Card Vault

Very Good Security (VGS) vs Basis Theory: 2026 Comparison of Pricing and Architecture

Choose VGS to retrofit existing traffic through a proxy, choose Basis Theory if your engineers want programmable building blocks, and look at Enigma Vault if a $1,000-a-month floor is more than you need.

AK Abhilash Kumar Nov 8, 2026 16 min read
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    Enigma Vault

    Secure your cards.
    Protect your data.
    Keep it out of your AI.

    Data tokenization that keeps your applications working, so a breach exposes nothing worth stealing.

    • Free Lite tier, no contract
    • PCI DSS Level 1, SOC 2 Type II
    • Billed through AWS Marketplace
    Request a demo

    Very Good Security (VGS) and Basis Theory are both developer-first vault platforms that keep card data out of your own systems by replacing it with aliases or tokens held in a PCI-scoped vault.

    VGS is best for teams that want to protect existing endpoints through a proxy without changing code, while Basis Theory is best for engineering teams that want to build payments on an API with programmable parts.

    VGS vs Basis Theory at a Glance

    VendorVGSBasis TheoryAlso considerEnigma Vault
    Best forPayments teams retrofitting existing endpoints through a proxyEngineering-led teams building payments on an APITeams protecting cards, records, files, and prompts without a four-figure floor
    Entry priceFrom $1,000/mo (Starter)$995/mo, 20,000 tokensFree, then $49/mo
    Free optionFree sandbox, not for real data, no SLAFree test tenant (synthetic data only); no free production planFree Lite sandbox: 1,000 requests a month
    ArchitectureProxy-first, with APIsAPI vault, with a proxyAPI vault, with a gateway proxy at charge time
    G24.7/5 (47)No reviews yet4.4/5 (6)
    CapterraListed, 0 reviewsListed, 0 reviews4.8/5 (4)
    Next stepFree Lite tier, no card needed. Published plans from $49 a month.

    Figures are as of 8 November 2026, from each vendor’s own pages and from G2 and Capterra, except the VGS Capterra listing, last read on 30 October 2026. For a wider shortlist, see our guides to Very Good Security alternatives and Basis Theory alternatives.

    This guide compares Very Good Security and Basis Theory on architecture, features, cost at three business sizes, compliance, and reviews, with Enigma Vault alongside as a third option for teams that do not need either price floor.

    VGS vs Basis Theory: Quick Verdict

    VGS: A proxy-first tokenization platform with inbound and outbound routes, Collect and Show components, VGS Compute, and a payments line that includes network tokens, account updater, and card issuing. Starter plans start at $1,000 a month, and Growth is by quote.

    Basis Theory: A programmable payments vault with Elements, a general-purpose proxy, and Reactors that run your code. It publishes one plan at $995 a month for 20,000 tokens, and its docs label network tokens, account updater, 3D Secure, and agentic payments as Enterprise features. It has no reviews yet on G2 or Capterra.

    Also consider

    Enigma Vault: A PCI DSS Level 1 vault for cards, records, files, and AI prompts, with a free tier and published plans from $49 to $499 a month per product.

    VGS fits you if:

    • You have many existing endpoints and want to protect them with route configuration instead of code changes.
    • You want audit help from the vendor, since its Growth package lists a PCI compliance subscription and a provided auditor.
    • You need card issuing and network tokens from one vendor, and ISO 27001 and large named customers matter in your vendor review.

    Basis Theory fits you if:

    • Your engineers want to build against an API, with Elements, a proxy, and Reactors that run your own code.
    • You want a published self-serve price and ISO 27001, and you are prepared to go to a quote for network tokens, account updater, and 3D Secure.
    • You are comfortable that it has no third-party reviews yet and will ask for references.

    Enigma Vault fits you if:

    • A $1,000-a-month floor is more than your card volume justifies, and you want to start at $0.
    • Cards still arrive by phone, or you also need to protect records, documents, and AI prompts.
    • You can live without network tokens, account updater, routing, and custom code.

    Bottom Line: Very Good Security bends your existing traffic around a proxy, Basis Theory hands your engineers programmable parts, and Enigma Vault gives teams without a four-figure monthly budget a PCI-scoped vault they can start building on for free.

