Teller review

Teller provides financial data APIs that let apps connect users’ bank accounts. It’s infrastructure for products that need to verify account ownership, retrieve account information or initiate payments—not a ready-made consumer banking app. Teller’s homepage says it supports more than 7,000 financial institutions.

The API covers account and routing number verification, live balance data, transaction history and updates when new transactions post. It can also return registered names, email addresses, phone numbers and physical addresses for identity checks. For payments, Teller says apps can make instant payments using Zelle.

Developers can start with a free tier that includes up to 100 live bank connections or enrollments, plus unrestricted sandbox access. For teams moving from Plaid, Teller’s Sidecar supports a zero-code migration using a one-line configuration change. That may make switching easier, but it doesn’t answer the bigger buying question: what production access will cost.

Teller’s appeal is a focused set of bank-connection tools rather than a sprawling financial platform. The product covers several common needs in one API: account verification, balance retrieval, transaction data, identity checks and payments. The pricing information lists unrestricted sandbox access, so developers can evaluate the integration without a stated sandbox cap.

Coverage is another selling point. Teller’s homepage says it supports more than 7,000 financial institutions, a useful baseline for apps that need broad bank connectivity. Its balance data is described as guaranteed and live, while transaction data includes both historical records and updates as new transactions post. Those details matter when an app needs current account information rather than a one-time snapshot.

The migration path is the clearest switching advantage. Teller says Sidecar supports a zero-code Plaid migration through a one-line configuration change. That could reduce the amount of application code that needs changing. We’d still treat the claim as a migration shortcut, not proof that every Plaid integration or workflow transfers without adjustment.

The main drawback is the gap between evaluation pricing and production pricing. The Development tier costs $0 per month and includes up to 100 free live bank connections or enrollments, with unrestricted sandbox access. But Teller does not publish a Production price, annual pricing, or Production usage limits. Production access is sales-led, so teams can’t estimate their ongoing bill or know from the public pricing information how usage scales.

That makes the free tier useful for early evaluation, but not enough to settle a production budget. The listed 100-connection cap applies to Development; it should not be read as a published Production allowance. Production limits are not published. Annual pricing and Production billing terms are also not published, and the available pricing information does not list a free trial.

The Sidecar migration claim may reduce code changes, but it doesn’t resolve pricing or confirm that a particular integration will transfer cleanly. Before switching, ask Teller for written Production rates, usage limits and migration scope. Without those details, the cost and effort comparison with Plaid remains incomplete.

Teller’s Development tier is free: the pricing information lists up to 100 live bank connections or enrollments and unrestricted sandbox access. That makes it usable for evaluation, but it is not a published allowance for a larger production rollout.

There is no public tier-to-tier price jump to calculate. Production pricing is not published, and access is sales-led; usage limits and annual pricing are also not disclosed. Ask Teller for a written quote that spells out billing units, connection caps and overage charges before moving real users onto the service. The published pricing details list no add-ons, so we can’t compare extra fees.

The main billing gotcha is the gap between a free development environment and a production plan with no published price or limits. If your project needs more than 100 free connections, the cost of scaling is unclear until Teller provides terms.

For teams moving from Plaid, Teller says Sidecar supports a zero-code migration with a one-line configuration change. That sounds like a low-effort route, but the available details do not specify supported Plaid products, migration prerequisites or whether every integration can move this way. Confirm those points with Teller before treating it as a drop-in replacement.

The reverse move is less clear. The published material does not describe data export, connection portability or an exit process, so we can’t say how much work it takes to switch away from Teller. Ask what data you can retrieve, in what format, and what happens to live connections when service ends.

We don’t have Reddit posts in the published material, so we can’t responsibly report what users say tends to make them leave. For now, the clearest buying risk is the missing public detail on Production pricing, limits and exit options.