Comparison · Updated October 23, 2026
Spreedly vs Primer (payment orchestration)
Spreedly
B
Spreedly is a payment orchestration platform and PCI-compliant card vault founded in 2007 and run from Durham, North Carolina. It does not process payments itself. It stores your customers' card credentials in its own vault, connects them to more than 140 payment gateways through one API, and routes, retries and optimises transactions across them. It reported annual gross merchandise volume expected to exceed $60 billion for 2025, up from $50 billion in 2024, across more than 400 customers in 100-plus countries. Entry pricing for the vault starts at $750 a month; everything above that is quoted. It is enterprise infrastructure, not a merchant account, and a small business should not be shopping for it.
Primer
B-
Primer is a London payments orchestration company founded in 2020 by former Braintree staff Gabriel Le Roux and Paul Anthony. It does not process payments itself. A merchant connects its own accounts with processors such as Adyen, Stripe or Braintree, and Primer sits on top: one checkout and API, a card vault that is independent of any one processor, no-code workflows that decide where each payment goes, automatic fallback to a second processor when the first declines, 3D Secure, network tokens, and reporting and reconciliation across every provider. Newer add-ons include an AI assistant called Companion, a fee breakdown tool called Costs Overview, and Global Accounts for holding and converting currencies, which Primer provides through a partner. Primer publishes no prices. As of October 2026 there is no pricing page; fees are set in a signed order form, charged on billable events such as payments, settled transactions, 3DS checks or workflow actions, and topped up to a minimum commitment if usage falls short. The contract runs for a minimum term and then renews for a year at a time unless you give 30 days' notice. Primer raised a $100 million Series C in May 2026 and says it has raised $174 million in total. It is built for mid-size and enterprise merchants running more than one processor, not for small businesses looking for a first card account.
VS
Overview
Spreedly and Primer are both payment orchestration platforms. Neither is a processor or acquirer. Each stores your customers' cards in its own PCI DSS Level 1 vault and sends payments to processors that you hold your own contracts with. Their fees come on top of what those processors charge. We compare what each company published as of 23 October 2026: its pricing pages and its standard online terms (Spreedly's Terms of Service v2.1, effective 1 October 2026, and Primer's Merchant Terms v3.45 of 22 May 2026). Your order form can override either set of terms. The clearest differences are price disclosure and contract length. Spreedly publishes a starting price of $750 a month for its standalone vault and, unless an order form says otherwise, its subscriptions run on 30-day terms. Primer publishes no prices. It charges per billable event against a minimum commitment and renews for a year at a time. Both give you a written route to take your stored cards to another PCI-compliant provider when you leave. Spreedly's is in its terms of service, with a stated 90-day window. Primer's comes from the data-return clause in its data protection addendum and an export process set out in its documentation. On product, the two are close. Both offer network tokens, 3D Secure, processor-agnostic routing with retries on a second processor, and checkout SDKs for web, iOS, Android and React Native. Primer has run its no-code Workflows since 2022. Spreedly launched its equivalent, Composer, on 21 October 2026. Payment Review grades Spreedly B and Primer B-.
Key Takeaways
- ✓It depends on what you are buying. Spreedly is the easier one to price and to commit to: $750 a month publishes the cost of its standalone vault, and its default term is 30 days. Primer has the longer track record with no-code routing that a payments team can change without engineers.
- ✓Pricing: Spreedly's Independent Vault starts at $750 a month. Its optimisation tier (routing, smart retries, 3DS and fraud tools) is priced by sales. Primer publishes no prices at all. Its terms bill per billable event (payments, 3DS checks, workflow actions and similar) and invoice a minimum commitment if usage falls short.
- ✓Contract: Spreedly's standard subscription term is 30 days and renews automatically for the same length, with 15 days' non-renewal notice (30 if the term is 12 months or longer). Primer runs for a minimum term set in the order form, then renews for a year at a time unless you give 30 days' notice. Either company's order form can change these terms.
- ✓Leaving with your cards: both have a written exit route. Spreedly's terms (section 8) let you export card data to another PCI DSS-compliant vault, give you a 90-day window after termination and charge for manual exports. Primer's data protection addendum requires it to return or delete your customers' personal data, card numbers included, at your choice when the service ends, and its documentation sets out a token export to a PCI-compliant provider. Primer's documents give no fee and no post-termination window, so get both into the order form.
- ✓Coverage: by its own count, Spreedly connects to 150+ gateways, 60+ payment methods and 32+ fraud tools. Primer's integrations directory lists 52 processors among 121 apps and integrations, and its checkout page claims 150+ integrations. Check that your own processors appear on either list rather than comparing the headline numbers.