    VGS vs Basis Theory Pricing

    What VGS Charges

    VGS publishes two packages. Starter plans start at $1,000 a month, and the page lists no included features, units, or overage. Growth has no price, and its card lists network tokens, account updater, a PCI compliance subscription, a VGS-provided auditor, large file transfers, VGS Compute, and card attributes. The page does not say whether each item is in the base price. A sandbox is free for building and testing, but it is not for real data and has no SLA.

    Beyond the floor, buyer data is the best guide. Vendr, which tracks software purchases, shows a median of $56,700 a year for VGS, with a range of $21,600 to $132,000. It publishes no purchase count or data date. One G2 reviewer reports $40 for each extra custom domain.

    What Basis Theory Charges

    Basis Theory publishes one self-serve plan and a custom Enterprise tier. There is no free production plan, only a free test tenant that is not PCI compliant and takes synthetic data only. It bills on the tokens stored in your vault during the calendar month, including cards, network tokens, and wallet tokens, and tokens deleted in the same month still count.

    Basis Theory planWhat you get
    $995/mo20,000 tokens stored per calendar month, then $0.05 for each extra token; production PCI environment, 1 MB payload limit, 24 hours of logs, PCI AOC, US-only environment
    Enterprise (custom)PII and PHI options, responses for 95% of PCI SAQ D, unlimited monthly interactions per token, custom log access and payload sizes, uptime guarantees, enterprise support, SSO/SAML, white-label CNAME, dedicated IP
    Compare: Enigma Vault’s Card Vault has a free Lite sandbox and published plans of $49, $249, and $499 a month.

    At the published overage rate, 100,000 stored tokens works out to about $4,995 a month and 250,000 to about $12,495. That is our arithmetic from the published figures, not a Basis Theory quote, and Enterprise terms may differ.

    What Enigma Vault Charges

    Enigma Vault

    Every Card Vault tier is published. Lite is a free sandbox with 1,000 requests a month, Starter is $49 for 20,000, Growth is $249 for 250,000, and Business is $499 for 1,000,000, with yearly prices of $550, $2,700, and $5,500. Overage is published at $0.02, $0.01, and $0.007 per request on the paid tiers, and Lite has a hard limit. Billing runs through the developer portal or AWS Marketplace.

    VGS vs Basis Theory Cost at Three Business Sizes

    Business sizeVGSBasis TheoryAlso considerEnigma Vault
    Small agency or practice (up to 100 stored cards)From $1,000/mo, or the free sandbox while you build$995/mo, or a free test tenant with synthetic data$49/mo on Starter (the free Lite sandbox is for testing)
    Growing SaaS or retailer (about 10,000 stored cards)From $1,000/mo$995/mo (20,000 tokens included)$49/mo (Starter: up to 10,000 stored card tokens)
    Established platform (about 100,000 stored cards)Growth, by quote; Vendr’s median is $56,700 a yearAbout $4,995/mo at the published overage rate, or Enterprise by quote$249/mo (Growth: up to 100,000 stored card tokens), or $2,700 a year
    Next stepBasis Theory’s large-platform figure is our arithmetic from its published rate. Model your own card counts.

    How to Read This Table: The rows are sized by stored cards. Very Good Security does not publish its billing unit, Basis Theory bills on tokens stored in the month, and Enigma Vault bills on requests with a stored-token ceiling on each tier, so the units are not identical. Enigma Vault’s tiers also limit requests, so check your traffic against the allowance.

    The Practical Takeaway: A full year of Card Vault Growth costs $2,700. A year at VGS’s $1,000 Starter floor costs $12,000 and a year of Basis Theory’s plan costs $11,940. Enigma Vault is under a quarter of either, before you account for the features it does not have. See our list of the best credit card tokenization software for more price points.

    How VGS and Basis Theory Differ at the Core

    VGS sits in your traffic and swaps data for aliases on the way in and out, whereas Basis Theory is called by your application, which keeps a token and decides what happens next. That one choice shapes how much code you change, who sits in your request path, and what you maintain.

