Side by side
ACHQ vs Plaid
Both stand on ach payment processing software. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.
Choose ACHQ if your business needs ACH or eCheck processing with recurring billing, account validation, and several integration routes. Review the plan transaction caps and per-transaction fees when estimating costs; Starter begins at $39/mo plus fees.
Visit ACHQChoose Plaid if your app or service needs financial account connections, financial data, or bank payment processing across its listed products. Look elsewhere if you require guaranteed access to every financial institution, since Plaid does not connect them all and may remove an institution when its data is no longer reliably accessible.
Visit PlaidThe facts
| ACHQ | Plaid | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | No | A free trial |
| Open source | Not published | Not published |
| Runs on | API, Web | Android, API, iPhone, Web |
| Lowest paid plan | Starter: $39 a month | Free or on request |
| Plans published | 3 | 4 |
| Maker | Not published | Not published |
| Website | achq.com | plaid.com |
| On ach payment processing software | #9 of 21 | #5 of 21 |
ACHQ: what it does well
- Supports one-time ACH, recurring billing, and electronic check conversion.
- Offers hosted checkout, Plaid Link capture, and a REST API.
- Includes SDKs for Node, Python, Ruby, and PHP.
- Provides settlement reports, return-rate trends, exports, and an action log.
- Same-day ACH is available for time-sensitive payments.
What to know first
- No free plan or free trial.
- Starter is capped at 500 transactions per month.
- Production use requires applying for an account.
Plaid: what it does well
- Connects with more than 12,000 financial institutions
- Transactions offers up to 24 months of categorized data
- Supports ACH, RTP, and FedNow bank payments
- Official API libraries cover five languages
- Plaid Portal lets users manage connections and permissions
What to know first
- There is no general free plan
- Pricing is on request
- Plaid does not connect every financial institution
- Access may end when an institution's data is no longer reliable