Spreedly
Choose Spreedly if you want to take ownership of your stored card credentials first and decide on routing later, if you want a published starting price ($750 a month for the standalone vault) and short default terms, or if you need a long list of gateway connections. Its terms set out how you export your cards to another PCI-compliant vault, including a 90-day window after you leave. Budget for the optimisation tier on top, which is priced by sales.
Primer
Choose Primer if you run several processors across countries and want payments staff, not engineers, to change routing, 3D Secure rules and fallbacks in its no-code Workflows, and if unified reporting and reconciliation across processors matter to you. Expect a negotiated minimum commitment and one-year renewals, and have the timing and cost of a card export written into the order form.
The Verdict
It Depends on Your Needs
Why?
Payment Review grades Spreedly B and Primer B-, and the right choice depends on what you are buying. Spreedly is ahead on what a buyer can check before signing. It publishes a $750-a-month starting price for its standalone vault, defaults to 30-day terms rather than one-year renewals, and its terms of service spell out how you export your stored cards and how long you have to do it. It also lists more gateway connections, and you can start with the vault alone. Primer is the more established choice for no-code orchestration run by a payments team: Workflows, Fallbacks that reuse 3DS results, and reporting across processors have been in its product for years, while Spreedly's Composer launched this week. Its prices are entirely negotiated, though, and its standard terms combine a minimum commitment with automatic one-year renewals. Its data protection addendum and documentation do give you a way to take your cards to another PCI-compliant provider, but name no fee or deadline. Choose Spreedly if you want to own your card credentials first and keep your options open. Choose Primer if you already run several processors and want routing that non-engineers can change, and have the export timetable and your renewal terms written into the order form.
Feature by feature
Detailed Comparison
Filter Options
Pricing as published (October 2026)
| Feature | Spreedly | Primer |
|---|---|---|
| Published starting price | $750 a month (Independent Vault) | Not disclosed |
| Spreedly's pricing page lists the Independent Vault as 'Starting at $750 per month', covering a PCI Level 1 vault with unlimited storage. That is $9,000 a year before any optimisation features. Primer has no pricing page; its contact page offers pricing through a sales call. Neither provider publishes per-transaction fees. Both charge on top of your processors' fees, not instead of them. | ||
| Routing and optimisation features | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Spreedly's Performance Optimization tier is 'Contact Sales'. It lists network tokenization, account updater, smart retries, PSP-agnostic routing, 3DS and fraud prevention, chargeback reduction and an agentic commerce kit. Primer prices every module in the order form. | ||
| How fees are charged | Monthly subscription; fees per order form | Per billable event, with a minimum commitment |
| Spreedly's terms say fees are as set in each Ordering Document. Fees are non-refundable, payable in US dollars and due net 30. Primer's terms bill billable events, which its glossary defines to include payments, settled transactions, 3DS checks, recovered transactions, total payment volume, workflow actions and a platform fee. Primer invoices the minimum commitment when usage falls below it. Invoices are due in 30 days. | ||
| Free evaluation | 30-day evaluation account, no charge | Not disclosed |
| Spreedly's terms (section 2.8) provide evaluation accounts at no charge for 30 days unless Spreedly says otherwise, with usage limits and no support. Primer's documentation describes a sandbox environment for testing an integration, but we found no published free trial of the live service. | ||
Published starting price
Spreedly
$750 a month (Independent Vault)
Primer
Not disclosed
Spreedly's pricing page lists the Independent Vault as 'Starting at $750 per month', covering a PCI Level 1 vault with unlimited storage. That is $9,000 a year before any optimisation features. Primer has no pricing page; its contact page offers pricing through a sales call. Neither provider publishes per-transaction fees. Both charge on top of your processors' fees, not instead of them.
Routing and optimisation features
Spreedly
Not disclosed
Primer
Not disclosed
Spreedly's Performance Optimization tier is 'Contact Sales'. It lists network tokenization, account updater, smart retries, PSP-agnostic routing, 3DS and fraud prevention, chargeback reduction and an agentic commerce kit. Primer prices every module in the order form.
How fees are charged
Spreedly
Monthly subscription; fees per order form
Primer
Per billable event, with a minimum commitment
Spreedly's terms say fees are as set in each Ordering Document. Fees are non-refundable, payable in US dollars and due net 30. Primer's terms bill billable events, which its glossary defines to include payments, settled transactions, 3DS checks, recovered transactions, total payment volume, workflow actions and a platform fee. Primer invoices the minimum commitment when usage falls below it. Invoices are due in 30 days.
Free evaluation
Spreedly
30-day evaluation account, no charge
Primer
Not disclosed
Spreedly's terms (section 2.8) provide evaluation accounts at no charge for 30 days unless Spreedly says otherwise, with usage limits and no support. Primer's documentation describes a sandbox environment for testing an integration, but we found no published free trial of the live service.