    QuestionVGS (proxy-first)Basis Theory (API vault)Also considerEnigma Vault (API vault)
    How data is protected on the way inAn inbound route strips sensitive values, so your servers store aliasesYour app or Elements sends the card to the vault and stores the tokenYour app or the hosted form sends the card to the vault and stores the token
    How data reaches a third partyAn outbound route restores the real value in transitThe proxy or a Reactor sends it to the providerThe gateway proxy injects the card into an allowlisted gateway request
    Who sits in your request pathVGS, on every proxied routeBasis Theory, on the calls you send through itEnigma Vault, at charge time only
    Code changesMostly route configurationAPI calls and Elements in your codeA handful of explicit API calls
    Ongoing upkeepRoutes, matching rules, and promotion from sandbox to liveTokens, expressions, and Reactor codeAn allowlist and credentials
    Next stepEach vendor offers a free test environment. Enigma Vault’s first paid plan is $49 a month.

    Where the Proxy Model Helps: You can protect existing endpoints with little application code, and G2 reviewers repeatedly say they understood the proxy quickly.

    Where It Costs You: G2 reviewers mention reloading routes before changes take effect, needing support for complex matching, and promoting routes between vaults by hand in YAML.

    Where the API Model Helps: Only the calls you choose go through the vendor, and your engineers control exactly where tokens are created and used. The price is more explicit code in your own application.

    If you have dozens of existing endpoints and little appetite for code changes, the proxy model saves time. If you would rather build the integration once and keep third parties out of the rest of your traffic, the API model is cleaner.

    Card-on-File Workflow: VGS vs Basis Theory vs Enigma Vault

    To make the comparison concrete, here is the same job on each platform: take a customer’s card, store it, and charge it later through your payment processor.

    StepVGSBasis TheoryAlso considerEnigma Vault
    1. Capture the cardCollect hosted fields on web, iOS, Android, or React Native, or an inbound routeUniversal Form Elements on web and mobileHosted form, API, or Twilio Pay on a phone call (Growth and above)
    2. Store itThe vault returns an alias, with several formats including Luhn-valid onesThe vault returns a token you can shape with expressionsCard Vault returns a random token, optionally Luhn-passable; CVV is deleted within 30 minutes
    3. Save the referenceYour database keeps the aliasYour database keeps the tokenYour database keeps the token
    4. Charge laterAn outbound route restores the card in the processor requestThe proxy forwards to any providerThe gateway proxy injects the card into an allowlisted gateway request
    5. Keep the card workingNetwork tokens and account updater (listed on the Growth package)Network tokens and account updater (Enterprise)The customer re-enters an expired card
    Next stepRun the same five steps on Enigma Vault’s free Lite sandbox.

    All three get the card number out of your servers. The differences show up at step 1 and step 5.

    • Step 1: Very Good Security and Basis Theory both offer mature hosted fields for web and mobile. Enigma Vault adds the phone channel that neither packages.
    • Step 5: VGS and Basis Theory both sell network tokens and account updater, at their quote-only tiers (Growth at VGS, Enterprise at Basis Theory). They matter most to subscription and marketplace revenue, and Enigma Vault does not offer them.

    VGS vs Basis Theory Features Compared

    Compare Very Good Security and Basis Theory on capture, proxies, payments tools, data types, and AI. Both go deep on payments, so the useful differences are in how each is built and what each leaves out.

    FeatureVGSBasis TheoryAlso considerEnigma Vault
    Web card fieldsCollectUniversal Form ElementsHosted forms
    Mobile captureCollect for iOS, Android, React NativeiOS, Android, React Native SDKsAPI
    Phone (IVR) captureNone found on VGS’s siteNot offeredTwilio Pay (Growth and above)
    Apple Pay and Google PayWallet payments and decryption guidesDecrypts and vaults wallet tokensThrough your gateway
    Token formatsMany alias formats, including Luhn-valid format-preserving onesExpressionsRandom or Luhn-passable
    Proxy to payment gatewaysOutbound routesProxy to any providerGateway proxy, domain allowlisted
    Proxy to any third-party APIOutbound routes to any HTTPS destinationProxy, ephemeral or pre-configuredNot offered
    Run your own code on dataVGS Compute (listed on Growth)Reactors (asynchronous Reactors are Enterprise)Not offered
    Network tokensListed on GrowthEnterpriseNot offered
    Account updaterListed on GrowthEnterpriseNot offered
    3D SecureSingle-API 3DSUniversal 3DS (Enterprise)Through your gateway
    BIN and card dataCard Attributes (listed on Growth)BIN and card-detail enrichments (Enterprise)Not offered
    Smart PSP routing“Payment orchestration” use caseMarketed as smart and backup routing; docs guide marked under constructionNot offered
    Card issuingCard management platformGuides for tokenizing issuer-API data; not an issuerNot offered
    Agentic paymentsAgentic Commerce Hub (US environment)Agentic Payments API (Enterprise)Not offered
    PII beyond cardsSSNs, passport numbers, and other sensitive dataBank data; PII and PHI options on EnterpriseData Vault on every tier
    FilesManaged File Tokenization; no size limit published1 MB payload limit on the $995 planFile Vault, 5 GB free up to 5,000 GB
    LLM prompt protectionAI Data Firewall (page only; no pricing or docs)Not offeredNoPII, 1M protected tokens a month free
    No-code customer intakeNot offeredNot offeredCustomer Vault
    RegionsUS, EU, and Asia-Pacific environmentsUS only on the $995 plan; EU and India on EnterpriseUS and EU; EU residency is an add-on from Growth
    Next stepCheck which of these features sit on each vendor’s entry plan, not only its top tier.

