform — a Leader in the 2025 IDC MarketScape for IDV in financial services.
Persona
The 'building blocks' approach — a drag-and-drop workflow engine over ID, biometric, database, and watchlist checks. Used by OpenAI, Reddit, and Roblox for KYC and age assurance.
Onfido (Entrust IDV)
Deep document coverage (2,500+ types) and Atlas AI, now part of Entrust's broader identity portfolio after the 2024 acquisition. A Visionary in the 2025 Gartner MQ for IDV.
Ondato
Published per-verification pricing from €0.50, NFC/video/photo capture across 190+ countries, and explicit AMLD/GDPR/eIDAS alignment — a strong fit for EU-regulated onboarding.
When you need KYC, use KYC
Let's be clear up front: if you have a regulatory obligation to verify a person's legal identity — you're a bank, a crypto exchange, a lender, a gambling or age-gated platform under KYC/AML rules — then Onfido (now Entrust IDV), Jumio, Veriff, Sumsub, Persona, and Ondato are the right category, and Proof Holdings is not a substitute. They check a government ID against a live selfie, screen against sanctions and PEP lists, and keep the auditable records a regulator expects.
Proof doesn't do any of that, and it shouldn't pretend to. It collects no ID document, runs no biometric liveness, and performs no AML screening. Using it where the law requires KYC would be a compliance mistake. So Proof doesn't compete with these vendors — it runs alongside them. Use it as a cheap, no-PII pre-KYC filter: screen out bots, throwaways, and obvious fraud before you pay for a full identity check, then send the real applicants on to your KYC provider. And for the many flows that never needed regulatory KYC at all, Proof stands on its own.
The no-PII wedge — trust without identity
A lot of "verify the user" moments don't actually need someone's legal identity. Onboarding gating, anti-abuse and anti-bot, account recovery, marketplace trust, rewarding a real account over a throwaway — these need a trust signal, not a passport. Collecting IDs and PII for them adds friction, liability, and a breach surface you didn't need.
Proof Holdings is built for exactly that: prove someone controls a phone, an email, or a domain — no name, no ID, no PII stored — and get back a portable ES256 token. A combination of verified assets (phone + email + domain) is a strong signal that there's a real, distinct person or business behind an account, without ever learning who they are. It's the difference between *knowing an identity* and *knowing control* — and for a large class of use cases, control is all you need. (Wallet and social verification are coming soon on the same API.)
Detailed Comparisons
Frequently Asked Questions
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300 free proofs per month. No credit card required.
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