Best For Your Business
Recommendations based on your business type
Merchant that wants to own its stored cards before committing to orchestration
Recommended
Spreedly
Spreedly has sold its vault on its own since July 2026, from a published $750 a month. You can keep one processor per region and add routing later without re-vaulting. Its terms of service set out how you export the cards to another PCI DSS-compliant vault, with a 90-day window after you leave.
Multi-processor merchant whose payments team wants to change routing without engineers
Recommended
Primer
Primer's Workflows have handled routing rules, A/B tests across processors and 3DS strategies, and automated actions since 2022. Its Fallbacks retry declines on a backup processor without a second 3DS challenge. Spreedly's Composer does similar things but launched on 21 October 2026.
Business that needs a long list of gateways, including smaller regional ones
Recommended
Spreedly
Spreedly says it connects to 150+ gateways. Primer's directory lists 52 processors, though Primer says the list is incomplete. Check both lists for the exact processors you use before deciding.
Buyer that wants to trial orchestration without a long commitment
Recommended
Spreedly
Spreedly offers a 30-day evaluation account at no charge, and its standard subscription term is 30 days unless an order form says otherwise. Primer's standard terms run for a minimum term set in the order form and then renew for a year at a time.
Small business looking for its first way to take card payments
Neither company is a processor. Both need you to bring at least one processor contract, and both charge a platform fee on top. A single processor such as a payment facilitator is the right starting point.
Spreedly: Best for 3 use cases
Primer: Best for 1 use case
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about this comparison
We cannot say, because Primer publishes no prices. As of October 2026, Spreedly's standalone Independent Vault starts at $750 a month, and its optimisation tier (routing, smart retries, 3DS and fraud tools, network tokenization and account updater) is priced by sales. Primer sets all fees in a signed order form. Its terms charge per billable event, such as payments, 3DS checks and workflow actions, and invoice a minimum commitment when usage falls short. Both charge on top of your processors' fees. Get written quotes on your own volume from both.
No. Both are orchestration platforms. Spreedly's terms say it is not a payment processor and does not receive or control funds. Primer's documentation says you must connect at least one processor before you can take payments. Settlement and payouts come from your processors on their schedules. Primer's Global Accounts product, which holds and converts currencies, is provided through a third-party partner.
Yes, with either, but the two set it out differently. Spreedly's terms of service (section 8) let you export payment data at any time to a supported third-party vault. You can also request a manual export, at Spreedly's current rates, to any PCI DSS-compliant recipient while your account is paid up. Spreedly may delete your data 90 days after termination unless it agrees to extend the window, which you pay for. Primer's merchant terms (v3.45) say it destroys transaction data on termination, but that is subject to its data protection addendum, which requires it to return or delete your customers' personal data, card numbers included, at your choice. Primer's documentation describes a token export through its support team to a provider with a PCI attestation of compliance. Network tokens, Apple Pay tokens and device-bound Google Pay tokens cannot be moved. Primer names no fee or post-termination window, so agree both in the order form.
Spreedly's standard subscription term is 30 days unless an order form sets a different one. It renews for the same length unless you give 15 days' notice, or 30 days for terms of 12 months or more. Primer runs for a minimum term set in your order form, then renews for a year at a time unless you give 30 days' notice. Primer can also end the agreement after the minimum term on three months' notice. Enterprise contracts with either are usually negotiated, so read your order form.
By the companies' own counts, Spreedly: it claims 150+ gateway connections, 60+ payment methods and 32+ fraud tools. Primer's integrations directory listed 52 processors and 121 apps and integrations on 23 October 2026, and Primer says some providers may not be listed yet. Its checkout page claims 150+ integrations. The lists are counted differently, so check that each one includes the processors you use.
Yes. Both offer network tokenization, 3D Secure that works across processors, and retries on a second processor when the first declines. Primer's Fallbacks reuse the first 3DS result so the customer is not challenged twice. Spreedly also advertises Account Updater, which keeps stored cards current when they are reissued. We found no equivalent product on Primer's site.
Both are privately held and venture-backed. Spreedly, Inc. is based in Durham, North Carolina, dates its founding to 2007 and raised a $75 million round in 2019. It bought the fraud-orchestration company Dodgeball in September 2025 and appointed Darren Bounds as CFO on 20 October 2026. Primer (Primer API Limited) is based in London and was founded in 2020 by Gabriel Le Roux, its CEO, and Paul Anthony. It says it has raised $174 million, including a $100 million Series C led by Sofina in May 2026. Neither has an announced sale pending.
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