    Here is how the biggest differences play out in practice.

    Where VGS and Basis Theory Differ in Practice

    Card Capture on the Web and in Apps

    VGS Collect provides hosted form fields for JavaScript, iOS, Android, and React Native, and VGS Show reveals stored values in a VGS-hosted component. Basis Theory’s Universal Form Elements cover web and mobile, with Apple Pay and Google Pay built in. For most checkouts either one works.

    If a styled, embedded checkout is your main requirement, both offer more ready-made pieces than Enigma Vault’s hosted forms and API.

    Network Tokens, Account Updater, and Routing

    This is the heart of both products, and at both it sits behind a quote. Network tokens and account updater keep stored cards working after a reissue or expiry, which protects recurring revenue. Basis Theory’s docs label network tokens, account updater, Universal 3D Secure, and BIN and card-detail enrichments as Enterprise features, and its pricing page gives no prices for them. Its payments-routing guide is marked under construction, although its site markets smart and backup routing. VGS lists network tokens, account updater, and card attributes on its Growth package, runs a card management platform, and offers 3D Secure through a single API.

    One thing to check with VGS: its status page lists network tokens, account updater, card attributes, 3D Secure, and file tokenization only in the US environment, while the EU and Asia-Pacific environments list a shorter set of components, mainly the proxy, dashboard, Collect, and Show. That is a monitoring list, not a published availability statement, so confirm regional availability with Very Good Security if you process outside the US.

    Custom Code: VGS Compute and Basis Theory Reactors

    Both let you run your own logic on sensitive data without it touching your servers. VGS Compute runs customer-written code, in a Python-like language, inside the VGS proxies on data in transit, for custom cryptographic operations, payload transformation, and policy enforcement. Basis Theory’s Reactors run your code against vaulted data inside its secure environment, for example to transform a value or send it to a partner.

    Enigma Vault

    Enigma Vault has no equivalent. It returns data only to authorized callers or injects it into gateway requests through its proxy.

    Beyond Cards: PII, Files, and AI Prompts

    VGS’s vault holds more than cards. Its documentation names social security numbers, passport numbers, and any other data you deem sensitive, and Managed File Tokenization handles CSV, JSON, XML, Parquet, ISO 8583, and EBCDIC files. Very Good Security also markets an AI Data Firewall, a proxy that tokenizes sensitive values in prompts, but its page lists no pricing, documentation, or entity counts. VGS’s trust center does not list HIPAA.

    Basis Theory has a bank-account token type and a generic token type that stores any primitive or unstructured data, with PII and PHI compliance options on Enterprise. On the $995 plan, payloads are capped at 1 MB and logs are kept for 24 hours, so it is not a document store.

    Enigma Vault

    Enigma Vault covers these jobs with separate vaults: Data Vault for structured records from the free tier up, File Vault for documents, Customer Vault for no-code intake, and NoPII for LLM prompts, with a BAA for healthcare workloads.

    Implementation Time and Support

    VGS says activating an account can take up to two business days, after which you create a live vault, promote your sandbox routes, and ask support to enable live data. G2 shows an average implementation time of about four months, although G2 reviewers also praise quick setup, so the real figure depends heavily on how many routes you protect. Reviewers often praise Very Good Security support, especially chat.

    Basis Theory’s migration page promises a move from VGS “in hours,” which is a vendor claim, and its docs say network tokens, account updater, and agentic payments need onboarding before production. One editorial comparison estimates six to twelve engineering weeks for the same migration without citing a source, so treat anything between hours and weeks as unproven until you test your own routes. Basis Theory’s customer stories show a more modest timeline, such as Cubby going from proof of concept to live in about a week.

    VGS vs Basis Theory Security and Compliance

    VGS, Basis Theory, and Enigma Vault all hold PCI DSS Level 1 and SOC 2 Type II. Very Good Security and Basis Theory also hold ISO 27001, which Enigma Vault is still working toward.

    ControlVGSBasis TheoryAlso considerEnigma Vault
    PCI DSSLevel 1 live environments; PCI DSS v4.0.1 on its trust centerLevel 1, merchant and service provider; PCI AOC included in the $995 planLevel 1 Service Provider (Card, Data, File Vault in scope)
    SOC 2Type IIType IIType II
    ISO 27001ISO/IEC 27001:2022 listedCertifiedIn progress
    HIPAANot listed on its trust center“HIPAA compliant” environment; PHI options on Enterprise; BAA not mentionedBAA available
    Audit supportPCI compliance subscription and provided auditor listed on GrowthPCI AOC; Enterprise includes responses for 95% of SAQ DAOC, responsibility matrix, and SOC 2 report from Starter; bring your own QSA
    Data residencyUS, EU, and Asia-Pacific environments; features vary by regionUS only on the $995 plan; EU and India on EnterpriseUS and EU; EU residency is an add-on from Growth
    Next stepAsk every vendor for its current audit reports and, if you handle PHI, a signed BAA.

    With any of them, the vault can significantly reduce the systems in your PCI scope, but your acquirer or QSA confirms your final scope. Our guide to the best PCI DSS compliant tokenization software compares more certified vaults.

    VGS vs Basis Theory Reviews

    VGS has 47 reviews on G2 at 4.7/5, while Basis Theory has no reviews yet on G2 or Capterra. Enigma Vault has 6 on G2 and 4 on Capterra.

    SourceVGSBasis TheoryAlso considerEnigma Vault
    G24.7/5 from 47 reviewsListed, no reviews4.4/5 from 6 reviews
    CapterraListed, no reviewsListed, no reviews4.8/5 from 4 reviews
    Other public proofNamed customers and testimonialsCustomer storiesReviewer quotes on support speed and cost
    Next stepSix reviews is a thin base. Ask every vendor for a reference in your industry.

    What VGS Reviewers Say

    Reviewers on G2 often praise support, especially chat, and say the proxy was quick to understand. The critical notes cluster around price and polish. One reviewer calls it not very startup-friendly and another reports $40 for each extra custom domain. Others say documentation is out of date in places, mobile SDKs need more examples, the admin page is slow, and log filtering is weak.

    VGS’s own homepage features a SumUp testimonial crediting it with saving nearly $1M and six months of development time. That is a vendor-chosen quote, so weigh it as marketing.

    What Basis Theory’s Public Proof Shows

    With no third-party reviews yet on G2 or Capterra, Basis Theory’s proof comes from its own customer stories. Treat those as marketing too, and ask for references in your industry.

    What Enigma Vault Reviewers Say

    Enigma Vault

    Reviewers on G2 praise a simple API, clear PCI scope, lower cost than other vendors, and quick support, and ask for more documentation and deeper reporting dashboards. Six reviews is a thin base, so ask for a reference in your industry here as well.

    What Basis Theory’s Comparison Page Says About VGS

    Basis Theory publishes its own page comparing itself with Very Good Security, and it is one of the few pages that rank for this search. It makes several claims worth checking.

    • VGS pricing is custom, and you must contact sales. This is out of date. VGS publishes Starter plans from $1,000 a month and sells only Growth by quote.
    • Very Good Security lists no ISO 27001. Also out of date. VGS’s trust center lists ISO/IEC 27001:2022.
    • Migration takes a few hours with no downtime. The page links to a migration guide on GitHub, and we found no VGS customer who describes that timeline. Treat it as a vendor claim.
    • Very Good Security charges an annual migration fee. We found no VGS source for this, so we have not repeated it.

    The page also describes Basis Theory’s features without plan labels. Its own docs mark network tokens, account updater, Universal 3D Secure, and BIN enrichments as Enterprise, so check what the $995 plan includes before you compare it with VGS. Very Good Security has no page naming Basis Theory.

    Who Should Choose VGS, Basis Theory, or Enigma Vault

    A Payments Fintech or Marketplace With an Engineering Team

    Both VGS and Basis Theory fit. Pick VGS if you are retrofitting traffic across many services or want audit help bundled with the vendor. Pick Basis Theory if your team would rather build against an API and use Reactors and routing. If your card volume is modest, price both against Enigma Vault first.

    A Subscription or Ecommerce Business With Cards on File

    Network tokens and account updater protect recurring revenue, and both Very Good Security and Basis Theory sell them, at their quote-only tiers: Growth at VGS and Enterprise at Basis Theory. If most of your revenue is recurring, that is worth paying for. If customers can re-enter an expired card, Enigma Vault covers storage and gateway charging at a fraction of the price.

    An Agency, Travel Business, Clinic, or Support Team Taking Cards by Phone

    A proxy protects data arriving over HTTP. It does nothing for a card number read aloud on a call and typed into a ticket. We found no phone channel on VGS’s site, and Basis Theory does not package one. Enigma Vault’s Card Vault includes Twilio Pay IVR from the Growth tier, so callers enter their card on the keypad and agents never hear it.

    A Team That Wants to Try Before Buying

    Very Good Security offers a free sandbox that is not for real data. Basis Theory has a free test tenant for synthetic data only, and no free production plan. Enigma Vault’s Lite tier is also a free sandbox for development and testing, with hard limits and no card to enter, so you can build against the API before you pay anything. Paid plans start at $49 a month.

    Questions to Ask VGS and Basis Theory Before You Sign

    Bring these to both vendors. The answers shown are what each publishes today, so you can see where a sales call is needed.

    QuestionVGSBasis TheoryAlso considerEnigma Vault
    What will year one cost?Starter from $1,000/mo; ask what is in the base price and what the billing unit is$995/mo for 20,000 tokens; ask how tokens are counted and when Enterprise startsPublished: $0, $49, $249, or $499 a month per product
    Can we test before signing?Free sandbox, not for real dataA free test tenant with synthetic data only; ask about productionYes, on the free Lite sandbox
    Which features run outside the US?Ask which features run in the EU and Asia-Pacific environmentsThe $995 plan is US only; EU and India are part of EnterpriseUS and EU; EU residency is an add-on from Growth
    Can you sign a BAA?Ask; HIPAA is not listed on its trust centerPHI options are part of EnterpriseYes
    Who does the audit work?Growth lists a PCI subscription and auditorPCI AOC; Enterprise includes SAQ D responsesAOC and SOC 2 report from Starter; bring your own QSA
    How do we leave?Ask for the export process in writingAsk for the export process in writingAsk for the export process in writing
    Next stepPut the same questions to Enigma Vault.

    The last row matters for all three. Tokens never transfer between vaults on their own, so agree the exit process before you sign, whereas most buyers only ask when they are already leaving.

    Moving From VGS or Basis Theory to Enigma Vault

    If the price or the feature set no longer fits, the move is a card migration between two PCI-compliant providers, which both vendors and your acquirer need to agree.

    • Map Your Routes or Tokens First: List every VGS route or Basis Theory token flow, and every downstream system that depends on the alias or token format.
    • Check What You Rely On: If you use network tokens, account updater, routing, VGS Compute, or Reactors, confirm your gateway covers them or that you can live without them.
    • Choose a Token Format: Enigma Vault issues random tokens, with a Luhn-passable option if a legacy system checks card formats.
    • Re-Tokenize and Run Both for a Few Weeks: Then cut over.

    Our guide to migrating tokenization providers has a checklist for running two vaults side by side. If you want help mapping your routes or tokens, book a migration call.

    Final Verdict: VGS, Basis Theory, or Enigma Vault?

    Both VGS and Basis Theory are serious platforms. Very Good Security is the stronger fit if you want to protect existing traffic with little code and have the vendor help with compliance. Basis Theory is the stronger fit if your engineers want to build against an API with a proxy and custom code. I’d choose between them on architecture first and price second, because their entry prices are within $5 a month of each other.

    If neither floor makes sense for your volume, or you also need to protect phone payments, records, documents, or AI prompts, Enigma Vault covers those at published prices, with a free sandbox to build on. It does not have network tokens, account updater, routing, or custom code, so if your revenue depends on those, it is not the right choice.

    Price Card Vault at your volume.

    Book a demo and we will model the cost against VGS and Basis Theory, or explore Card Vault first.

    Book a demo

    More comparisons: Enigma Vault vs VGS, Enigma Vault vs Basis Theory, Skyflow vs VGS, and Basis Theory vs Skyflow.

    How We Researched This Comparison

    We checked every fact on 8 November 2026, except the VGS Capterra listing, last read on 30 October 2026. VGS facts come from verygoodsecurity.com, including its pricing page, documentation, trust center, status page, and press releases. Basis Theory facts come from basistheory.com, including its pricing and billing pages, security page, developer docs, and status page. Third-party figures come from Vendr, G2, and Capterra, and Enigma Vault facts come from our own pricing and product pages.

    Where a vendor makes a claim about itself or a rival, such as migration times, we label it as a vendor claim. If something here is out of date, tell us through our contact page and we will check it.

    AK
    Abhilash Kumar Chief Growth Officer

    Abhilash Kumar is Chief Growth Officer at Enigma Vault, where he leads growth strategy, market positioning, and partnership development. He brings experience across B2B SaaS marketing, product marketing, brand building, and demand generation, with a career spanning technology companies and communications agencies.

    View full profile

    Frequently asked questions

    Is VGS or Basis Theory Cheaper?
    They are close at the entry level. VGS Starter plans start at $1,000 a month, and Basis Theory’s published plan is $995 a month for 20,000 tokens. Above that, VGS moves to a custom quote, while Basis Theory charges $0.05 for each token stored above 20,000 until you negotiate Enterprise terms, so the real difference depends on your volume and which features you need. Enigma Vault’s Card Vault starts free and costs $49, $249, or $499 a month at published volumes.
    What Is the Main Difference Between VGS and Basis Theory?
    VGS is proxy-first: it sits in your request path, swaps sensitive data for aliases, and restores it on the way to your processor. Basis Theory is an API vault: your application calls it, keeps a token, and can run its own code on vaulted data with Reactors.
    Which Is Better for a Startup, VGS or Basis Theory?
    Neither has a free production plan, and their entry prices are almost identical. Very Good Security offers a free sandbox that is not for real data, and Basis Theory publishes a self-serve plan. A startup with modest card volume should also price Enigma Vault, whose Lite sandbox is free for testing and whose paid tiers start at $49 a month.
    Which Has Better Reviews, VGS or Basis Theory?
    VGS has more public reviews: 4.7/5 from 47 on G2, as of 8 November 2026. Basis Theory has G2 and Capterra listings with no reviews yet, so its proof comes from its own customer stories. With so little third-party data on Basis Theory, ask both vendors for references in your industry.
    Do VGS and Basis Theory Both Support Network Tokens and Account Updater?
    Yes, but both sell them at the quote-only tier. Basis Theory’s docs label network tokens and account updater as Enterprise features, and VGS lists them on its Growth package. Check which regions each feature runs in, because Very Good Security’s status page lists them only in its US environment.
    How Long Does Implementation Take With VGS or Basis Theory?
    It depends on the scope. VGS says account activation can take up to two business days, and G2 shows an average implementation time of about four months. Basis Theory says a migration from VGS can take hours, which is a vendor claim, and its customer stories describe going live in about a week. Plan for your own testing either way.
    Can VGS or Basis Theory Protect PII and Files as Well as Cards?
    Yes, with limits. Very Good Security’s vault covers social security numbers, passport numbers, and other sensitive data, and Managed File Tokenization handles several file formats. Basis Theory offers bank data on all plans and PII and PHI options on Enterprise, with a 1 MB payload limit on its $995 plan. Enigma Vault has separate vaults for records and files, with free tiers.
    What Is a Lower-Cost Alternative to VGS and Basis Theory?
    Enigma Vault’s Card Vault is a PCI DSS Level 1 tokenization service with a free tier and published plans of $49, $249, and $499 a month. It adds phone card capture and covers records, files, and AI prompts, but it does not offer network tokens, account updater, routing, or custom code.